Children with Specific Language Impairment

Bol

Introduction The infantile language acquisition is, under normal circumstances, a quick as well as robust event in every child's life. Naturally, a child is able to acquire the language it is surrounded by rather easily, effortlessly and successfully. After all, it usually leads to accurate and fluent language habits which are not impaired in any way. 'In most children, normal language development depends on opportunity, good hearing and the absence of underlying neurological problems' (Warwick 2003, p.11). If, on the other hand, the infantile development is impaired, e.g. due to cognitive, social-emotional or sensory deficits, the language acquisition may often be affected, too. Apart from this, there are many children (approximately 15%) who do not use more than 50 words and barely any elaborate word combinations when they are two years old, even though they don't show any primary impairments (cf. Dannenbauer 2003). No apparent reason for their delayed language development can be found. Still, not less than half of these so-called 'late talkers' are able to (linguistically) catch up with their peers in pre-school age (cf. ibd.). However, the other part of those 'late talkers' can reveal compact and persistent deficiencies in their receptive and/ or expressive use of language without showing any primary impairment such as mental retardation or another disability. Even so, these children remain behind their contemporaries in their language comprehension as well as language production. Individual children whose language is impaired in that way, in spite of being cognitively 'normal', are diagnosed with 'Specific Language Impairment'. This paper will deal with this language disorder and try to show an outline of this phenomenon.

Bol Partner

Approximately five percent of all children are born with the disorder known as specific language impairment (SLI). These children show a significant deficit in spoken language ability with no obvious accompanying condition such as mental retardation, neurological damage, or hearing impairment. Children with Specific Language Impairment covers all aspects of SLI, including its history, possible genetic and neurobiological origins, and clinical and educational practice. The book highlights important research strategies in the quest to find the cause of SLI and to develop methods of prevention and treatment. It also explores how knowledge of SLI may add to our understanding of language organization and development in general. Leonard does not limit his study to English, but shows how SLI is manifested in speakers of other languages. Although his focus is on children, he also discusses adults who exhibited SLI as children, as well as parents of children with the disorder whose own language abilities became the object of study.