engleski

Language impairment – how about prereading? (A case study)

Objective Language is one of the most important prerequisites for reading and academic success. It is well documented that language impairment goes along with reading deficit. This facts emphasize the need for continuous assessment and intense training during the prereading period. Language deficit have various clinical manifestations. In the context of Croatian the most prominent features of this disorder are problems with morphology, syntax, phonological deficit, poor vocabulary, inappropriate semantics and the use of language. All of the language components contribute to reading in a different way and in different phases of reading. Materials and Methods The boy initially came to assessment in the age of 2.8. Parents' main concern was slow pace of language development. The results of the diagnostic procedure pointed to severe problems in acquiring language, in both, receptive and expressive domains. Cognitive abilities showed a discrepancy between verbal and nonverbal domain. The speech and language therapy started in the age of 3.8 (twice a week). Sessions were videotaped once a month ( between 4 and 7 years) and transcribed later. All of language parameters were analyzed. Results Purpose of this work is to describe development of language understanding, phonology, morphology and vocabulary and their relation to letter knowledge, phoneme awareness and graphomotoric abilities. Results confirm that deficits in language result with considerable problems with prereading abilities. Problems range from very slow progression to systematic segmentation of first sounds to slow memorizing of letters. Conclusion All known facts and clinical experience showed that features of prereading period in general especially in specific language impairment in Croatian is not well investigated and documented. This follow-up indicate that the prereading period in children with specific language impairment should be recognized as an important phase to intensely train and enhance all language domains and especially phoneme awareness.

language; language impairment; reading

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