Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics
language disorder (also acquired language disorder)
A language disorder may be either congenital, i.e. present from the time of birth (
developmental language disorder) or acquired. Acquired disorders, affecting adolescents and adults, occur well after the acquisition of language and involve the loss, diminution, or disruption of previously intact language abilities. Congenital disorders, in contrast, involve the failure to acquire the language system in the normal time and/or patterns. Language disorders are generally viewed as ‘central’ disorders, i.e. as caused by central nervous system pathology, and are distinguished from ‘peripheral’ disorders, i.e. those caused by impairments of speech organs such as the larynx or palate, though the two types of disorder may co-occur. Language disorders may be manifest in speech or writing as well as in the comprehension of spoken or written texts ( agraphia, alexia, aphasia). Associated deficits in the ability to perform simple mathematical calculations or in the ability to recognize sound sequences or words (‘verbal’ agnosia) may also occur. Language disorders are generally presumed to be caused by organic factors such as brain lesion, neural dysfunction, neural degeneration, sensory deficit, or to be the secondary symptoms of psycho-emotional disorders. However, some congenital language disorders may represent extremes in the normal distribution of language capacities rather than organic pathology or psychosis. The study of language disorders is of interest to many disciplines, among others, neurology, neurolinguistics, neuropsychology and psychology.
References
Bates, E. and B.Wulfeck. 1989. Cross-linguistic studies of aphasia. In B.MacWhinney and E. Bates (eds). Cross-linguistic studies of sentence processing. New York. 328–74.
Blanken, G. et al. 1993. Linguistic disorders and pathologies: an international handbook. Berlin and New York.
Caplan, D. 1987. Neurolinguistics and linguistic aphasiology. Cambridge.
——1992. Language structure, processing and disorders. Cambridge, MA.
Crystal, D.
1980. Introduction to language pathology. London.
Grodinsky, Y. 1984. The syntactic characterization of agrammatism. Cognition 16. 99–120.
——1990. Theoretical perspectives on language deficits. Cambridge, MA.
Joshi, R.M. 1991. Written language disorders. Dordrecht.
Leonard, L. 1991. Specific language impairment as a clinical category. Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools 22. 66–8.
Tyler, L.K. 1992. Spoken language comprehension: an experimental approach to disordered and normal processing. Cambridge, MA.
Weigl, E. and M.Bierwisch. 1970. Neuropsychology and linguistics. FL 6. 1–18.
Winitz, H. (ed.) 1987/9. Human communication and its disorders, 2 vols. Hove.
Yavas, M.S. 1991. Phonological disorders in children: theory, research and practice. London.
aphasia
This is the complete article, containing 391 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
View More Summaries on Speech disorder
