Educational and interpersonal uses of home computers by adolescents with and without specific language impairment.

Many uses of new media entail processing language content, yet little is known about the relationship between language ability and media use in young people. This study compares educational versus interpersonal uses of home computers in adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI). Participants were 55 17-year-olds with SLI and 72 typically developing peers. Measures of frequency and ease of computer use were obtained as well as assessments of participants' psycholinguistic skills. Results showed a strong preference for interpersonal computer use in both groups. Virtually all participants engaged with interpersonal new media, finding them relatively easy to use. In contrast, one third of adolescents with SLI did not use educational applications during a typical week. Regression analyses revealed that lower frequency of educational use was associated with poorer language and literacy skills. However, in adolescents with SLI, this association was mediated by perceived ease of use. The findings show that language ability contributes to new media use and that adolescents with SLI are at a greater risk of low levels of engagement with educational technology.

[1]  Kevin Durkin,et al.  Specific language impairment and school outcomes. I: identifying and explaining variability at the end of compulsory education. , 2009, International journal of language & communication disorders.

[2]  G. Conti-Ramsden,et al.  Specific language impairment and school outcomes. II: Educational context, student satisfaction, and post-compulsory progress. , 2009, International journal of language & communication disorders.

[3]  C. Wood,et al.  Exploring the relationship between children's knowledge of text message abbreviations and school literacy outcomes. , 2009, The British journal of developmental psychology.

[4]  Kevin Durkin,et al.  Self-esteem, shyness, and sociability in adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI). , 2008, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[5]  J. Beitchman,et al.  Models and determinants of vocabulary growth from kindergarten to adulthood. , 2008, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[6]  U. Foehr,et al.  Trends in Media Use , 2008, The Future of children.

[7]  P. Greenfield,et al.  Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships , 2008, The Future of children.

[8]  E. Vandewater,et al.  Media and Attention, Cognition, and School Achievement , 2008, The Future of children.

[9]  E. Plante,et al.  Sustained selective attention skills of preschool children with specific language impairment: evidence for separate attentional capacities. , 2008, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[10]  G. Conti-Ramsden,et al.  Language and independence in adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI). , 2008, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[11]  P. Greenfield,et al.  Communicating Online: Adolescent Relationships and the Media , 2008 .

[12]  Evelyne Bevort,et al.  Adolescents and the Internet: Media Appropriation and Perspectives on Education , 2008 .

[13]  Kevin Durkin,et al.  Language, social behavior, and the quality of friendships in adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment. , 2007, Child development.

[14]  C. Crook,et al.  Does using a computer disturb the organization of children's writing? , 2007 .

[15]  D. Francis,et al.  Speed of processing, working memory, and language impairment in children. , 2007, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[16]  G. Conti-Ramsden,et al.  Phonological short-term memory, language and literacy: developmental relationships in early adolescence in young people with SLI. , 2007, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[17]  Julie E. Dockrell,et al.  Constraints in the Production of Written Text in Children with Specific Language Impairments , 2007 .

[18]  Genevieve Marie Johnson,et al.  Internet Use and Cognitive Development: A Theoretical Framework , 2006 .

[19]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  Using the technology acceptance model to explain how attitudes determine Internet usage: The role of perceived access barriers and demographics , 2006 .

[20]  N. Charness,et al.  Factors Predicting the Use of Technology: Findings From the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) , 2006 .

[21]  F. Biocca,et al.  Does home internet use influence the academic performance of low-income children? , 2006 .

[22]  Heshan Sun,et al.  The role of moderating factors in user technology acceptance , 2006, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[23]  Sonya Symons,et al.  Computerized Presentation of Text: Effects on Children’s Reading of Informational Material , 2006 .

[24]  Toni Downes.  The computer as a toy and tool in the home: implications for schools and teachers , 2006, Education and Information Technologies.

[25]  J. Alison Bryant,et al.  IMing, Text Messaging, and Adolescent Social Networks , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[26]  Tracy Packiam Alloway,et al.  Practitioner review: short-term and working memory impairments in neurodevelopmental disorders: diagnosis and remedial support. , 2006, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[27]  Edward Seidman,et al.  The development of ethnic identity during adolescence. , 2006, Developmental psychology.

[28]  Patti M. Valkenburg,et al.  Adolescents' Identity Experiments on the Internet , 2008, Commun. Res..

[29]  P. Maruff,et al.  Spatio-visual memory of children with specific language impairment: evidence for generalized processing problems. , 2005, International journal of language & communication disorders.

[30]  P. Valkenburg,et al.  Adolescents’ identity experiments on the internet , 2005 .

[31]  Julie E Dockrell,et al.  The nature of written language deficits in children with SLI. , 2004, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[32]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models , 2004, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[33]  D. Bishop,et al.  Developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment: same or different? , 2004, Psychological bulletin.

[34]  G. McArthur,et al.  Immature cortical responses to auditory stimuli in specific language impairment: evidence from ERPs to rapid tone sequences. , 2004, Developmental science.

[35]  K. Durkin,et al.  Shyness and Computer-Mediated Communication: A Self-Presentational Theory Perspective , 2004 .

[36]  Dorothy V. M. Bishop,et al.  Written Language as a Window in to Residual Language Deficits: A Study of Children With Persistent and Residual Speech and Language Impairments , 2003, Cortex.

[37]  J Bruce Tomblin,et al.  A longitudinal investigation of reading outcomes in children with language impairments. , 2002, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[38]  P. Shrout,et al.  Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: new procedures and recommendations. , 2002, Psychological methods.

[39]  K. Durkin,et al.  Not so doomed: computer game play and positive adolescent development , 2002 .

[40]  S. West,et al.  A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. , 2002, Psychological methods.

[41]  Shazia Mumtaz,et al.  Children's enjoyment and perception of computer use in the home and the school , 2001, Comput. Educ..

[42]  E. Hill,et al.  Non-specific nature of specific language impairment: a review of the literature with regard to concomitant motor impairments. , 2001, International journal of language & communication disorders.

[43]  Elisheva F. Gross,et al.  The impact of computer use on children's and adolescents' development , 2001, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

[44]  T. Hasselbring,et al.  Use of computer technology to help students with special needs. , 2000, The Future of children.

[45]  Susan E. Stothard,et al.  Is preschool language impairment a risk factor for dyslexia in adolescence? , 2000, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[46]  Elisabeth M. Dykens,et al.  Annotation: Psychopathology in Children with Intellectual Disability , 2000 .

[47]  J. Tomblin,et al.  The association of reading disability, behavioral disorders, and language impairment among second-grade children. , 2000, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[48]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four Longitudinal Field Studies , 2000, Management Science.

[49]  G. Conti-Ramsden,et al.  Characteristics of children attending language units in England: a national study of 7-year-olds. , 1999, International journal of language & communication disorders.

[50]  G. Conti-Ramsden,et al.  Classification of children with specific language impairment: longitudinal considerations. , 1999, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[51]  A. Piquero,et al.  USING THE CORRECT STATISTICAL TEST FOR THE EQUALITY OF REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS , 1998 .

[52]  Neil Selwyn,et al.  The effect of using a home computer on students' educational use of IT , 1998, Comput. Educ..

[53]  Susan E. Stothard,et al.  Language-impaired preschoolers: a follow-up into adolescence. , 1998, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[54]  J. Tomblin,et al.  Prevalence of specific language impairment in kindergarten children. , 1997, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[55]  G. Conti-Ramsden,et al.  The extent to which psychometric tests differentiate subgroups of children with SLI. , 1997, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[56]  R. Kail,et al.  A method for studying the generalized slowing hypothesis in children with specific language impairment. , 1994, Journal of speech and hearing research.

[57]  Jean Underwood,et al.  Predicting Computer Literacy: How Do the Technological Experiences of Schoolchildren Predict Their Computer-Based Problem-Solving Skills? , 1994 .

[58]  Andrew Dillon,et al.  Reading from paper versus screens: a critical review of the empirical literature , 1992 .

[59]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models , 1989 .

[60]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.