Language and memory abilities of internationally adopted children from China: evidence for early age effects

The goal of the present study was to examine if internationally adopted (IA) children from China (M = 10;8) adopted by French-speaking families exhibit lags in verbal memory in addition to lags in verbal abilities documented in previous studies (Gauthier & Genesee, 2011). Tests assessing verbal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child language 2014-11, Vol.41 (6), p.1195-1223
Main Authors: DELCENSERIE, AUDREY, GENESEE, FRED
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adoption
Adoption - psychology
Age effects
Age Factors
Canada
Child development
Child Language
Child, Preschool
Children
China - ethnology
Cognitive development
Delayed language acquisition
Emotions
Female
French language
Humans
Infant
Language acquisition
Language Aptitude
Language Tests
Language thought relationship
Long term memory
Memory
Memory, Short-Term
Neuropsychological Tests
Receptive Language
Sex Factors
Short term memory
Socioeconomic status
Standardized Tests
Surveys and Questionnaires
Verbal Ability
Vocabulary Development
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Summary:The goal of the present study was to examine if internationally adopted (IA) children from China (M = 10;8) adopted by French-speaking families exhibit lags in verbal memory in addition to lags in verbal abilities documented in previous studies (Gauthier & Genesee, 2011). Tests assessing verbal and non-verbal memory, language, non-verbal cognitive ability, and socio-emotional development were administered to thirty adoptees. Their results were compared to those of thirty non-adopted monolingual French-speaking children matched on age, gender, and socioeconomic status. The IA children scored significantly lower than the controls on language, verbal short-term memory, verbal working memory, and verbal long-term memory. No group differences were found on non-verbal memory, non-verbal cognitive ability, and socio-emotional development, suggesting language-specific difficulties. Despite extended exposure to French, adoptees may experience language difficulties due to limitations in verbal memory, possibly as a result of their delayed exposure to that language and/or attrition of the birth language.
ISSN:0305-0009
1469-7602
DOI:10.1017/S030500091300041X