Keywords:
developmental language disorders, Primary Language Impairment, Developmental DyslexiaCopyright (c) 2022 CHIMERA: Romance Corpora and Linguistic Studies
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Primary Language Impairment (PLI) and Developmental Dyslexia (DD) are developmental disorders which primarily affect language (and language-related abilities) from childhood onwards. Recent studies on DD have evidenced morphosyntactic weaknesses, in conjunction with a core phonological impairment. Therefore, compelling parallelism between children with DD and PLI is inferred. In the present paper, we will address the trivial issue of the relationship between the two disorders by discussing Italian data from a two-case study. In order to do so, we collected, transcribed and analyzed samples of spontaneous and elicited speech of two Italian speaking children. In addition, we proved their linguistic abilities by conducting standardized tests in order to evaluate the disruption of any linguistic level, with particular reference to phonology and morphosyntax. We intend to support the Comorbidity Model, which holds the view that PLI and DD are distinct but potentially comorbid developmental disorders.
Downloads
References
Altmann, L. J. P., Lombardino, L. J. & Puranik, C. 2008. Sentence production in students with dyslexia. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 43(1): 55-76.
American Psychiatric Association 2014. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
Arosio, F., Branchini, C., Barbieri, L. & Guasti, M. T. 2014. Failure to produce direct object clitic pronouns as a clinical marker of SLI in school-aged Italian speaking children. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 28: 639-663.
Arosio, F., Pagliarini, E., Perugini, M., Barbieri, L. & Guasti, M. T. 2016. Morphosyntax and logical abilities in Italian poor readers: the problem of SLI misidentification. First Language 36(3): 295-315.
Arosio, F., Panzeri, F., Molteni, B., Magazù, S. & Guasti, M. T. 2017. The comprehension of Italian relative clauses in poor readers and in children with Specific Language Impairment. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 2(1)(9): 1-25.
Bar-Shalom, E., Crain, S. & Shankweiler, D. 1993. A comparison of comprehension and production abilities of good and poor readers. Applied Psycholinguics 14: 197-227.
Berruto, G. 2012. Sociolinguistica dell'italiano contemporaneo. Roma: Carocci.
Bishop, D. V. M. & Edmundson, A. 1986. Is otitis media a major cause of specific developmental language disorders? British Journal of Disorders of Communication 21: 321-338.
Bishop, D. V. M. & Snowling, M. J. 2004. Developmental Dyslexia and Specific Language Impairment: Same or Different? Psychological Bulletin 130(6): 858-886.
Bisiacchi, P. S., Cendron, M., Gugliotta, M., Tressoldi, P. E. & Vio, C. 2005. Batteria di Valutazione Neuropsicologica per l’età evolutiva - BVN 5-11. Trento: Erickson.
Boets, B., Op de Beeck, H. P., Vandermosten, M., Scott, S. K., Gillebert, C. R., Mantini, D., Bulthé, J., Sunaert, S., Wouters, J. & Ghesquière, P. 2013. Intact but Less Accessible Phonetic Representations in Adults with Dyslexia. Science 342: 1251-1254.
Bortolini, U. 1995. I disordini fonologici. In G. Sabbadini (ed), Manuale di neuropsicologia dell’età evolutiva. Bologna: Zanichelli, 342-357.
Bortolini, U., Arfé, B., Caselli, M. C., Degasperi, L., Deevy, P. & Leonard, L. 2006. Clinical markers for specific language impairment in Italian: The contribution of clitics and nonword repetition. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 41: 695-712.
Brady, S. 1986. Short-Term Memory, Phonological Processing, and Reading Ability. Annals of Dyslexia 36: 138-153.
Bryant, P. E. & Bradley, L. 1985. Children’s Reading Problems: Psychology and Education. Oxford: Basic Blackwell.
Cantiani, C., Lorusso, M. L., Guasti, M. T., Sabisch, B. & Männel, C. 2013. Characterizing the morphosyntactic processing deficit and its relationship to phonology in developmental dyslexia. Neuropsychologia 51: 1595-1607.
Caramazza, A. 1986. On drawing inferences about the structure of normal cognitive systems from the analysis of patterns of impaired performance: The case for single-patient studies. Brain and Cognition 5(1): 41-66.
Cardinaletti, A. & Casani, E. 2019. Pragmatica nell’uso dei pronomi clitici diretti di terza persona singolare in bambini dislessici con e senza disturbo specifico del linguaggio. In E. Nuzzo & I. Vedder (eds), Lingua in contesto. La prospettiva pragmatica. Milano: AItLA, 9-27.
Cardinaletti, A., & Volpato, F. I. 2015. On the comprehension and production of passive sentences and relative clauses by Italian university students with dyslexia. In E. Di Domenico, C. Hamann, & S. Matteini (eds), Structures, Strategies and Beyond. Studies in honour of Adriana Belletti. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 279-301.
Casalis, S., Leuwers, C. & Hilton, H. 2013. Syntactic comprehension in reading and listening: a study with French children with dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities 46(3): 210-219.
Chilosi, A. M. & Cipriani, P. 1995. Test di Comprensione Grammaticale per Bambini. Pisa: Edizioni del Cerro.
Chondrogianni, V., Marinis, T., Edwards, S. & Blom, E. 2015. Production and on-line comprehension of definite articles and clitic pronouns by Greek sequential bilingual children and monolingual children with specific language impairment. Applied Psycholinguistics 36: 1155-1191.
Cianchetti, C. & Sannio Fancello, G. 1997. Test di valutazione del linguaggio. Trento: Erickson.
Coltheart, M., Rastle, K., Perry, C., Langdon, R., & Ziegler, J. 2001. DRC: a dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. Psychological Review 108(1): 204-256.
Contemori, C. & Garraffa, M. 2010. Comparison of modalities in SLI syntax: A study on the comprehension and production of non-canonical sentences. Lingua 120: 1940-1955.
Contemori, C. & Marinis, T. 2014. The impact of number mismatch and passives on the real-time processing of relative clauses. Journal of Child Language 41: 658-689.
Cornoldi, C., Colpo, G. & Carretti, B. 2017. Prove MT 1-2 - Prove di valutazione. Firenze: Giunti EDU.
Couvignou, M., Peretz, I. & Ramus, F. 2019. Comorbidity and cognitive overlap between developmental dyslexia and congenital amusia. Cognitive Neuropsychology 36 (1-2): 1-17.
De Jong, P. F. & van der Leij, A. 2003. Developmental changes in the manifestation of a phonological deficit in dyslexic children learning to read a regular orthography. Journal of Educational Psychology 95: 22-40.
Delage, H. & Durrleman, S. 2018. Developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment: Distinct syntactic profiles? Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 32(8): 758-785.
Di Betta, A. M. & Romani, C. 2006. Lexical learning and dysgraphia in a group of adults with developmental dyslexia. Cognitive Neuropsychology 23(3): 376-400.
Ebert, K. & Kohnert, K. 2009. Non-linguistic cognitive treatment for primary language impairment. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 23: 647-664.
Edwards, J. & Lahey, M. 1996. Auditory lexical decisions of children with Specific Language Impairment. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 38: 1263-1273.
Fabbro, F. 1999. Esame del linguaggio. http://www.sv.lnf.it/batterie_linguaggio/batteria%202005.pdf
Fanzago, F. 1983. Test di Valutazione dell'articolazione. Padova: Centro Stampa Palazzo Maldura.
Fenson, L., Dale, P. S., Reznick, J. S., Thal, D., Bates, E., Hartung, J. P., Pethick, S. & Reilly, J. S. 1993. The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories: User’s guide and technical manual. San Diego: Singular Publishing Group.
Fisher, S. E. & DeFries, J. C. 2002. Developmental dyslexia: Genetic dissection of a complex cognitive trait. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 3: 767-780.
Flaugnacco, E., Lopez, L., Terribili, C., Zoia, S., Buda, S., Tilli, S., Monasta, L., Montico, M., Sila, A., Ronfani, L. & Schön, D. 2014. Rhythm perception and production predict reading abilities in developmental dyslexia. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 8: Art. 392.
Friedmann, N. & Novogrodsky, R. 2004. The acquisition of relative clause comprehension in Hebrew: a study of SLI and normal development. Journal of Child Language 31(3): 661-681.
Gilger, J. W., Pennington, B. F. & DeFries, J. C. 1991. Risk for reading disability as a function of parental history in three family studies. Reading and Writing 3: 205-218.
Goswami, U. 2000. Phonological Representations, Reading Development and Dyslexia: Towards a Cross-Linguistic Theoretical Framework. Dyslexia 6: 133-151.
Goswami, U. 2011. A temporal sampling framework for developmental dyslexia. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 15: 3-10.
Goswami, U., Huss, M., Mead, N., Fosker, T. & Verney, J. P. 2013. Perception of patterns of musical beat distribution in phonological developmental dyslexia: Significant longitudinal relations with word reading and reading comprehension. Cortex 49(5):1363-1376.
Gray, S. & Brinkley S. 2011. Fast mapping and word learning by preschoolers with specific language impairment in a supported learning context: effect of encoding cues, phonotactic probability, and object familiarity. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 54(3): 870-884.
Grela, B. G. & Leonard, L. B. 2000. The influence of argument-structure complexity on the use of auxiliary verbs by children with SLI. Journal of Speech Language & Hearing Research 43(5): 1115-1125.
Guasti, M. T. 2007. L'acquisizione del linguaggio. Un'introduzione. Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.
Guasti, M.T., Branchini, C., Vernice, M., Barbieri, L. & Arosio, F. 2015. Language disorders in children with developmental dyslexia. In S. Stavrakaki (ed), Advances on Research on Specific Language Impairment. John Benjiamins, 35-56.
Guasti, M. T., Stavrakaki, S., & Arosio, F. 2008. Number and Case in the comprehension of relative clauses: Evidence from Italian and Greek. Studies in Linguistics 2: 101-118.
Huss, M., Verney, J. P., Fosker, T., Mead, N. & Goswami, U. 2011. Music, rhythm, rise time perception and developmental dyslexia: Perception of musical meter predicts reading and phonology. Cortex 47(6): 674-689.
Ingram, D. (1992). Early phonological acquisition. A cross-linguistic perspective. In C. A. Ferguson, L. Menn, & C. Stoel-Gammon (eds), Phonological Development: Models, Research, Implications. Timonium, MD: York Press, 423-435.
Jakubowicz, C. & Tuller, L. 2008. Specific Language Impairment in French. In D. Ayoun (ed), Studies in French Applied Linguistics. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins, 97-134.
Joanisse, M. F., Manis, F. R., Keating, P. & Seidenberg, M. S. 2000. Language Deficits in Dyslexic Children: Speech Perception, Phonology, and Morphology. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 77: 30-60.
Kamhi, A. G. & Catts, H. W. (1986). Toward an understanding of developmental language and reading disorders. Journal of Speech and Reading Disorders 51: 337-347.
Leonard, L. B. 1989. Language learnability and specific language impairment in children. Applied Psycholinguistics 10: 179-202.
Leonard, L. B. 1998. Children with specific language impairment. The MIT Press.
Leonard, L. B. 2014. Children with Specific Language Impairment (2nd ed). London: MITPress.
Leonard, L. B., Wong, A. M.-Y., Deevy, P., Stokes, S. F. & Fletcher, P. 2006. The production of passives by children with specific language impairment: Acquiring English or Cantonese. Applied Psycholinguistics 27(2): 267-299.
Leong, V., Hamalainen, J., Soltesz, F. & Goswami, U. 2011. Rise time perception and detection of syllable stress in adults with developmental dyslexia. Journal of Memory and Language 64: 59-73.
Leppänen, P. H. T., Richardson, U., Pihko, E., Eklund, K. M., Guttorm, T. K., Aro, M., & Lyytinen, H. 2002. Brain responses reveal speech processing differences in infants at risk for dyslexia. Developmental Neuropsychology 22: 407-422.
Lewis, B. & Thompson, L. 1992. A study of developmental speech and language disorders in twins. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 35: 1086-1094.
Lewkowicz, N. K. 1980. Phonemic awareness training: What to teach and how to teach it. Journal of Educational Psychology 72(5): 686-700.
Marini, A., Tavano, A. & Fabbro, F. 2008. Assessment of linguistic abilities in children with Specific Language Impairment. Neuropsychologia 46: 2816-2823.
Marotta, G. 2017. Dislessia, grammatica e dintorni. In F. M. Dovetto (ed), Lingua e patologia. Le frontiere interdisciplinari del linguaggio. Roma: Aracne editrice, 83-111.
Marra, F. 2018. Disturbo Specifico del Linguaggio e Dislessia Evolutiva: uno studio empirico. MA diss., Università degli Studi di Pisa.
Marshall, C. R., Harcourt-Brown, S., Ramus, F. & van der Lely, H. K. 2009. The link between prosody and language skills in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and/or dyslexia. International Journal of Language Communication Disorders 44(4): 466-88.
Marshall, C.R. & van der Lely, 2009. Effects of Word Position and Stress on Onset Cluster Production: Evidence from Typical Development, Specific Language Impairment, and Dyslexia. Language, 85(1): 39-57.
Mattingly, I. G. 1972. Reading, the linguistic process and linguistic awareness. In J. F. Kavanagh & I. G. Mattingly (eds), Language by ear and by eye: The relationship be-tween speech and reading. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 133-147.
McCrory, E. 2001. A neurocognitive investigation of phonological processing in dyslexia. PhD diss., University College London.
Messaoud-Galusi, S. & Marshall, C. R. 2010. Introduction to this Special Issue Exploring the Overlap Between Dyslexia and SLI: The Role of Phonology. Scientific Studies of Reading 14(1): 1-7.
Ramus, F. 2001. Outstanding Questions about Phonological Processing in Dyslexia. Dyslexia 7: 197-216.
Ramus, F. & Ahissar, M. 2012. Developmental dyslexia: The difficulties of interpreting poor performance, and the importance of normal performance. Cognitive Neuropsychology 29(1-2): 104-122.
Ramus, F., Marshall, C. R., Rosen, S. & van der Lely, H. K. J. 2013. Phonological deficit in specific language disorder and developmental dyslexia: toward a multidimensional model. Brain 136: 630-645.
Ramus, F., Rosen, S., Dakin, S. C., Day, B. L., Castellote, J. M., White, S. & Frith, U. 2003. Theories of developmental dyslexia: insights from a multiple case study of dyslexic adults. Brain 126: 841-865.
Ramus, F. & Szenkovits, G. 2008. What phonological deficit? The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 61(1): 129-141.
Reggiani, D. 2010. Dyslexia and the Acquisition of Syntax: Passive and Control. PhD diss., Università di Verona.
Rice, M. L. & Blossom, M. 2013. What do children with Specific Language Impairment do with multiple forms of DO? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 56: 222-235.
Rice, M. L. & Wexler, K. 1996. Toward tense as a clinical marker of specific language impairment in English-speaking children. Journal of Speech & Hearing Research 39(6): 1239-1257.
Rice, M. L., Haney, K. R. & Wexler, K. 1998. Family histories of children with SLI who show extended optional infinitives. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 41(2): 419-432.
Richardson, U., Leppänen, P. H. T., Leiwo, M. & Lyytinen, H. 2003. Speech Perception of Infants with High Familial Risk for Dyslexia Differ at the Age of 6 Months. Developmental Neuropsychology 23(3): 385-397.
Rispens, J. E., Been, P. H. & Zwarts F. 2006. Brain responses to subject-verb agreement violations in spoken language in developmental dyslexia: an ERP study. Dyslexia 12(2): 134-149.
Rispens, J. E. & Been, P. 2007. Subject-verb agreement and phonological processing in developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment (SLI): A closer look. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 42(3): 293-305.
Rispens, J. E., Roeleven, S. & Koster, C. 2004. Sensitivity to subject-verb agreement in spoken language in children with developmental dyslexia. Journal of Neurolinguistics 17(5): 333-347.
Robertson, E. K., & Joanisse, M. F. (2010). Spoken sentence comprehension in children with dyslexia and language impairment: The roles of syntax and working memory. Applied Psycholinguistics 31: 141-165.
Samples, J. & Lane, V. 1985. Genetic possibilities in six siblings with specific language learning disorders. ASHA 27(12): 27-32.
Savoia, L. M. 2014. Introduzione alla fonetica e alla fonologia. Bologna: Zanichelli.
Savy, R. 2007. CLIPS. Specifiche per la trascrizione ortografica annotata dei testi. http://www.clips.unina.it/it/documenti/11_specifiche_trascrizione_ortografica.pdf. (Accessed: September 01, 2021).
Scarborough, H. S. 1990. Very Early Language Deficits in Dyslexic Children. Child Development 61(6): 1728-1743.
Scarborough, H. S. 1991. Antecedents to Reading Disability: Preschool Language Development and Literacy Experiences of Children from Dyslexic Families. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal 3: 219-233.
Snowling M. J. 2000. Dyslexia (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Snowling, M. J. 2014. Dyslexia: A language learning impairment. Journal of the British Academy 2: 43-58.
Snowling, M. & Hulme, C. 1994. The Development of Phonological Skills. Philosophical Transactions B 346(1315): 21–27.
Thomson, J.M. & Goswami, U. 2008. Rhythmic processing in children with developmental dyslexia: auditory and motor rhythms link to reading and spelling. Journal of Physiology - Paris 102: 120-129.
Tomblin, J.B., Records, N., Buckwalter, P., Zhang, X., Smith, E. & O’Brien, M. 1997. Prevalence of specific language impairment in kindergarten children. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 40: 1245-1260.
Verhoeven, L., Perfetti, C. & Pugh, K. 2019. Developmental Dyslexia across Languages and Writing Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wagner, R. K. & Torgesen, J. K. 1987. The Nature of Phonological Processing and Its Causal Role in the Acquisition of Reading Skills. Psychological Bulletin 101(2): 192-212.
Watkins, R. V. & Rice, M. L. 1991. Verb particle and preposition acquisition in language-impaired preschoolers. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 34: 1130-1141.
Wiseheart, R., Altmann, L. P., Park, H., & Lombardino, L. J. 2009. Sentence comprehension in young adults with developmental dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia: 151-167.
Zachou, A., Partesana, E., Tenca, E. & Guasti, M. 2013. Production and comprehension of direct object clitics and definite articles by Italian children with developmental dyslexia. In S. Stavrakaki, M. Lalioti & P. Konstantinopoulou (eds), Advances in Language Acquisition. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 464-471.