Agenda
Vânia Correia de Aguiar
Word properties as a window to language processing in children with language disorders
Vocabulary knowledge is most often evaluated in children with language disorders using measures that estimate the size of vocabulary. While well-established, such measures only scratch the surface in terms of describing language difficulties. When using them, we learn that some children know few words, but not the underlying nature of their difficulties.
In this colloquium, I will show how the critical variable approach can be employed to spontaneous speech data to clarify the psycholinguistic nature of language difficulties. I will present research findings using data from late talkers, from bilinguals with Developmental Language Disorder, from survivors of pediatric brain tumors, as well as typically developing children. The added value and limitations of this approach will be discussed.