Maria Adelaida Restrepo

Purpose: This longitudinal study examined the development of complex syntax in Spanish–English bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD) from prekindergarten (PK) to 3rd grade. We evaluated syntactic complexity and grammaticality using Subordination Index (SI) and ungrammaticality (UG), overall subordinate clause use using the percentage of complex utterances, and subordinate clause-type development (nominal, adverbial, and relative clauses) in English and Spanish. Method: Fifty-four bilingual children (39 typically developing TDL, 15 DLD) completed narrative retells in English and Spanish in PK, 1st, and 3rd grade. Language samples were analyzed using SALT-derived SI and UG measures, and utterances were coded for subordinate clause presence and type. Linear mixed models examined the effects of Grade and Group separately by language and outcome. Results: Both groups showed developmental increases in syntactic complexity and subordination across grades, but patterns differed by language. In English, TDL and DLD children showed broadly similar growth, with no significant group differences in SI, overall subordinate clause use, or clause-type production. In Spanish, the heritage language, group differences were more pronounced. TDL children showed significant gains in overall subordination and nominal clause use, whereas children with DLD showed limited growth after 1st grade. Clause-type analyses revealed reduced growth and lower diversity of subordinate clauses in Spanish among children with DLD, particularly for nominal clauses. Conclusions: Complex syntax developed in both groups across languages; however, Spanish showed greater vulnerability than English, particularly for children with DLD. Clause-type analyses revealed group differences not fully captured by global syntactic measures, highlighting the importance of examining complex syntax in the heritage language. This study provides longitudinal evidence of distinct syntactic trajectories across the two languages in bilingual children with and without DLD.

Purpose: In this clinical focus article, we illustrate the need for early identification and differentiation of emergent bilingual kindergarteners as English learners, students with developmental language disorder (DLD), both, or neither, given the intersection of different policies and practices in these populations. We discuss the importance of speech-language screening for bilinguals in kindergarten and call for state- and district-level policy changes to correctly distinguish each bilingual student's language and educational needs. Method: We evaluated the language skills of 24 kindergarten emergent Spanish–English bilinguals attending elementary schools in the greater Phoenix area. We analyzed language proficiency, language assessment, school placement, and home language questionnaires. Results: A little over half of the students (54.2%) were placed correctly based on our assessments; however, the remaining 11 students (45.8%) fell into the following three diagnostic profiles: (a) underidentification of DLD, (b) overidentification of DLD, and (c) overidentification of English learners. We illustrate these potential scenarios of misidentification and make recommendations on how changes to initial English learner identification and the early involvement of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can help avoid student misclassifications and long-term negative repercussions. Conclusion: District- and state-level policymakers should consider adding questions to their home language survey, and SLPs should advocate for early speech-language screenings for emergent bilingual kindergarteners to correctly differentiate students who may require English language programming, special education services, both, or neither. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.32609181

Purpose: Poor reading comprehension performance by children in the United States is a continuing concern. Early identification and intervention can reduce the number of children with significant reading problems. We documented prekindergarten and kindergarten predictors of Grade 6 reading comprehension for English monolingual and Spanish–English bilingual groups and identified measures available to educators to flag children at risk for future reading comprehension problems. Method: In Grade 6, children in the monolingual ( n = 88) and bilingual ( n = 95) groups completed a reading comprehension measure. These children were in a longitudinal study with previously completed code-related, vocabulary, grammar, listening comprehension, higher level language, working memory, and nonverbal IQ measures in prekindergarten and kindergarten. Results: Data were analyzed separately by language group. We fit a series of Bayesian mixed-effects models incorporating prekindergarten and kindergarten measures as predictors. For the monolingual group, the most promising prekindergarten predictor was letter identification, and the most promising kindergarten predictors were vocabulary, grammar/morphology, and listening comprehension. For the bilingual group, the most promising prekindergarten predictors were English vocabulary, listening comprehension in Spanish, and memory updating in Spanish, and the most promising kindergarten predictor was English vocabulary. Conclusions: We suggest measures that could be administered in prekindergarten and kindergarten to flag students who may be at risk for future reading comprehension problems. We review other steps that schools and families may take to prevent reading comprehension problems. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.32885270

Purpose: This study examined the longitudinal development of English oral narrative macrostructure in bilingual children while controlling for listening comprehension in both their first (Spanish) and second (English) languages. We specifically analyzed growth patterns in narrative macrostructure among children with typical versus low language (LL) skills. Method: This longitudinal study followed 102 Spanish–English bilingual children from prekindergarten through third grade. The Monitoring Indicators of Scholarly Language were used to assess growth trajectories in macrostructure through English narrative retells. Results: Overall, the findings revealed a positive and significant trend in the growth of English narrative macrostructure from preschool through third grade, as observed in individual story elements and the overall score. Generalized additive models revealed distinct growth patterns among macrostructure elements. Conclusions: The developmental trajectories of narrative elements vary over time, which may inform clinicians in identifying treatment targets. Although children with LL skills showed some performance differences, these were not statistically significant. This study underscores the important predictive role of listening comprehension in both the first and second languages for narrative macrostructure development.

Purpose: The study's purpose was to develop and select items for a caregiver-completed screening tool to assess children for dyslexia and developmental language disorder (DLD). Method: Participants were recruited from community centers, schools and pediatric offices. Caregivers clicked a QR code on a flyer to access the consent and questionnaire, or contacted the research assistant to access them, and completed the screening measure designed to assess the risk of DLD and dyslexia. Then, children completed a gold-standard battery that included language, reading, phonological awareness, rapid naming, and memory measures. Results: Participants included 149 children and their caregivers. We used unadjusted logistic regressions to estimate the predictive value of each individual survey question for dyslexia, DLD, and typical development (TD) to retain questions at p < 0.05. Then, three stepwise logistic regressions were run to obtain a final, restricted model using the outcomes of dyslexia, DLD, and TD vs. any other diagnosis. Analyses indicated that the best-fitting model predicting TD vs. other groups in the combined sample included 14 items. The AUC for this set was 0.84. The specificity and sensitivity were 0.69 and 0.80, respectively. For the monolingual and bilingual samples separately, AUCs and sensitivity values were all greater than 0.80, and specificity values were 0.69 or above. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the 14-item screener may effectively identify children at risk for dyslexia and DLD. Further validation, including the development and testing of additional items in a large, representative sample, is needed to establish its validity at the population level.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation of the shared reading beliefs and practices of Indian families in the United States to inform the adaptation of early language interventions for cultural responsivity. Method: Five parents completed surveys, a semistructured interview about their culture and reading beliefs, and a shared reading observation with their children. Surveys were analyzed quantitatively. Semistructured interviews were analyzed using an interpretivist approach with inductive and deductive codes. Shared reading observations were analyzed using the Adult–Child Interactive Reading Inventory and coding of all extratextual talk. Results: Data from surveys demonstrated that reading was an important activity for Indian American parents, and they all had reading routines in place. Interviews highlighted cultural influences on reading practices and parenting. Shared reading observations revealed that parents' most common interactive reading behavior was pointing at pictures and letters in books. They also frequently repeated and expanded their children's utterances. Potential adaptations to shared reading as an intervention for cultural responsiveness are suggested. Conclusions: Shared book reading that capitalizes on existing values, practices, and funds of knowledge shows promise as a culturally responsive intervention for Indian American families. Further experimental research is needed to assess the efficacy of culturally responsive adaptations for language development. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.31584154

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine English reading comprehension skills in Spanish–English bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). In particular, we examined the contribution of Spanish and English oral language skills and of the language of instruction (i.e., English only or dual language) to English reading comprehension outcomes. Method: Fifty-nine (26 with DLD) children participated in a battery of standardized testing, including Spanish oral language, English oral language, and English reading comprehension assessments. Results: On the English reading comprehension assessment, children with typical development outperformed children with DLD. Quantile regressions revealed that oral language skills were significantly correlated with English reading comprehension skills, with the most consistent relationship for English oral language skills and the strongest correlations for children with lower oral language skills, regardless of language (i.e., English and/or Spanish). Differences in English reading comprehension between children in English-only and dual-language classrooms were marginally significant, favoring children in dual-language education. Conclusions: Reading comprehension is an area of difficulty for bilingual children with DLD. English reading comprehension outcomes in bilingual children are most related to oral language skills in English; however, Spanish oral language explains additional variance in English reading comprehension outcomes. The results suggest that dual-language classrooms may be beneficial for bilingual children with language impairments.

We investigated whether congruent action while reading informational texts about physics improves science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) vocabulary learning and reading comprehension. Second- and third-grade Spanish-speaking children ( N = 216) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions implementing forms of Embodied-Action or Read-Only no-action conditions. In the three Embodied-Action conditions: (a) children individually read and moved images on an iPad screen to simulate the meaning of the sentences; or (b) children read and moved images and an intelligent tutoring system updated a vocabulary page depending on how often children tapped on target words in the text; or (c) the experimenter and children both read aloud and used whole-body pantomime to mimic the actions presented in the text. In the two Read-Only no-action conditions: (d) children individually read the text on the iPad, but did not perform any movement of the images on the screen; or (e) the experimenter and children read the text aloud together but did not perform any pantomime. Our results show that both types of Embodied Action (using screen or pantomime) significantly enhanced informational text comprehension and STEM-related vocabulary learning relative to the Read-Only no-action conditions. Our findings support the effectiveness of incorporating embodied action, whether or not technology is used. Teachers can easily implement action-based vocabulary and reading comprehension strategies in their classrooms.

Purpose: The Parent–Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English (Parent EMBRACE) program offers a bilingual parent-training literacy intervention for Latino families. Within the context of shared book reading, the application leverages both the home language and technology to increase parent question-asking during shared reading. Research goals were to (a) examine the potential of the Parent EMBRACE tutoring system at teaching parents to increase the quantity and variety of their question-asking during shared book reading, (b) examine changes to parents' reading attitudes or motivation, and (c) examine whether children's reading attitude is correlated with parent interactions. Method: Twenty-one participants were randomized into three conditions: a digital storybook (DS) group ( n = 7), an interactive storybook (EMBRACE) group ( n = 6), and a parent-teaching interactive storybook (Parent EMBRACE) group ( n = 8). Participants received iPads with digital storybooks for use during the intervention (in which the parent-teaching group received prompts from the app to ask questions while reading). Shared book reading assessments before and after the intervention involved hard-copy books, and behaviors were analyzed using video-recorded reading sessions before and after the intervention. Group differences were explored using descriptive analysis. Reading attitude and motivation were measured through pre- and post-intervention surveys. The relationship between parent interactions and reading attitudes was explored through regression. Results: Results indicate that after the intervention, four out of seven parents in the parent-teaching interactive storybook group asked more questions to their children. Parents' reading attitudes and motivations did not significantly change. There was a nonlinear relationship with parent interactions and children's reading attitude. Conclusion: Overall, the Parent EMBRACE tool shows feasibility and warrants further study on its efficacy as a linguistically responsive literacy-based language intervention for Latino parents to develop shared book reading strategies.