Unit 3 Language Disabilities Prepared by: Cicilia Evi GradDiplSc., M. Psi.

Definition Communication  the process participants use to exchange info and ideas, needs and desires Language  a socially shared code or conventional system for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rule- governed combinations of those symbols (Owens, 2001)

Language Paralinguistic elements  such as intonations, stress or emphasis, speed of delivery and pauses, that add emotion or attitude to what is being said Nonlinguistic elements  body language (facial expressions, posture and eye contact) Metalinguistic elements  include thinking and talking about language, and analysis of language

Language Problems Common in students with LD Important to address Language skills in early development of LD  why? Used in everyday life  target for remediation Crucial to success in school Among the most common problems and haven’t been readily addressed

Classification Two major categories of language: Receptive Expressive Subdivided into major elements: Phonology - Pragmatics Syntax - Metalinguistic elements Morphology Semantics

Receptive Language Refers to listener’s behavior  how skilled is the listener to understand what is heard Receive the message and comprehend it Involves: attending to the speaker and the speaker’s delivery of language hearing the specific sounds  identifying how the sounds go together  recognizing and understanding the groupings  comprehend the message

Expressive Language Refers to the production of language  requires using many language abilities Make sounds  create words  make phrases and sentences  and so forth …

Receptive and Expressive Dysnomia  word-finding problems Seems to talk in fits and starts, stumble over words, rephrase what they are saying, or substitute the word thing for words they can’t remember at that moment Dysarthia  includes slurred speech and sounding hoarse Apraxia  seem to be very hard to speak, talk slowly and have greatest difficulty with starting to say words

Phonology The study of the sound system of language Phoneme  the smallest unit of sounds The development includes the understanding of different combinations or patterns of sounds that convey differences in meaning, physical mechanism for articulation and auditory perception of differences in sounds Babbling at age 3-6 months  crucial stage

Phonology (2) Linked to achievement in reading Students with LD have difficulties in: identifying sounds, segmenting and blending sounds, and in auditory discrimination Sana – mana ; bagi – pagi

Syntax The patterns or rules people use to put words together into sentences  understood implicitly by those who speak the language Help us to comprehend the message even though we don’t the words in it Before 3-4 years old  Ma ji anto ; Papa mam ue Students with LD  hard to understand sentence with ambiguous meanings

Morphology The meaning of words Morpheme  smallest unit of meaning in a language Developed at age 4-7 years old  related to cognitive development and the complexity of morphemes Students with LD  ending for verb tenses, possessives and plurals

Semantics The study of meanings of words and words in groups, particularly sentences Using contextual clues Lexicon  individual’s library  at 18 months: 50 words Explosion happens during preschool period  apprx 5 new words daily Students with LD have difficulties in Vocabulary

Pragmatics The way in which language is used in social situations The way we speak depends on whom we are speaking to, the reason why and many more Developed during preschool years  learn to take listener’s perspective Students with LD  hard to adjust with their listener’s perspective or using enough description for their listener

Metalinguistic Awareness Refers to our ability to think about language  includes phonemic awareness  ability to blend sounds, segment the sounds of words, rhyme and manipulate the sounds of spoken words

Assessments Standardized  p. 343 (table 11.3), p. 344 (table 11.4) Informal  language observation, specific language tasks and language sample (spontaneous, imitation and elicited) p. 344 Monitoring progress  based on curriculum  samples of language taken from classroom context, dialogue within the classroom and observation in engaged discussion with peers

Intervention General principles and Accommodations (p. 349-350) Semantic Feature Analysis (p. 352) Keyword Mnemonics (p. 352  frog) Teaching in Context or Conversation Phonemic Awareness Statement Repetition