Explain why it would be important for teachers to be aware of potential language difficulties with students in preschool through secondary grades. Describe 2-3 problems that students in preschool, elementary, and secondary grades may have when they have difficulties with language development, and some of the behaviors they may exhibit at each level as a result of these problems

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The teacher should be aware of the potential language difficulties so that students can be identified and receive appropriate services as early as possible. In spite of early intervention, many language problems are long term and require intervention that changes with the varying needs of the student.
Preschool/Elementary:
- Readiness skills such as counting, naming colors, naming the days of the week, and using scissors
- Unable to follow simple directions, follow the story line in a book or movie, or enjoy listening to stories
- The period of normal acquisition for articulation and sound development may be delayed, so that the child exhibits immature-sounding speech
- The mean length of utterances and vocabulary may be similar to that of a younger child
- Word-finding difficulties and an inability to name common objects also may be noted (i.e., may exhibit sound substitutions such as "buzgetti" for "spaghetti)
- May produce fewer functionally appropriate and accurate responses, say phrases such as "you know" or "that thing over there," or describe rather than name objects
- May be unable to make one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds and have difficulty discriminating between sounds
- May have difficulty responding accurately to certain types of questions; questions regarding nonobservable persons, actions, or objects are the most difficult for young children; of nine wh- forms, why, when, and what happened were the most difficult
- BEHAVIORS: May demonstrate significant deficits in symbolic, adaptive, and integrative play as compared with their linguistically matched peers; frequently play by themselves or exhibit more nonplay and parallel play than do their peers. Children with language problems may have attention deficits, need additional time to understand information and formulate ideas for expression, and have a poor tolerance for frustration.
Elementary:
- 1st grade: limited ability to identify sounds, difficulty analyzing and synthesizing sound sequences, and problems segmenting words into grammatical units
- Temporal and spatial concepts, as well as abstract concepts such as before-after, neither-nor, some, if/then, and few, may pose particular difficulty
- Early elementary: use of manipulatives begins to decrease, and the student must gain information from the teacher's verbal presentation
- By 4th grade: most of the curriculum content is presented in print, and the student with language problems may have particular difficulty making the transition from narrative to expository writing
- Word finding (retrieval) difficulties still may exist
- Problems stemming from the relationship between phonological disorders and reading achievement begin to emerge in elementary school
- Students with reading problems often articulate sequences more slowly than do their peers who do not have reading difficulties. May be deficient in expressive or oral language
- BEHAVIORS: Concepts often are presented in sentences of increased length and complexity that are particularly problematic for students with subtle processing problems; student may be seen as obstinate or noncompliant, when actually the directions are misunderstood. Deficits in text comprehension lead to problems in reading independence and mastery of content material. Thus, students with language problems may have difficulties participating in group discussions, sharing ideas on a topic, and developing ideas that follow earlier learning. Students may exhibit some of the same behaviors as they did when they were younger, such as failing to adjust to their listener's needs and having difficulty joining an ongoing conversation. In addition, they may misinterpret social cues, fail to think of others' thoughts and feelings, and be unable to predict the consequences of their behavior. Also, students at this level may be able to formulate a question but have difficulty functionally using requests to obtain new information.

Secondary:
- Difficulties tend to become more subtle; tend to be passive learners and often appear to lack the metacognitive strategies necessary to perform complex academic tasks
- Lack the ability to use and understand higher level syntax, semantics, and pragmatics in both production and processing
- Difficulty with receptive and expressive language
- Problems in comprehension of auditory language
- BEHAVIORS: Receptive and expressive language difficulties affect their ability to learn effectively. This creates problems in gaining information from class lectures and textbooks, completing homework, following classroom rules, demonstrating command of knowledge through test taking, expressing thoughts in writing, passing minimum competency exams, and participating in classroom discussions. Poor organization and categorization result in other problems, such as poor note-taking, test-taking, and study skills, as well as difficulty integrating information. Difficulties also may persist in language use in the awareness of social cues, interpretation of the motives and emotions of others, and use of appropriate language. Because