Bridging the Gap: Insights into Language Development and Communication Disorders in Children

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Neurology & Neurodevelopmental Disorders".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 February 2026 | Viewed by 206

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Communications Disorders, School of Education, Faculty Humanities/Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
Interests: psycholinguistics; language development; child language

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Guest Editor
Department of Psychology, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey
Interests: language acquisition and cognitive development; narrative abilities in children and adults; literacy development; social, educational, and contextual influences on language acquisition

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite submissions for a Special Issue, titled “Bridging the Gap: Insights into Language Development and Communication Disorders in Children”, dedicated to exploring the intricate relationship between typical language acquisition and development and the field of communication disorders in its broadest sense. This call seeks to foster a deeper understanding of the developmental pathways that can lead to both typical and atypical linguistic outcomes.

This Special Issue will examine a broad range of topics, including, but not limited to, the following: psycholinguistic and neurobiological markers in early language development and their predictive value for later disorders; the influence of environmental and socio-cultural factors on language acquisition in both typical and clinical populations across the developmental years; innovations in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for a variety of communication disorders (e.g., specific language impairment, autism spectrum disorder, aphasia); cross-linguistic perspectives on language development and disorders, with a focus on how different languages may shape developmental trajectories; theoretical models that integrate findings from cognitive science, neuroscience, and linguistics to explain the underlying mechanisms of language acquisition, delay and disorders.

We welcome original research articles, theoretical papers, and systematic reviews. Our goal is to create a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue, shedding new light on the challenges and successes in the study of human communication.

Prof. Dr. Dorit Ravid
Prof. Dr. Ayhan Aksu-Koç
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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 single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children 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 2400 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.

Keywords

  • typical and atypical populations
  • language and communication disorders
  • environmental impact on language development
  • therapeutic models

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 565 KB  
Article
Association Between COVID-19 Exposure Duration on Receptive and Expressive Language Development in Preschool Children
by Christine Sol Lee and Sangwon Hwang
Children 2025, 12(12), 1637; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12121637 - 1 Dec 2025
Abstract
Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic substantially altered children’s daily experiences, limiting social interactions, which are critical for language development. This study aims to explore how the pandemic influenced receptive and expressive language abilities in children under six years, focusing on the impact of [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic substantially altered children’s daily experiences, limiting social interactions, which are critical for language development. This study aims to explore how the pandemic influenced receptive and expressive language abilities in children under six years, focusing on the impact of exposure duration and differences with the pandemic period. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study reviewed 189 children assessed for language delay at our outpatient clinic between 2018 and 2021. Only children evaluated using the Sequenced Language Scale for Infants or the Preschool Receptive-Expressive Language Scale were included. Participants were categorized by assessment period: pre-COVID (2018–2019), acute-COVID (2020), and chronic-COVID (2021), and by age (toddlers vs. preschoolers). Linear regression assessed the relationship between pandemic exposure duration and language scores; non-parametric tests compared groups. Results: During the acute-COVID period, longer exposure was associated with lower receptive and expressive percentile scores. In preschoolers, receptive scores were significantly lower in the chronic-COVID group than in the pre-COVID group, while expressive scores were lower in the chronic-COVID group than in the acute-COVID group. Conclusions: Prolonged exposure to the pandemic environment was associated with measurable delays in both receptive and expressive language development, especially in preschoolers. The results suggest that pandemic restrictions can hinder children’s language acquisition, indicating the need to strengthen early screening and provide timely interventions to support their developmental recovery. Full article
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