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The benefit of orthographic support for oral vocabulary learning in children with Down syndrome*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2012

SILVANA E. MENGONI ,
HANNAH NASH  and
CHARLES HULME
SILVANA E. MENGONI*
Affiliation:
The Open University, UK
HANNAH NASH
Affiliation:
University of York, UK
CHARLES HULME
Affiliation:
University of York, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Silvana E. Mengoni, Faculty of Education and Language Studies, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA. e-mail:[email protected].
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Abstract

Children with Down syndrome typically have weaknesses in oral language, but it has been suggested that this domain may benefit from learning to read. Amongst oral language skills, vocabulary is a relative strength, although there is some evidence of difficulties in learning the phonological form of spoken words. This study investigated the effect of orthographic support on spoken word learning with seventeen children with Down syndrome aged seven to sixteen years and twenty-seven typically developing children aged five to seven years matched for reading ability. Ten spoken nonwords were paired with novel pictures; for half the nonwords the written form was also present. The spoken word learning of both groups did not differ and benefited to the same extent from the presence of the written word. This suggests that compared to reading-matched typically developing children, children with Down syndrome are not specifically impaired in phonological learning and benefit equally from orthographic support.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 40 , Special Issue 1: Atypical development , January 2013 , pp. 221 - 243
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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Footnotes

[*]

The support of a CASE PhD studentship from the ESRC and Down Syndrome Education International is gratefully acknowledged. The authors wish to thank the children, families, and schools who took part in this project.

References

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