HESP in the News Following a Major Conference
22 March, 2012
by Elizabeth Van Dolah
Hearing and Speech Professor Nan Ratner attended the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in
Vancouver, Canada where her research on child language development was a hot
topic for several notable media outlets interested in the effects of “late
talkers” on cognitive development.
Professor Ratner has been working with colleagues
to develop a language test for two year olds that will help identify children
with slower-than-average language development. The test asks parents to select
from 310 words those words that their 2-year old knows. Children with normal
language development skills are able to speak between 75-225 words by the age
of two. Children who know 50 words or less are identified as “late talkers.”
The researchers are monitoring late talkers through the age of 17 to ensure
other factors, such as poor hearing, autism, or mental impairments are not
inhibiting factors. 80% of children who are classified as “late talkers”
eventually catch up with their peers by the time they reach school age.
However, it is impossible to determine which children may fall into the
remaining 20%, and what factors are compromising their language development. Monitoring
these children will help address potential impairments before they become
serious.
There are other factors that the researchers have identified as
associated with “late talkers.” Bilingual children often take longer to learn
language due in large part to the fact that they hear less of each language during
the learning process and therefore take more time to build a foundation in each.
The rate at which these children are learning each language, however, is equal
to the rate that a child learns one language. Another factor identified by
Ratner and colleagues is limited social interactions from television exposure.
Children require person-to-person interaction to learn language, and while
sitting a child in front of a television or computer screen does not negate
language development, it has demonstrated to slow their language learning
progress.
To read more on Dr. Ratner’s research, please visit the
following links:
UK Press Association
The Guardian
The Independent (UK)
Naharnet Newsdesk
