Research Trends Regarding Infancy and Toddlerhood Language Impairment During the Last 10 Years

Kim, Jung-Mee; Hong, Gyung-Hun

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2008;13(4): 565-593.

Jung-Mee Kim^` , and Gyung-Hun Hong^`

김정미(Jung-Mee Kim)| 홍경훈(Gyung-Hun Hong)

ABSTRACT

Background & Objectives
Recent legislation for the disabled allowed infants and toddlers with disabilities to be eligible for free education and related services. To establish this program effectively, it is necessary to accumulate the basic research regarding infants and toddlers with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to review the literature concerning infancy and toddlerhood language impairment, and to present a direction for future research.
Methods
Eighty-five research papers published in the Korean Journal of Communication Disorders and the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research from 1999 to 2008 were analyzed. These papers were analyzed in terms of the subjects/participants, research methods, independent variables, and dependent variables.
Results
50% of the research focused on typically developing children. About 90% of the research consisted of descriptive studies, while there were relatively few empirical studies. Age and sex were frequently used for independent variables, while expressive language was frequently used as a dependent variable.
Discussion & Conclusion
Based on these results, the overall trends regarding research methods and results pertaining to infancy and toddlerhood language impairments were discussed, and some suggestions were made for future research.