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Toward an Understanding of Developmental Language Disorder in Adults: Investigating the Relationship Between Cognitive Abilities and Linguistic Outcomes.

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Title: Toward an Understanding of Developmental Language Disorder in Adults: Investigating the Relationship Between Cognitive Abilities and Linguistic Outcomes.
Authors: Blake, Ashley1 arb988@alumni.bham.ac.uk, Dąbrowska, Ewa1,2, Llompart, Miquel2,3
Source: Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. Aug2025, Vol. 68 Issue 8, p3895-3918. 24p.
Subject Terms: *Intellect, *Language disorders, *Research, *Speech evaluation, *Vocabulary, *Comparative studies, *Automation, *Cognition, *Language acquisition, *Adults, Task performance, Research funding, Grammar, Cognitive processing speed, Questionnaires, Multiple regression analysis, Descriptive statistics, Linguistics, Physiological aspects of speech, Reaction time
Abstract: Purpose: There is a growing body of research on developmental language disorder (DLD), but very few studies have focused on the role of cognitive abilities in adulthood. The present study explored the relationship between cognition and language in adults with and without DLD. Method: Sixty participants, 30 language typical (LT) adults and 30 with DLD, completed a battery of online cognitive and language assessments. Cognitive tasks included language analytic ability (the ability to recognize the grammatical functions of sentence elements), nonverbal IQ, explicit learning of form-meaning pairings, implicit statistical learning, and speed of automatization. Language assessments included two grammar tasks (assessing morphosyntax) and vocabulary. Accuracy and reaction time measures were obtained for all tasks. Results: Between-group differences demonstrated that language remains an area of difficulty for adults with DLD. Language analytic ability was a significant predictor of grammatical and vocabulary knowledge in the LT group and of grammar in the DLD group. In addition, we found that explicit learning of form-meaning pairings predicted linguistic outcomes in adults with DLD. We found small or no differences for all the other cognitive abilities; this is in line with previous studies that report a relative "catch up" in cognitive abilities in adults with DLD. Response times for the DLD group were slower in both linguistic and nonlinguistic tasks. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that language difficulties in DLD persist into adulthood. Regarding cognitive measures, we show that language analytic ability is a key predictor of linguistic outcomes in both groups, and explicit learning of form-meaning pairings predicts grammar and vocabulary in the DLD group. These findings have important implications for clinical interventions, as they suggest that both implicit (fast, effortless, and unconscious) and explicit (slow, effortful, and conscious) processes are relevant to language. In addition, adults with DLD may require additional processing time in cognitive and linguistic tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Toward an Understanding of Developmental Language Disorder in Adults: Investigating the Relationship Between Cognitive Abilities and Linguistic Outcomes.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Blake%2C+Ashley%22">Blake, Ashley</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> arb988@alumni.bham.ac.uk</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Dąbrowska%2C+Ewa%22">Dąbrowska, Ewa</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Llompart%2C+Miquel%22">Llompart, Miquel</searchLink><relatesTo>2,3</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Speech%2C+Language+%26+Hearing+Research%22">Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research</searchLink>. Aug2025, Vol. 68 Issue 8, p3895-3918. 24p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intellect%22">Intellect</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+disorders%22">Language disorders</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research%22">Research</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech+evaluation%22">Speech evaluation</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Vocabulary%22">Vocabulary</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+studies%22">Comparative studies</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Automation%22">Automation</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognition%22">Cognition</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+acquisition%22">Language acquisition</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adults%22">Adults</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Task+performance%22">Task performance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grammar%22">Grammar</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+processing+speed%22">Cognitive processing speed</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Questionnaires%22">Questionnaires</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multiple+regression+analysis%22">Multiple regression analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Linguistics%22">Linguistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Physiological+aspects+of+speech%22">Physiological aspects of speech</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reaction+time%22">Reaction time</searchLink>
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  Data: Purpose: There is a growing body of research on developmental language disorder (DLD), but very few studies have focused on the role of cognitive abilities in adulthood. The present study explored the relationship between cognition and language in adults with and without DLD. Method: Sixty participants, 30 language typical (LT) adults and 30 with DLD, completed a battery of online cognitive and language assessments. Cognitive tasks included language analytic ability (the ability to recognize the grammatical functions of sentence elements), nonverbal IQ, explicit learning of form-meaning pairings, implicit statistical learning, and speed of automatization. Language assessments included two grammar tasks (assessing morphosyntax) and vocabulary. Accuracy and reaction time measures were obtained for all tasks. Results: Between-group differences demonstrated that language remains an area of difficulty for adults with DLD. Language analytic ability was a significant predictor of grammatical and vocabulary knowledge in the LT group and of grammar in the DLD group. In addition, we found that explicit learning of form-meaning pairings predicted linguistic outcomes in adults with DLD. We found small or no differences for all the other cognitive abilities; this is in line with previous studies that report a relative "catch up" in cognitive abilities in adults with DLD. Response times for the DLD group were slower in both linguistic and nonlinguistic tasks. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that language difficulties in DLD persist into adulthood. Regarding cognitive measures, we show that language analytic ability is a key predictor of linguistic outcomes in both groups, and explicit learning of form-meaning pairings predicts grammar and vocabulary in the DLD group. These findings have important implications for clinical interventions, as they suggest that both implicit (fast, effortless, and unconscious) and explicit (slow, effortful, and conscious) processes are relevant to language. In addition, adults with DLD may require additional processing time in cognitive and linguistic tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=187402270
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        Value: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00557
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 24
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Intellect
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Language disorders
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      – SubjectFull: Research
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      – SubjectFull: Speech evaluation
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      – SubjectFull: Vocabulary
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      – SubjectFull: Comparative studies
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      – SubjectFull: Language acquisition
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      – SubjectFull: Adults
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      – SubjectFull: Physiological aspects of speech
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      – SubjectFull: Reaction time
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    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Toward an Understanding of Developmental Language Disorder in Adults: Investigating the Relationship Between Cognitive Abilities and Linguistic Outcomes.
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              Text: Aug2025
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