The Relationships among Language, Communicative Abilities and Motor, Cognitive, and Socio-Emotional Development in Toddlers with Language Delays

Lee, Yoonkyoung

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2011;16(1): 1-12.

Yoonkyoung Lee^`

이윤경(Yoonkyoung Lee)

ABSTRACT

Background & Objectives
The present study was designed to compare the language and communicative abilities of toddlers with and without language delays and to examine the relationships among language, communicative abilities, and the development of cognitive, motor, and social skills in these children.
Methods
Sixty-six children (aged 19 to 34 months) participated in this study: 33 toddlers with language delays (LD) and 33 typically developing toddlers (TD). The toddlers in the two groups were individually age-matched (±2 months). SELSI and MB CDI-K were used to measure language abilities, and communicative abilities were measured using the CSBS procedure. The cognitive and motor developments were measured using K-BSID-II, and the subtest of DEP was used to measure socio-emotional development. Total score and subtests scores of the SELSI, MB CDI-K, K-BSID-II and the DEP percentile were measured. Communicative behavior sampled using the CSBS procedure was analyzed for the frequencies of communicative behaviors, communicative functions (behavioral regulation, social interaction, joint attention), and mean uses (gesture, vocalization, vocalization with gesture, word with gesture, word).
Results
(1) The LD group revealed significantly poor performances in motor, cognitive and socio-emotional development, as well as for language and communicative abilities. (2) Significant correlations were found among language and communicative abilities and cognitive and motor development in both groups, and a correlation with development of socio-emotion was observed only in the LD group.
Discussion & Conclusion
The results showed that children with LD were experienced delayed development of cognition, motor, and socio-emotion skills, as well as language and communication abilities. Their language and communicative abilities were closely related to these different developments, especially socio-emotion.