# How Single-Word and Telegraphic Simplification Affects Language Processing and Word Learning in Young Children with Down Syndrome

> **NIH NIH R01** · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $366,385

## Abstract

Summary/Abstract
Children with Down syndrome (DS) experience significant language deficits beginning early in life and persist-
ing throughout adulthood. Language deficits negatively impact academic outcomes and quality of life. Most
children with DS participate in early language and communication interventions, which frequently include a
caregiver-mediated component. In early interventions, caregivers are often instructed to adapt their language
input to match or slightly exceed their child’s spoken language abilities. However, currently there is no empiri-
cal evidence to indicate what level of linguistic simplification optimizes language processing and word learning
in young children with DS, leading to a substantial gap in clinical practice. This information is particularly im-
portant given that children with DS present with uneven language profiles. Specifically, children with DS show
relative strengths in receptive over expressive language, and in lexical over morphosyntactic skills. Thus, modi-
fying language input based on the child’s expressive language level may result in input that is too simplified for
the child’s receptive language abilities, potentially inhibiting language development in a population that already
struggles to learn language. The proposed project adds a sample of 30 young children with DS, ages 2—5
years, to an ongoing R01 that examines how linguistic simplification affects language processing and word
learning in young autistic children. The methodology is consistent across participant groups and includes using
looking-while-listening tasks to examine the effects of linguistic simplification on language processing and word
learning in real-time. Looking-while-listening only requires passive participation (i.e., looking), eliminating most
behavioral demands and allowing for testing of participants with a range of cognitive and linguistic abilities.
Participants will also complete standardized language assessments. The central hypothesis of the INCLUDE
supplement is that simplification will negatively affect processing and learning. This central hypothesis will be
addressed by 3 Specific Aims, which mirror the aims of the parent R01 but in a sample of young children with
DS: 1) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects language processing in young children
with DS. 2) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects word learning in young children
with DS. 3) Evaluate child characteristics that may moderate the effects of linguistic simplification on language
processing and word learning in young children with DS. Regardless of the outcome, these results will have a
strong impact on theory and clinical practice. Project results will identify how linguistic simplification affects chil-
dren’s ability to understand and learn from spoken language. The proposed supplement aligns with INCLUDE’s
research plan, particularly with regard to Component 3, as it includes a clinical trial th...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10941386
- **Project number:** 3R01DC020165-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Courtney E Venker
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $366,385
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10941386

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10941386, How Single-Word and Telegraphic Simplification Affects Language Processing and Word Learning in Young Children with Down Syndrome (3R01DC020165-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10941386. Licensed CC0.

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