Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Developmental Language Impairment: Conceptual Issues and Prospects of an Evolutionary Approach

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Language Evolution and Developmental Impairments

  • 347 Accesses

Abstract

The concept of specific language impairment (SLI) is discussed and abandoned in view of recent research. The co-morbidity of developmental language impairments and other neurodevelopmental disorders (for example, deafness), show that language difficulties are rarely specific to language. However, high rates of heritability warrant an inquiry into the genetic etiology of developmental language impairment. Language is a polygenetic trait and depends on a cluster of genes; some of them are controlled by the FOXP2 gene. Early interactions between child and caregiver show the instinct to learn language and also the epigenetic reasons for developmental language impairments. The chapter discusses how developmental language impairment can be distinguished from other neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly Asperger syndrome.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ackermann, H., Hage, S. R., & Ziegler, W. (2014). Brain mechanisms of acoustic communication in humans and nonhuman primates: An evolutionary perspective. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37, 529–546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. D., Gathercole, S. E., & Papagno, C. (1998). The phonological loop as a language learning device. Psychological Review, 105, 158–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 8). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. D., & Wilson, B. (1985). Phonological coding and short-term memory in patients without speech. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 490–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bickerton, D. (2014). More than nature needs: Language, mind and evolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. V. (1997). Uncommon understanding. Development of disorders of language comprehension in children. East Sussex, UK: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. V. (2010). Overlaps between autism and language impairment: Phenomimicry or shared etiology. Behavior Genetics, 40, 618–629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. V. (2014). Ten questions about terminology for children with unexplained language problems. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 49, 381–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. V. (2015). The interface between genetics and psychology: Lessons from developmental dyslexia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1806), 20143139. doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.3139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. V., North, T., & Donlan, C. (1995). Genetic basis of specific language impairment: Evidence from a twin study. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 37, 56–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Botting, N., & Conti-Ramsden, G. (2001). Non-word repetition and language development in children with specific language impairment (SLI). International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 36, 421–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briscoe, J., Bishop, D. V., & Norbury, C. F. (2001). Phonological processing, language, and literacy: A comparison of children with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss with specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 329–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B. B., & Elder, J. H. (2014). Communication in autism spectrum disorder: A guide for pediatric nurses. Pediatric Nursing, 40, 219–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B. B., & Hulme, C. (1996). Nonword repetition, STM, and age-of-acquisition versus pronunciation-time limits in immediate recall for forgetting-matched acquisition: A computational model. In S. E. Gathercole (Ed.), Models of short-term memory. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandrasekaran, B., Yi, H. G., Blanco, N. J., McGeary, J. E., & Maddox, W. T. (2015). Enhanced procedural learning of speech sound categories in a genetic variant of FOXP2. The Journal of Neuroscience, 35, 7808–7812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conti-Ramsden, G., Crutchley, A., & Botting, N. (1997). The extent to which psychometric tests differentiate subgroups of children with SLI. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 40, 765–777.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conway, C. M., Gremp, M. A., Walk, A. D., Bauernschmidt, A., & Pisoni, D. B. (2014). Can we enhance domain-general learning abilities to improve language function? In P. Rebuschat & J. N. Williams (Eds.), Statistical learning and language acquisition. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conway, C. M., & Pisoni, D. B. (2008). Neurocognitive basis of implicit learning of sequential structure and its relation to language processing. Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, 1145, 113–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darold, A., & Treffert, M. D. (2011). Hyperlexia III: Separating ‘Autistic-like’ behaviors from autistic disorder: Assessing children who read early or speak late. WMJ, 110, 281–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennett, D. C. (1983). Intentional systems in cognitive ethology: The ‘Pan-glossian paradigm’ defended. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 6, 343–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dollaghan, C., & Campbell, T. F. (1998). Nonword repetition and child language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41, 1136–1146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher, S., & Varga, S. (2015). Conceptual issues in autism spectrum disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 28, 127–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrod, S., & Pickering, M. J. (2004). Why is conversation so easy? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 8–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gathercole, S. E. (1995). Is nonword repetition a test of phonological memory or long-term knowledge? It all depends on the nonwords. Memory & Cognition, 23, 83–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gathercole, S. E., & Baddeley, A. D. (1990). Phonological memory deficits in language disordered children: Is there a causal connection? Journal of Memory and Language, 29, 336–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gathercole, S. E., Tiffany, C., Briscoe, J., Thorn, A., & The ALSPAC Team. (2005). Developmental consequences of poor phonological short-term memory function in childhood: A longitudinal study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 598–611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gervain, J., & Mehler, J. (2010). Speech perception and language acquisition in the first year of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 191–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillam, R. B., Frome Loeb, D., & Friel-Patty, S. (2001). A summary of five exploratory studies of FastFor Word. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 10, 269–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Girbau-Massana, D., Garcia-Marti, G., Marti-Bonmati, L., & Schwarz, R. G. (2014). Grey-white matter and cerebrospinal fluid volume differences in children with specific language impairment and/or reading disability. Neuropsychologia, 56, 90–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gold, R., Faust, M., & Goldstein, A. (2010). Semantic integration during metaphor comprehension in Asperger syndrome. Brain & Language, 113, 124–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herman, R., Holmes, S., & Woll, B. (1999). Assessing British Sign Language Development: Receptive Skills Test. UK: Forest Bookshop.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, E. L. (2001). Non-specific nature of specific language impairment: A review of the literature with regard to concomitant motor impairments. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 36, 149–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsu, H. J., & Bishop, D. V. (2011). Grammatical difficulties in children with specific language impairment: Is learning deficient? Human Development, 55, 264–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lai, C. S. L., Fisher, S. E., Hurst, J. A., Varga-Kadem, F., & Monaco, A. P. (2001). A novel forkhead-domain gene is mutated in a severe speech and language disorder. Nature, 413, 519–523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, L. B. (1998). Children with specific language impairment. MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, K., Rowley, K., Marshall, C. R., Atkinson, J. R., Herman, R., Woll, B., et al. (2010). Identifying specific language impairment in deaf children acquiring British Sign Language: Implications for theory and practice. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28, 33–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menenti, L., Pickering, M. J., & Garrod, S. (2012). Toward a neural basis of interactive alignment in conversation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merzenich, M. M., Jenkins, W. M., Johnston, P., Schriener, C. E., Miller, S. L., & Tallal, P. (1996). Temporal processing deficits of language-learning impaired children ameliorated by training. Science, 271, 77–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, G. (2005). Biology and behavior: Insights from the acquisition of sign language. In A. Cutler (Ed.), Twenty-first century psycholinguistics. Four cornerstones. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, G., Herman, R., & Woll, B. (2007). Language impairments in sign language: Breakthroughs and puzzles. International Journal of Communication Disorders, 42, 97–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reilly, S., Bishop, D. V., & Tomblin, B. (2014). Terminological debate over language impairment in children: Forward movement and sticking points. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 49, 452–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reilly, S., Tomblin, B., Law, J., McKean, C., Mensah, F., Morgan, A., et al. (2014). Specific language impairment: A convenient label for whom? International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 49, 416–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sato, W., Uono, S., & Toichi, M. (2013). Atypical recognition of dynamic changes in facial expressions in autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7, 906–912.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sciberras, E., Mueller, K., Efron, D., Bisset, M., Anderson, V., Schilpzand, E. J., et al. (2014). Language problems in children with ADHD: A community-based study. Pediatrics, 133, 793–800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi, D. Y., Narayanan, D. Z., & Ghazanfar, A. A. (2013). Coupled oscillator dynamics of vocal turn-taking in monkeys. Current Biology, 23, 2162–2168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi, K., Liu, F.-C., Hirokawa, K., & Takahashi, H. (2003). Expression of Foxp2, a gene involved in speech and language, in the developing and adult striatum. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 73, 61–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tallal, P. (1976). Rapid auditory processing in normal and disordered language development. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 9, 182–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • The SLI Consortium. (2002). A genomewide scan identifies two novel loci involved in specific language impairment. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 70, 384–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ullman, M. T. (2004). Contributions of memory circuits to language: The declarative/procedural model. Cognition, 92, 231–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ullman, M. T., & Pierpoint, E. I. (2005). Specific language impairment is not specific to language: The procedural deficit hypothesis. Cortex, 41, 399–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Balkom, H., Verhoeven, L., & van Weerdenburg, M. (2010). Conversational behaviour of children with developmental language delay and their caretakers. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 37, 295–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weismer, S. E., & Kover, S. T. (2015). Preschool language variation, growth, and predictors in children on the autism spectrum. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56, 1327–37. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Arild Lian

Authors
  1. Arild Lian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lian, A. (2016). Developmental Language Impairment: Conceptual Issues and Prospects of an Evolutionary Approach. In: Language Evolution and Developmental Impairments. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58746-6_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation