Mastodawn

Understanding verbal irony involves detecting that the speaker’s intended meaning contrasts with the literal meaning. This is challenging for children as the underlying skills required to understand irony may not be fully developed.

In our new study, we investigated how 10-year-olds’ working memory, empathy skills, and gender were related to their processing and comprehension of written irony. Data from two previous eye-tracking experiments with 97 children (46 girls and 51 boys) were analysed.

Results showed that children with stronger empathy skills had higher irony comprehension accuracy and were less likely to reread ironic phrases. Higher working memory was linked to faster processing of irony but did not lead to higher comprehension. Conversely, lower working memory was associated with more accurate irony comprehension. Child gender was not related to irony comprehension.

These results imply that working memory and emotional perspective-taking are important for children’s irony comprehension, underscoring theories that take individual differences into account.

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000926100543

#LanguageDevelopment #irony #EyeMovements #EyeTracking #WorkingMemory #empathy

HOH Young People Foundation Mar 17

Access to timely information enables parents to seek appropriate medical care, such as fitting hearing aids or exploring cochlear implants, and enroll their child in speech therapy at an early stage.

Words with Spaces - Linguabase

Nearly half a million English compound phrases aren't in any dictionary — simply because they contain spaces. An interactive analysis of what's missing and why.

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Claire Boilley Feb 8

For those who wonder what the connection between butterfly eggs and childhood #speech disorders may be, the authors are arguing against the classifications currently used by most clinicians*. They claim some diagnostic categories do not reflect actual differences between disorders believed to be distinct in nature (i.e., they would emerge due to different underlying mechanisms), but rather different phases of the same developmental trajectory.

*at least in the US and English-speaking world

#linguistics #LanguageScience #LanguageDevelopment #SpeechDisorders #SpeechLanguageTherapy #SpeechLanguagePathology #CognitiveScience #phonetics

Hebrew by Inbal Jan 15

Struggling with Hebrew doesn’t mean you’re “not good at languages.”
It means you were never shown how it works.

Age isn’t the issue. Talent isn’t the issue.
Clarity is.

With the right approach, Hebrew clicks—and progress comes fast.

#LanguageDevelopment #LearningGoals #LearnHebrew #HebrewByInbal

Hebrew by Inbal Jan 14

Received a request to share a short Hebrew lesson on counting numbers.

Here it is Heather and tell your class I am thrilled to share Hebrew with them!

Remember to scroll through my videos on here, I have many bite sized lessons perfect for any teaching occasion.

#CountToTen #LearnHebrew #LanguageDevelopment #Counting

Hebrew by Inbal Jan 9

Are you ready… 👀

✨ to finally start (not “someday”)
✨ to stop feeling intimidated by Hebrew
✨ to let go of the fear of sounding wrong
✨ to actually speak, not just memorize

If you’ve been waiting to feel “ready”… this is it.
Start your Hebrew journey with me — one confident step at a time 🤗🥳

#AreYouReady #Learning #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageDevelopment #HebrewByInbal

lumpenproletariat Jan 1

Language program trials new support for Navajo children with speech delays

Language program trials new support for Navajo children with speech delays

First Nations Diné and Acoma Pueblo speech pathologist and researcher, Joshuaa Allison-Burbank, is leading a study which aims to support children experiencing speech delays by working within th...

National Indigenous Times

HOH Young People Foundation Dec 11

Early hearing screenings are crucial in identifying hearing loss in newborns, often before any noticeable signs emerge.