Donna Jackson-Maldonado. A life dedicated to joining theory and practice in language development research / Donna Jackson-Maldonado. Una vida dedicada a unir teoría y práctica en la investigación del desarrollo del lenguaje

Precedents and objectives: Dr Donna Jackson-Maldonado, researcher and professor at the Centro de Estudios Lingüísticos y Literarios of the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro in Mexico, left us on November 30, 2021. In this article, we review her main scientific contributions related to the three fundamental axes on which she worked: language acquisition, language disorders and language assessment. Methods and results: Dr Jackson-Maldonado's studies on language acquisition included groups of premature babies, late talkers, and typical development children in bilingual and diverse socioeconomic conditions. Moreover, she studied atypical language development in children with hearing loss, children with developmental language disorders and children with Down syndrome and other syndromes. Finally, regarding language assessment, it should be noted that she led the Mexican Spanish version of the Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) that was used as a model for later adaptations in other Romance languages. Discussion and conclusion: Dr Jackson-Maldonado's methodological approach combined rigour with a creative and innovative scientific spirit, yet she integrated theory and clinical practice from its very beginning. She left us an immense research and personal legacy that we want to honour in this paper.

Antecedentes y objetivos: La Dra. Donna Jackson-Maldonado, investigadora y profesora del Centro de Estudios Lingüísticos y Literarios de la Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro en México, nos dejó el 30 de noviembre de 2021. En este artículo repasamos sus principales aportaciones científicas relacionadas con los tres ejes fundamentales sobre los que trabajó: la adquisición del lenguaje, los trastornos del lenguaje y la evaluación del lenguaje. Método y resultados: Las investigaciones de la Dra. Jackson sobre la adquisición del lenguaje incluyeron grupos de bebés prematuros, hablantes tardíos y niños de desarrollo típico en condiciones socioeconómicas bilingües y diversas. Además, estudió el desarrollo atípico del lenguaje en niños con pérdida auditiva, con trastornos del desarrollo del lenguaje y con síndrome de Down, así como otros síndromes. Finalmente, en cuanto a la evaluación lingüística, cabe destacar que lideró la versión en español mexicano de los Inventarios de Desarrollo Comunicativo (CDI) que sirvió de modelo para posteriores adaptaciones en otras lenguas romances. Discusión y conclusiones: El enfoque metodológico de la Dra. Jackson combinó el rigor con un espíritu científico creativo e innovador, además, integró la teoría y la práctica clínica desde sus inicios. Nos dejó un inmenso legado personal e investigador que queremos honrar en este trabajo.(AU)

Elicited vs. spontaneous language as methods for the assessment of grammatical development: The DEME assessment tool / Lenguaje elicitatdo vs. lenguaje espontáneo como métodos de evaluación del desarollo gramatical: la prueba de evaluación DEME

Introduction and objectives: This study compares data collection approaches in the assessment of grammatical development in Spanish-speaking children. Specifically, we compared error rates produced in data collected using samples from spontaneous language versus elicited production, using both broad (overall) and narrow measures (errors with noun phrases). Methods and participants: Monolingual-Spanish-speaking five-year-olds (n=55) were divided into typical language development (TL) and at-risk (Risk) according to a preexisting test, Tamiz de Problemas del Lenguaje. All children completed an elicited production and a narrative task. Results: Children in the TL group outperform children in the Risk group in all measures used in this study. Statistically significant differences were found between children at Risk and TL children in both spontaneous and elicited language measures, although the effect size of the elicited language measures was considerably higher. Elicited and spontaneous tasks are more likely to produce results that are in accord than in disaccord. However, when results are in disaccord, the results almost always show low performance in elicited language but high performance in spontaneous language. Elicitation methods do not seem to have an impact on the type of error produced for neither narrow nor broad measures.(AU)

Introducción y objetivos: Este estudio compara los enfoques de recolección de datos para la evaluación del desarrollo gramatical en niños que hablan español. Específicamente, comparamos las tasas de error producidas usando muestras de lenguaje espontáneo versus la producción elicitada, usando medidas generales (todos los errores) y específicas (errores con frases nominales). Métodos y participantes: Los niños monolingües de cinco años de habla hispana (n=55) se dividieron en dos grupos: desarrollo del lenguaje típico o a riesgo de desórdenes del lenguaje, para lo cual se usó el Tamiz de Problemas del Lenguaje. Todos los niños completaron una producción del lenguaje elicitada y una tarea narrativa. Resultados: Los niños del grupo típico superan a los niños del grupo a riesgo en todas las medidas utilizadas en este estudio. Se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los niños a riesgo y los niños típicos en las medidas de lenguaje espontáneo y elicitado, aunque el tamaño del efecto de las medidas de lenguaje elicitado fue considerablemente mayor. El lenguaje elicitado y espontáneo producen mas resultados que están de acuerdo que en desacuerdo; sin embargo, cuando los resultados están en desacuerdo, casi siempre muestran un bajo rendimiento en el lenguaje elicitado pero un alto rendimiento en el lenguaje espontáneo. Los métodos de obtención no parecen tener un impacto en el tipo de error producido ni para medidas específicas ni amplias.(AU)

Measurement invariance of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) across six countries.

The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) is a simple and inexpensive tool for Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessments, with evidenced psychometric data from different countries. However, it is still unclear whether ASD symptoms are measured the same way across different societies and world regions with this tool, since data on its cross-cultural validity are lacking. This study evaluated the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the CARS among children with ASD from six countries, for whom data were aggregated from previous studies in India (n = 101), Jamaica (n = 139), Mexico (n = 72), Spain (n = 99), Turkey (n = 150), and the United States of America (n = 186). We analyzed the approximate measurement invariance based on Bayesian structural equation modeling. The model did not fit the data and its measurement invariance did not hold, with all items found non-invariant across the countries. Items related to social communication and interaction (i.e., relating to people, imitation, emotional response, and verbal and nonverbal communication) displayed lower levels of cross-country non-invariance compared to items about stereotyped behaviors/sensory sensitivity (i.e., body and object use, adaptation to change, or taste, smell, and touch response). This study found that the CARS may not provide cross-culturally valid ASD assessments. Thus, cross-cultural comparisons with the CARS should consider first which items operate differently across samples of interest, since its cross-cultural measurement non-invariance could be a source of cross-cultural variability in ASD presentations. Additional studies are needed before drawing valid recommendations in relation to the cultural sensitivity of particular items.

Elicited vs. Spontaneous Language as Methods for the Assessment of Grammatical Development: The DEME Assessment Tool.

Introduction and Objectives: This study compares data collection approaches in the assessment of grammatical development in Spanish-speaking children. Specifically, we compared error rates produced in data collected using samples from spontaneous language versus elicited production, using both broad (overall) and narrow measures (errors with noun phrases). Methods and Participants: Monolingual-Spanish-speaking five-year-olds (n=55) were divided into typical language development (TL) and at-risk (Risk) according to a preexisting test, Tamiz de Problemas del Lenguaje. All children completed an elicited production and a narrative task. Results: Children in the TL group outperform children in the Risk group in all measures used in this study. Statistically significant differences were found between children at Risk and TL children in both spontaneous and elicited language measures, although the effect size of the elicited language measures was considerably higher. Elicited and spontaneous tasks are more likely to produce results that are in accord than in disaccord. However, when results are in disaccord, the results almost always show low performance in elicited language but high performance in spontaneous language. Elicitation methods do not seem to have an impact on the type of error produced for neither narrow nor broad measures.

Morphological Errors in Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorders.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify which morphological markers have the best diagnostic accuracy to identify developmental language disorders (DLD) in monolingual Spanish-speaking children. Method The participants in this study included 50 Spanish-speaking monolingual children with (n = 25) and without (n = 25) DLD. Data collection took place in Mexico. Children were administered a comprehensive elicitation task that set up felicitous contexts to produce morphological structures previously identified as problematic for Spanish-speaking children with DLD: articles, direct object pronouns, adjectives, plurals, verb conjugations, and the subjunctive in Spanish. Results Statistically significant group differences between children with and without DLD were found for all morphological structures examined but plurals. Logistic regression analyses suggested that a model that included clitic and verbs was the best model to uniquely predict group membership. This model showed sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 80%. Conclusion Clitics and verbs should be considered morphological markers of DLD in monolingual Spanish-speaking children.