Search Results (68)

The Secret of the Golden Flower (Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi 太乙金華宗旨), a Qing dynasty spirit-writing (fuji扶乩) text, is widely known through the Wilhelm–Jung translation lineage, where jinhua 金華 is rendered as “Golden Flower” and read as mandala-like symbolism. Based on a close reading of the Daozang Jiyao 道藏輯要version, this article argues that in the Chinese text jinhua is not primarily a floral image but a technical and experiential term for luminosity in Daoist inner-alchemical cultivation. Hua 華 is resemanticized from botanical “flower/flourishing” into “radiance,” and the work explicitly defines the key term as “jinhua is light”. The text further organizes cultivation into a three-stage trajectory—“sudden emergence”, “circulation”, and “great condensation”, through which qi 氣 is refined into light and luminosity stabilizes as spirit (shen 神). Finally, the analysis situates this luminous grammar within the work’s explicit Three Teachings (sanjiao 三教) framing: Confucian “illuminating virtue” (mingde 明德) and Buddhist idioms of luminous mind-nature (xin-xing guangming 心性光明) and dharma-body language function as a shared vocabulary for describing non-grasping awareness and embodied realization. On this basis, jinhua is best understood not as a decorative metaphor or a purely psychological symbol but as a practice-oriented mechanism of ontological luminosity, clarifying both the inner-alchemical logic of The Secret and the stakes of its modern reception. Full article

This systematic literature review addresses the urgent need for early language intervention research focused on dual language learners (DLLs) who are at risk of developmental delays, particularly among preschoolers. The findings highlight a significant gap in research focusing on DLLs who experience developmental delays highlighting the need for more research on effective interventions. This review offers a fresh look at evidence-based strategies for informing future research. It emphasizes the importance of including diverse populations and developing culturally responsive intervention frameworks tailored for young DLLs. Full article

This study examines how domain-general (processing speed and receptive vocabulary) and domain-specific (symbolic and non-symbolic comparison) cognitive skills contribute to early informal mathematical thinking in preschoolers. The aim was to assess the invariance of these predictive relationships across two sociocultural contexts: Chilean and Spanish samples. A total of 130 children participated, and structural equation modeling was used to estimate latent structures and test multigroup invariance. The results revealed a consistent latent structure across samples and a significant contribution of symbolic and non-symbolic comparison to early math performance, while processing speed and vocabulary showed context-specific variations. These findings indicate that although foundational mathematical competencies rely on common cognitive mechanisms, cultural and educational contexts modulate the strength of these associations. This study contributes to understanding the cognitive architecture underlying early numeracy and highlights the importance of culturally sensitive assessment and intervention strategies. Full article

Researchers have found that learners’ second language development is influenced by internal and external individual differences but only few studies have adopted a longitudinal approach. In the present study, I aimed to investigate how several internal and external individual differences were interrelated and whether and how these variables predicted L2 English speaking development in adolescent learners. I conducted a dense longitudinal study with frequent measurements of L2 speaking skills. Learners in the first year of secondary school (11 to 13 years old, n = 48) did a weekly speaking task from September to May. At the start of the study, the participants also did multiple tasks, which measured various individual differences. Spearman correlations were calculated to shed light on the relationships between individual-difference variables, and generalized additive mixed models were used to model learning trajectories over time and to investigate the role of individual differences in this development. Results showed that learners’ speaking scores were predicted by time and prior L2 English receptive vocabulary knowledge, which was the main predictor of L2 speaking skills. Vocabulary knowledge furthermore significantly correlated with measures of out-of-school exposure and motivation. The results showed the key role of vocabulary in the early stages of L2 English learning. Full article

Research has shown that children with dyslexia have syntactic awareness difficulties in comparison to typically developing readers. Considering the theoretical connections among phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and syntactic awareness, the present study explored (a) whether Greek-speaking children with dyslexia face syntactic awareness difficulties in comparison to typically developing readers, and (b) to what extent phonological and non-phonological language skills contribute to syntactic awareness performance. Measures of syntactic awareness, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and receptive vocabulary were administered among 8.7-year-old children with and without dyslexia. The children with dyslexia had syntactic awareness difficulties in comparison to the typically developing readers. Phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and reading status were significant predictors of syntactic awareness performance. Phonological and morphological awareness made a more substantial contribution to syntactic awareness performance in the typically developing readers. Notably, reading status (i.e., children with dyslexia versus typically developing readers) was highlighted as a significant mediator of the relationship between phonological awareness and syntactic awareness and between morphological awareness and syntactic awareness. Taken together, it could be suggested that both phonological awareness difficulties and morphological awareness difficulties of Greek-speaking children with dyslexia might explain syntactic awareness difficulties. These findings are discussed in light of current research on the nature of syntactic deficits in dyslexia. Full article

The first-order false belief (FB) test is frequently employed to assess theory of mind (ToM); however, it faces substantial criticism regarding its inadequacies. Critics argue that the responses remain binary and are influenced by the presence and location of the object. This study aims to address these criticisms by manipulating an object’s location through three alternative FB tasks, thereby enhancing the understanding of children’s reasoning strategies (reality, belief, or perceptual access reasoning) and offering a language skill-independent measure of ToM. This study involved 150 children aged 3–6 years who were administered standard and three alternative FB tasks along with a receptive vocabulary acquisition test. The findings revealed that children predominantly utilized reality reasoning, identifying the object’s location as the correct response. However, in a condition where the object was physically removed, the percentage of correct responses increased significantly, and the use of belief reasoning increased. While age and language skills were found to be directly correlated with FB performance, the object’s interference with belief reasoning in younger children was reduced. In light of these findings, the three alternative tasks are posited to offer a promising, more accurate measure of FB understanding, independent of the object’s presence and language skill. Full article

Background/Objectives: The Seeds of Literacy project has followed infants at family risk for dyslexia (FR group) and infants not at family risk (NFR group) since the age of 5 months, exploring whether infant measures of auditory sensitivity and phonological skills are related to later reading achievement. Here, we retrospectively assessed relations between infant performance on a rise time discrimination task with new pre-reading behavioural measures administered at 60 months. In addition, we re-classified dyslexia risk at 60 months and again assessed relations to rise time sensitivity. Participants were re-grouped using the pre-reading behavioural measures as either dyslexia risk at 60 months (60mDR) or no dyslexia risk (60mNDR). Methods: FR and NFR children (44 English-learning children) completed assessments of rise time discrimination at 10 and/or 60 months, phonological awareness, phonological memory, rapid automatised naming (RAN), letter knowledge, and language skills (receptive vocabulary and grammatical awareness). Results: Longitudinal analyses showed significant time-lagged correlations between rise time sensitivity at 10 months and both RAN and letter knowledge at 60 months. Rise time sensitivity at 60 months was significantly poorer in those children re-grouped as 60mDR, and rise time sensitivity was significantly related to concurrent phonological awareness, RAN, letter knowledge, and receptive vocabulary, but not to tests of grammatical awareness. Conclusions: The data support the view that children’s rise time sensitivity is significantly related to their pre-reading phonological abilities. These findings are discussed in terms of Temporal Sampling theory. Full article

Metaphorical competence—the capacity to comprehend and produce metaphors in a second language (L2)—is essential for nuanced, accurate, and contextually appropriate English usage. Synthesizing 40 independent studies (N = 15,786), this meta-analysis quantified the relative contributions of cognitive, linguistic, and personal factors to L2 metaphorical competence. Effect sizes were derived from correlation coefficients and aggregated under random-effects models to account for between-study heterogeneity. Linguistic factors emerged as the dominant predictor (r = 0.421, 95% CI [0.34, 0.50]), primarily driven by vocabulary breadth/depth and reading proficiency. Cognitive factors exerted a moderate influence (r = 0.232, 95% CI [0.17, 0.30]), whereas personal variables such as gender yielded only a small effect (r = 0.216, 95% CI [0.15, 0.28]). Moderator analyses further revealed that L1 conceptual knowledge constitutes the strongest single predictor of L2 metaphor skills and highlighted distinct associations between receptive and productive metaphor abilities with linguistic versus cognitive aptitudes. The findings collectively point to lexico-semantic and literacy development as the main levers for boosting L2 metaphorical competence, with cognitive aptitudes and personal factors acting as secondary, yet important, modulators. Insight from this meta-analysis offers a robust foundation for evidence-based decisions in curriculum design, materials selection, and targeted pedagogical interventions. Full article

Maternal childrearing practices play a prominent role in a child’s developmental outcomes. Difficult child temperament, specifically, negative emotionality, impacts parenting practices. The present study contributes to the existing literature by investigating the mediating role of parenting practices on associations between children’s temperament and academic and behavioural outcomes in a low-income and ethnically diverse sample. The present study consists of a sample of 163 families. The average age of the children was 32.40 months (SD = 2.61 months). The average age of the mothers was 34.35 years (SD = 5.32 years). Structural equation modelling examined the relationship between children’s temperament, parenting practices, and child outcomes. A two-step procedure was conducted to test this model: confirmatory factor analysis followed by latent path analysis. The results show that children’s temperament was significantly and positively associated with mothers’ hostile parenting and children’s conduct problems. Hostile parenting was positively associated with children’s conduct problems. While overprotective parenting was negatively associated with children’s receptive vocabulary scores, maternal responsivity was positively associated with better receptive vocabulary in children. Finally, hostile parenting was found to play a significant and positive mediating role in children’s conduct behaviour. Maternal practices are associated with outcomes in children with negative emotionality, underscoring the need for tailored interventions in diverse, low-income families. Full article

The present study aimed to enhance the understanding of the spelling processes used by young German-speaking learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Specifically, we sought to (1) compare the children’s accuracy in spelling English real words versus pseudowords to elucidate the role of lexical and sublexical knowledge, and (2) determine which cognitive (phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, working memory, nonverbal intelligence) and linguistic skills (English receptive grammar and vocabulary) underlie learners’ spelling abilities and misspellings (phonological and orthographic). We followed participants (N = 101) for two years, from the beginning of grade 3 to the end of grade 4. Cognitive skills and linguistic abilities were determined using standardized assessment procedures. Our results indicate that the learners in our study demonstrated greater accuracy in spelling English real words compared to pseudowords. English grammar knowledge significantly predicted real word and pseudoword spelling accuracy, as well as the number of phonological errors, which was the predominant error category. English vocabulary knowledge was a predictor for real word spelling, while nonverbal intelligence predicted pseudoword spelling accuracy. Phonological short-term memory positively predicted the number of orthographic errors (phonologically plausible misspellings but lacking orthographic conventions). Full article

Background: Early intervention approaches play a critical role in shaping the communication outcomes of children with hearing loss, influencing their language development and overall learning trajectory. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to compare the communication outcomes of children with hearing loss who received Listening and Spoken Language-South Africa (LSL-SA) with those who received Traditional Speech-Language Therapy (TSLT). Methods: A retrospective record review was conducted to gather data on communication outcomes from participants’ speech-language therapy records. Communication outcomes were measured using standardized assessments evaluating speech intelligibility, expressive vocabulary, receptive language, expressive language, audition, and cognitive–linguistic skills. The data were analyzed using quantitative statistics. Key statistical methods included measures to determine associations, identify statistical significance, determine outcomes, and compare differences between the two groups. Results: The study found that children in the LSL-SA group had statistically significant better communication outcomes, with 63% achieving age-appropriate speech intelligibility compared to 45% in the TSLT group (p = 0.046). Similar trends were observed for expressive vocabulary (LSL-SA: 58% vs. TSLT: 39%, p = 0.048) and receptive language (LSL-SA: 60% vs. TSLT: 39%, p = 0.043). Additionally, 66% of children in the LSL-SA group were recommended for mainstream schooling, compared to 39% in the TSLT group (p = 0.0023). These findings highlight the importance of early amplification and structured intervention in improving communication outcomes. The results also emphasize the importance of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) in decreasing the odds of delay in communication outcomes, irrespective of the type of communication approach, although a higher proportion of children in the LSL-SA approach group achieved age-appropriate communication outcomes than those in the TSLT group. Conclusions: This study highlights that communication intervention approaches aligned with the LSL-SA practice promote better communication development and enhance spoken language outcomes in children with hearing loss, facilitating successful transitions to mainstream schooling. Contribution: This study provides contextually relevant evidence for implementing an LSL-SA intervention approach for children with hearing loss. The implications of these findings for clinical practice and future research are discussed in detail. Full article

Background/Objectives: This study examined the development of speech, expressive vocabulary, and receptive vocabulary in boys with Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), with a focus on the contribution of the Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein (FMRP), while controlling for the effects of nonverbal IQ, maternal education, and Autism status on the development of these skills. Methods: Participants included 45 boys with full mutation FXS, ranging in age from 2.9 to 14.0 years, who were subdivided into those with FXS only (FXS-Only) and those with FXS and Autism (FXS-Autism). Speech, expressive vocabulary, and receptive vocabulary skills were assessed over three years for each participant. Results: There was a significant relationship between each of the outcome measures and the child’s nonverbal mental level, and between for both outcome measures of vocabulary and Autism status, but these relationships were moderated by the level of FMRP. Specifically, higher levels of FMRP seemed to increase the relationship between developmental level of speech, receptive, and expressive vocabulary for boys with FXS with and without Autism; however, at lower levels of FMRP, these relationships seemed to weaken significantly for both groups. Conclusions: These findings implicate increased complexity in the relationship between various contributors to the rates of growth of speech, expressive vocabulary, and receptive vocabulary in boys with FXS, with FMRP being a key variable potentially moderating the relationship between nonverbal abilities, Autism status, and speech and vocabulary development. Full article

Background: Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) has spread globally in the past few years due to its proven positive effect as a rehabilitation method for children with hearing loss (HL). In 2023, a three-year hospital-based AV intervention was implemented in Denmark as a government-funded offer to all children with HL. In the present study, we introduce and study a protocol for facilitating this implementation with a specific focus on clinical applicability and quality assurance. Methods: A working group was set up to drive the implementation process and establish a base for clinical collaboration and coproduction. The final protocol included (1) regular workshops and meetings with all AV specialists, (2) the creation of a database to collect data on the effect of the intervention, and (3) mandatory testing of the auditory skills and receptive vocabulary of the children with HL and a screening of their behavioural and emotional status with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: Data from 53 children with a mean age of 6.6 years were analysed in this study. Results from the SDQ showed that the children scored like the Danish norm on both the SDQ total difficulty score and SDQ prosocial score. Conclusions: This study’s findings indicate that children with HL, who participated in three years of hospital-based AV intervention, demonstrate the same emotional and behavioural problems and the same social strengths as their hearing peers. We hope that this study can inspire and guide others who want to implement an AV intervention in a hospital setting. Full article

Prior research has shown that people can predict the syntactic features of an upcoming word during sentence comprehension. However, evidence for morphosyntactic predictive processing has been limited to gender or case marking in a small subset of Indo-European languages. In the current study, we implemented the eye-tracking visual world paradigm to investigate whether L1 (n = 18) and L2 (n = 40) Arabic speakers could extract number information from singular-marked verbs to anticipate the next noun. In a between-subject design, L1 and L2 speakers heard the singular verb in the simple past form (Exp 1) and the progressive past form (Exp 2). The effect of L2 proficiency (measured using a C-test and a receptive vocabulary test) on number prediction was also examined. L1 Arabic speakers showed earlier and stronger number prediction effects regardless of verb aspect. In contrast, L2 speakers exhibited delayed (Exp 1) or limited (Exp 2) prediction, suggesting a mediating role for verb aspect. Increased L2 proficiency did not influence anticipatory eye-movements during the verb region, and only emerged as significant during the noun region. These results confirm and extend earlier research on L1 and L2 number predictive processing. Full article

This mixed-methods study investigates the impact of digital devices use at home on early English literacy development among 121 Chinese-Canadian first graders, as well as their parents’ perspectives on the families’ purposes and practices of digital devices use for English literacy, highlighting bilingual children’s experiences with multiple digital devices. To understand the relationships between the children’s digital practices and early English literacy development, we collected quantitative data on children’s English literacy skills—including reading comprehension, decoding, and receptive vocabulary—alongside frequency data on digital devices use including those on computer use and television viewing. Parents of 66 children participated in interviews, providing context-specific insights into devices use purposes and language learning practices. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests to examine group differences. Hierarchical linear regression explored associations between digital devices use and early English literacy outcomes, while thematic analysis identified patterns from parental interviews. Results indicate a positive association between controlled television exposure and receptive vocabulary. However, no significant relationship was observed between television or computer use and decoding or reading comprehension. Findings emphasize the multifaceted but limited role of digital devices, with parents struggling to balance educational benefits and long-term concerns. Full article