Language Input Effects in Atypical Language Development

Dear Colleagues,

Language acquisition is facilitated by (a) the quantity and quality of input (Anderson et al., 2021) and (b) the child’s language learning ability. In children with atypical language development, research has focused almost exclusively on the latter, while the role that input itself plays in language acquisition has received less attention. Whether and what characteristics of children’s language input boost (or hinder) language learning in children with atypical language development largely remains an empirical question (but see, e.g., Curtin et al., 2021; Justice et al., 2014). The purpose of this Special Issue is to further investigate this important question (Hoff, 2006). The resulting collection of articles will provide us (a) novel theoretical insight on the relation between language input and language (learning) ability in the context of atypical language development and (b) practical evidence-based advice for parents and professionals on how to boost children’s language learning via language input.

This Special Issue of Languages welcomes studies that investigate the relation between language input and language (learning) ability in children with atypical language development. We aim to include studies that investigate different types of language input (e.g., parental input, peer input, teacher input, artificial language input), different learning contexts (e.g., natural environment, lab environment) and different populations of atypically language developing children (e.g., Developmental Language Disorder, Dyslexia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children).

Prior to submitting a manuscript, we request that the interested authors first submit a proposed title and an abstract of 250–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send this to the Guest Editors, Dr. Merel van Witteloostuijn ([email protected]) and Dr. Imme Lammertink ([email protected]), before 31 January 2025. The Guest Editors will review abstracts for the purpose of ensuring their proper fit within the Special Issue. The full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

References

Anderson, N. J., Graham, S. A., Prime, H., Jenkins, J. M., & Madigan, S. (2021). Linking quality and quantity of parental linguistic input to child language skills: A meta‐analysis. Child Development, 92(2), 484–501.

Curtin, M., Dirks, E., Cruice, M., Herman, R., Newman, L., Rodgers, L., & Morgan, G. (2021). Assessing parent behaviours in parent–child interactions with deaf and hard of hearing infants aged 0–3 years: a systematic review. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(15), 3345.

Hoff, E. (2006). How social contexts support and shape language development. Developmental Review, 26. 55–88.

Hudson Kam, C., & Newport, E. (2005). Regularizing unpredictable variation: The roles of adult and child learners in language formation and change. Language Learning and Development, 1(2). 151–195.

Justice, L. M., Logan, J. A. R., Lin, T.-J., & Kaderavek, J. N. (2014). Peer effects in early childhood education: testing the assumptions of special-education inclusion. Psychological Science, 25(9), 1722–1729.

Dr. Merel Van Witteloostuijn
Dr. Imme Lammertink
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• language input
• atypical language development
• language environment
• language acquisition