Background: Language analytic ability is well researched in the context of foreign language acquisition but its role in the acquisition of grammar in the native language is under investigation. Objectives: Our study explored the influence of language analytic ability and print exposure on receptive grammar and reading comprehension in childhood.…

Aided language stimulation is an augmented input strategy that facilitates the expressive and receptive language skills of persons who require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The aim of this study was to determine and compare the acquisition of receptive vocabulary items during implementation of aided language stimulation with…

This study investigated the correlation and predictive capacity of verbal working memory (VWM) to the reading comprehension of children in their first language (L1) and second language (L2). The term verbal working memory refers to a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold and manipulate verbal and auditory information temporarily.…

The acquisition of passives is well-studied in many languages, with evidence of crosslinguistic differences in the age at which passives are acquired. The aim of this study is to add to the existing knowledge of child acquisition of passives by providing data from Afrikaans and isiXhosa, two under-researched and typologically different languages…

Late language emergence (LLE) may result from genetic and environmental factors. Little is known about environmental factors in LLE in South Africa. The study describes the nature of differences in language functioning between toddlers with LLE and without LLE, and which factors were associated with LLE in a middle-income area in South Africa.…