title: Primary or "specific" language impairment and children learning a second language.
abstract: We review empirical findings from children with primary or "specific" language impairment (PLI) and children who learn a single language from birth (L1) and a second language (L2) beginning in childhood. The PLI profile is presented in terms of both language and nonlinguistic features. The discussion of L2 learners emphasizes variable patterns of growth and skill distribution in L1 and L2 which complicate the identification of PLI in linguistically diverse learners. We then introduce our research program, designed to map out common ground and potential fault lines between typically developing children learning one or two languages, as compared to children with PLI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, 115 Shevlin Hall, 164 Pillsbury Dr. S.E., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. kohne005@umn.edu
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kohnert
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Windsor
authors.forename: Kerry Danahy
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Ebert
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D019303:Multilingualism; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*