Language Problems in Children with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

In this study, parent-child interaction in two carefully matched subgroups-school-age boys with learning disabilities (LD) who showed a discrepancy between their verbal IQ and performance IQ and had more extensive difficulties in higher-level language abilities (VIQ < PIQ, n = 8) and boys with LD who did not manifest a discrepancy between verbal IQ and performance IQ (VIQ = PIQ, n = 8), were investigated. The effects of the child's language problems on child task performance and on the quality of maternal communication were analyzed in a mother-child problem solving task. Children in the VIQ < PIQ group were found to be less successful on the task than children in the VIQ = PIQ group, and their mothers exhibited lower communication clarity in their instructions than the mothers of the children in the VIQ = PIQ group. An interesting interaction effect was found for communication deviances. For mothers in the VIQ < PIQ group the extent of deficient communication increased from the monologue to the dialogue situation, whereas communication deviances decreased for mothers in the VIQ = PIQ group. Three possible models are discussed in light of the differences between the subgroups.

Socio-emotional climate of storybook reading interactions for mothers and preschoolers with language impairment

“…Although this finding contradicts previous research regarding the quality of maternal instruction during problem solving tasks (Poikkeus et al, 1999), it does support claims that book reading is a context where children with LI can be active and involved participants (Hontz-Hockenberger et al, 1999;Justice & Kaderavek, 2003;Vander Woude & Barton, 2001).…”

“…Some researchers argue that mothers of children with LI are not able to adjust to the specialized needs of a child who has difficulties in communication. Poikkeus, Ahonen, Närhi, Lyytinen, and Rasku-Puttonen (1999) found that mothers interacting with children with LI were less likely to give accurate and specific directions during a problem solving task when children's verbal IQ was lower than their performance IQ. In addition, mothers of children with LI are often unable to understand their children's attempts at communication, even when these attempts are comprehensible, possibly due to the number of ambiguous utterances and amount of semantically inappropriate information provided by children during conversations (Yont, Hewitt, & Miccios, 2002).…”

Parental Scaffolding of Children's Phonological Awareness Skills

“…Our research demonstrates that mothers do not rely primarily on directives when interacting with their children with language difficulties and, further, that directive use decreased over time when considering group-level data. Our findings may have to do with the nature of the task used in this study, as scaffolding research has often investigated novel problem-solving tasks (e.g., Poikkeus et al, 1999), such as a card arrangement task. Likewise, these tasks often are conducted in contexts that are unfamiliar to the children.…”

“…By some accounts, an overuse of directives as a scaffold may slow children's progress toward independence (Diaz et al, 1991), as they restrict the zone of proximal development. Some researchers have indicated that parents of children with language problems overuse directives and thus do not adequately support their children's movement toward independent knowledge and acquisitions within the zone of proximal development (e.g., Pellegrini, Brody, & Sigel, 1985;Poikkeus, Ahonen, Närhi, Lyytinen, & Rasku-Puttonen, 1999). The greater directiveness of mothers of children with language problems, as seen in some studies, has been interpreted as showing that the quality of maternal scaffolding inadequately compensates for their children's language weaknesses.…”