Grappling with grammar

Professor Heather van der Lely, Director of the UCL Centre for Developmental Language Disorders & Cognitive Neuroscience, says: “Specific language impairment is not as well known as autism, yet the disorder affects seven times as many children, and prevents them reaching their potential.

“We have discovered that a number of these children have specific problems with grammar, reflected in our measurements of a circuit in the brain which appears to be uniquely involved in grammar. G-SLI children with a deficit here appear to be compensating by harnessing another brain area involved in general word processing. Not only does this offer an intriguing insight into how such children may be coping with language, but it suggests a new way is needed to help them to overcome their difficulties in broader education.

“Government departments are starting to recognise the problem, but we need more resources. Our results suggest that enhanced general language teaching is unlikely to help – these children need focussed and specialised help. It is not a question of giving these children more of the same, but re-directing them to use the skills they do have to understand and communicate. Surprisingly, only a handful of experts in the world are conducting brain research into children with SLI.”

If parents think that their child might have or has SLI, they should seek referral to a speech and language therapist.

Professor van der Lely will be speaking about her research at a UCL Lunch Hour Lecture, ‘Living without a language instinct’, on Thursday 13 March 2008 at the Darwin Lecture Theatre, University College London. The talk is part of Brain Awareness Week, to raise public awareness of the advances and benefits of brain research.