The Dimensionality of Language Ability in Four-Year-Olds: Construct Validation of a Language Screening Tool

Longitudinal relationships between language and verbal short-term memory skills in children with Down syndrome

“…This suggestion aligns well with results from a recent study of the dimensionality of language skills in kindergarten-age children that provided support for a general language factor in 4-year-olds (Klem, Gustafsson, & Hagtvet, 2015). It is clear that in order to assess the factor structure of language skills in children with Down syndrome much larger samples of children would be needed.…”

Socioeconomic background, nonverbal IQ and school absence affects the development of vocabulary and reading comprehension in children living in severe poverty

“…What is also striking is that vocabulary shows remarkable developmental rank-order stability. This implies that, while children broaden their vocabularies over time, they also develop these vocabularies in parallel trajectories; therefore, the children who start off behind do not tend to catch up with the ones who started out more strongly (Blaga et al, 2009;Bornstein, Hahn, Putnick, & Suwalsky, 2014;Klem, Gustafsson, & Hagtvet, 2015;Lervåg, Hulme, & Melby-Lervåg, 2017). There is a strong relationship between children's vocabulary and the number of words and complexity of the sentences they experience at home (Hart & Risley, 1995;Pan, Rowe, Singer, & Snow, 2005).…”

Investigation of the language tasks to include in a short‐language measure for children in the early school years

“…, Klem et al . , Tomblin and Zhang ). In accordance with these studies, no independent receptive, expressive, semantic or grammar abilities were identified.…”

“…, Klem et al . , Tomblin and Zhang ). There is also evidence indicating that language ability is composed of two distinct components of language (specifically, that grammar and semantics are distinct abilities) in the early school years (Lonigan and Milburn , Pentimonti et al .…”

“…Several studies have investigated the structure of language ability in population-representative samples. Amongst these studies, there is evidence to indicate that language in the early school years is composed of one main component: that is, the domains and modalities of language are interrelated and contribute to the assessment of one ability (general language ability) (Anthony et al 2014, Colledge et al 2002, Klem et al 2015, Tomblin and Zhang 2006. There is also evidence indicating that language ability is composed of two distinct components of language (specifically, that grammar and semantics are distinct abilities) in the early school years (Lonigan and Milburn 2017, Pentimonti et al 2015, Tomblin and Zhang 2006.…”