Language in Motion Laboratory Information

Lab News

We have learned that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have difficulty producing novel signs accurately. New words learned with the hands show similar phonological (sound/sign pattern) deficits to those learned in spoken language. In the sign domain, errors are observed in the features of hand shape, movement path, and hand orientation. Children with DLD also show increased motor variability in their hands when they are producing novel signs that require bimanual and coordinated movement sequences (Goffman, Factor, Barna, Cai, & Feld, 2023).

We have learned that children with DLD show less accurate and more variable production of simple musical sequences than their typically developing peers. These results support domain general deficits in sequential aspects of production (Kreidler, Vuolo, & Goffman, 2023).

We have enjoyed collaborating with Alan Wisler at Utah State University and Jun Wang at University of Texas-Austin. We have developed new methods for studying speech motion variability that do not depend on expensive equipment but that use simple acoustic recordings of speech (Benham, Wisler, Wang, & Goffman, 2023).

In this theoretical paper, we lay out our developmental account of how infants, children, and adults learn sound patterns that do or do not include sequential dependencies. Infants and young children show surprising learning skills that adults do not. We argue that DLD is a disorder in the ability to detect and deploy sequential dependencies over multiple domains (Goffman & Gerken, 2023).

Participate in a Study

Thank you to the junior scientists and their families who have participated in our studies and helped us learn about language, speech and motor development. We are always looking for children to be junior scientists in our lab.

What will my child do if they participate in a research study?

In some studies, children will say sounds, words and sentences. While children talk, we also record speech movements. Children wear small markers on their face and on special sports glasses. Many children have worn these markers and helped us learn about language and speech motor development. Over 500 children have participated in our studies.

We also study how children move their hands when they produce gestures or sign language, play music by drumming or clapping, or produce patterns with their hands.

Child engage in play while we collect a language sample and learn about spontaneous communication.

Parents will also receive a free speech, language, and hearing evaluation for their child that will be provided to you if you want.

Who can participate?
Chilbetween 4 and 10 years of age. Our studies include children with language difficulties (DLD), speech sound difficulties (SSD), and typical speech and language development. Children need to have been exposed to English during their first year of life and use English as their primary language, though they can be bilingual or multilingual.

Study Duration
Our experiments include between one and 10 visits. Each visit is approximately one hour in length.

Compensation
Children with receive a small toy each visit and parents will be paid $20/session.

Interested in joining a study? Contact languageinmotion@boystown.org.

Publications

2024

Wisler, A., Teplansky, K., Berlin, J., Wang, J., & Goffman, L. (accepted). Validating the influences of methodological decisions on assessing the spatiotemporal stability of speech movement sequences using children's speech data, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research

2023

Goffman, L., & Gerken, L. (2023) A developmental account of the role of sequential dependencies in typical and atypical language learners, Cognitive Neuropsychology, PMID 37963089

Richtsmeier, P.T., & Goffman, L. (2023). Statistical learning of phonotactics by children are affected by another statistical learning task. Applied Psycholinguistics, 44,1124-1142.

Hahn Arkenberg, R. E., Mitchell, S. S., Craig, B. A., Brown, B., Burdo-Hartman, W., Lundine, J. P., Goffman, L., Smith, A., & Malandraki, G. (2023). Neuromuscular adaptations of swallowing and speech in unilateral cerebral palsy: Shared and distinctive traits. Journal of Neurophysiology, 130, 1375-1391. PMID: 37877193.

Teplansky, K. J., Wisler A., Goffman, L., Wang, J. (2023). The Impact of Stimulus Length in Tongue and Lip Movement Pattern Stability in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Journal of Speech, Language, & Hearing Research, 21. PMID: 37988653. Keidler, K., Vuolo, J., & Goffman, L. (2023). Children with developmental language disorder show deficits in the production of musical rhythmic groupings. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66, 4481-4496

Arkenberg, R., Malandraki, G., Brown, B., Mitchell, S., Craig, B., & Goffman, L. (2023). Shared and separate neuromuscular underpinnings of swallowing and motor speech development in the school age years. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

Goffman, L., Factor, L., Barna, M., Cai, F., & Feld, I. (2023). Phonological and articulatory deficits in the production of novel signs in children with developmental language disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66, 1051-1067.

Benham, S., Weisler, A., Wang, J., & Goffman, L. (2023). Acoustic and kinematic methods of indexing spatiotemporal stability in children with developmental language disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, epub ahead of print.

Abu-Zhaya, R., Goffman, L., Brosseau-Lapré, F., *Roepke, E., & Seidl, A. (2023). The effect of somatosensory input on word recognition in typical children and those with speech sound disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66, 84-97.

2022

Factor, L. & Goffman, L. (2022). Phonological characteristics of novel gesture production in children with developmental language disorder: Longitudinal findings. Applied Psycholinguistics, 43, 333-362.

Malandraki, G. A., Mitchell, S. S., Hahn Arkenberg, R. E., Brown, B., Craig, B. Α., Burdo-Hartman, W., Lundine, J. P., Darling-White, M., & Goffman, L. (2022). Swallowing and motor speech skills in unilateral cerebral palsy: Novel findings from a preliminary cross-sectional study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65(9), 3300–3315. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00091

Wisler, A., Goffman, L., Zhang, L., & Wang, J. (2022). Influences of methodological decisions on assessing the spatiotemporal stability of speech movement sequences. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65(2), 538–554. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00298

2021

Benham, S., & Goffman, L. (2021). A longitudinal study of the phonological organisation of novel word forms in children with developmental language disorder. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 24(2), 212–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2021.1975816

Factor, L., & Goffman, L. (2021). Phonological characteristics of novel gesture production in children with developmental language disorder: Longitudinal findings. Applied Psycholinguistics, 43(2), 333–362. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0142716421000540

Gerken, L., Plante, E., & Goffman, L. (2021). Not all procedural learning tasks are difficult for adults with developmental language disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 64(3), 922–934. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00548

Sack, L., Dollaghan, C., & Goffman, L. (2021). Contributions of early motor deficits in predicting language outcomes among preschoolers with developmental language disorder. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 24(4), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2021.1998629=

2020

Benham, S., & Goffman, L. (2020). Lexical-semantic cues induce sound pattern stability in children with developmental language disorder. Journal Of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(12), 4109–4126. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00244

Goffman, L., & Gerken, L. (2020). An alternative to the procedural-declarative memory account of developmental language disorder. Journal of Communication Disorders, 83, 105946. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.105946

McGregor, K. K., Goffman, L., Van Horne, A. O., Hogan, T. P., & Finestack, L. H. (2020). Developmental language disorder: Applications for advocacy, research, and clinical service. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 5(1), 38–46. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_persp-19-00083

Vuolo, J., & Goffman, L. (2020). Vowel accuracy and segmental variability differentiate children with developmental language disorder in nonword repetition. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(12), 3945–3960. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00166

2019

Gerken, L., Quam, C., & Goffman, L. (2019). Adults fail to learn a type of linguistic pattern that is readily learned by infants. Language Learning and Development, 15(4), 279–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/15475441.2019.1617149

2018

Benham, S., Goffman, L., & Schweickert, R. (2018). An application of network science to phonological sequence learning in children with developmental language disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61(9), 2275–2291. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_JSLHR-L-18-0036

Saletta, M., Goffman, L., Ward, C., & Oleson, J. (2018). Influence of language load on speech motor skill in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61(3), 675–689. https://doi.org/10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-17-0066

Seidl, A., Brosseau-Lapré, F., & Goffman, L. (2018). The impact of brief restriction to articulation on children's subsequent speech production. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 143(2), 858. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5021710

Vuolo, J., & Goffman, L. (2018). Language skill mediates the relationship between language load and articulatory variability in children with language and speech sound disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61(12), 3010–3022. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_JSLHR-L-18-0055

2017

Gladfelter, A., & Goffman, L. (2017). Semantic richness and word learning in children with autism spectrum disorder. Developmental Science, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12543

Richtsmeier, P. T., & Goffman, L. (2017). Perceptual statistical learning over one week in child speech production. Journal of Communication Disorders, 68, 70–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2017.06.004

Vuolo, J., & Goffman, L. (2017). An exploratory study of the influence of load and practice on segmental and articulatory variability in children with speech sound disorders. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 31(5), 331–350. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2016.1261184

Vuolo, J., Goffman, L., & Zelaznik, H. N. (2017). Deficits in coordinative bimanual timing precision in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60(2), 393–405. https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_JSLHR-L-15-0100

2016

Heisler, L., & Goffman, L. (2016). The influence of phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on children's production of newly learned words. Language Learning and Development, 12(3), 338–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/15475441.2015.1117977

Saletta, M., Goffman, L., & Brentari, D. (2016). Reading skill and exposure to orthography influence speech production. Applied Psycholinguistics, 37(2), 411–434. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716415000053

Saletta, M., Goffman, L., & Hogan, T. P. (2016). Orthography and modality influence speech production in adults and children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 59(6), 1421–1435. https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_JSLHR-L-15-0242

2015

Richtsmeier, P. T., & Goffman, L. (2015). Learning trajectories for speech motor performance in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Communication Disorders, 55, 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2015.02.001

2014

DiDonato Brumbach, A. C., & Goffman, L. (2014). Interaction of language processing and motor skill in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 57(1), 158–171. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2013/12-0215)

2013

Gladfelter, A., & Goffman, L. (2013). The influence of prosodic stress patterns and semantic depth on novel word learning in typically developing children. Language Learning and Development, 9(2), 151–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/15475441.2012.684574

Goffman, L., & Westover, S. (2013). Interactivity in prosodic representations in children. Journal of Child Language, 40(5), 1032–1056. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000912000505

2012

Smith, A., Goffman, L., Sasisekaran, J., & Weber-Fox, C. (2012). Language and motor abilities of preschool children who stutter: Evidence from behavioral and kinematic indices of nonword repetition performance. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 37(4), 344–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2012.06.001

2011

Chakraborty, R., & Goffman, L. (2011). Production of lexical stress in non-native speakers of American English: Kinematic correlates of stress and transfer. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54(3), 821–835. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2010/09-0018)

Ertmer, D. J., & Goffman, L. (2011). Speech production accuracy and variability in young cochlear implant recipients: comparisons with typically developing age-peers. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54(1), 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2010/09-0165)

2010

Deevy, P., Weil, L. W., Leonard, L. B., & Goffman, L. (2010). Extending use of the NRT to preschool-age children with and without specific language impairment. Language, Speech, And Hearing Services in Schools, 41(3), 277–288. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2009/08-0096)

Heisler, L., Goffman, L., & Younger, B. (2010). Lexical and articulatory interactions in children's language production. Developmental Science, 13(5), 722–730. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00930.x

Zelaznik, H. N., & Goffman, L. (2010). Generalized motor abilities and timing behavior in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53(2), 383–393. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0204)

2009

Richtsmeier, P. T., Gerken, L., Goffman, L., & Hogan, T. (2009). Statistical frequency in perception affects children's lexical production. Cognition, 111(3), 372–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.02.009

2008

Chakraborty, R., Goffman, L., & Smith, A. (2008). Physiological indices of bilingualism: Oral-motor coordination and speech rate in Bengali-English speakers. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51(2), 321–332. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2008/024)

Goffman, L., Smith, A., Heisler, L., & Ho, M. (2008). The breadth of coarticulatory units in children and adults. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51(6), 1424–1437. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2008/07-0020)

2007

Owen, A. J., & Goffman, L. (2007). Acoustic correlates of inflectional morphology in the speech of children with specific language impairment and their typically developing peers. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 21(7), 501–522. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699200701350488

Goffman, L., Gerken, L., & Lucchesi, J. (2007). Relations between segmental and motor variability in prosodically complex nonword sequences. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50(2), 444–458. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2007/031)

2006

Goffman, L., Heisler, L., & Chakraborty, R. (2006). Mapping of prosodic structure onto words and phrases in children's and adults' speech production. Language and Cognitive Processes, 21(1-3), 25–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/01690960400001820

2004

Goffman, L. (2004). Kinematic differentiation of prosodic categories in normal and disordered language development. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 47(5), 1088–1102. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2004/081)

2002

Goffman, L., Ertmer, D. J., & Erdle, C. (2002). Changes in speech production in a child with a cochlear implant. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45(5), 891–901. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2002/072)

2000

Goffman, L., & Leonard, J. (2000). Growth of language skills in preschool children with specific language impairment: Implications for assessment and intervention. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 9(2), 151–161. https://doi.org/10.1044/1058-0360.0902.151

Smith, A., Johnson, M., McGillem, C., & Goffman, L. (2000). On the assessment of stability and patterning of speech movements. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 43(1), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4301.277

1999

Goffman, L., & Smith, A. (1999). Development and phonetic differentiation of speech movement patterns. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 25(3), 649–660. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.25.3.649

Goffman, L., & Malin, C. (1999). Metrical effects on speech movements in children and adults. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 42(4), 1003–1015. https://doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4204.1003

Goffman, L. (1999). Prosodic influences on speech production in children with specific language impairment and speech deficits. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 42(6), 1499–1517. https://doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4206.1499

1998

Smith, A., & Goffman, L. (1998). Stability and patterning of speech movement sequences in children and adults. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41(1), 18–30. https://doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4101.18

1996

Goffman, L., Schwartz, R. G., & Marton, K. (1996). Information level and young children's phonological accuracy. Journal of Child Language, 23(2), 337–347. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305000900008825

Schwartz, R. H., Petinou, K., Goffman, L., Lazowski, G., & Cartusciello, C. (1996). Young children's production of syllable stress: An acoustic analysis. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 99(5), 3192–3200. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.414803

1995

Schwartz, R. G., & Goffman, L. (1995). Metrical patterns of words and production accuracy. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 38(4), 876–888. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3804.876

Kelly, E. M., Smith, A., & Goffman, L. (1995). Orofacial muscle activity of children who stutter: A preliminary study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 38(5), 1025–1036. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3805.1025

Smith, A., Goffman, L., Zelaznik, H. N., Ying, G., & McGillem, C. (1995). Spatiotemporal stability and patterning of speech movement sequences. Experimental Brain Research, 104(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00231983

Smith, A., Goffman, L., & Stark, R. (1995). Speech motor development. Seminars in Speech and Language, 16(02), 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2008-1064112

1994

Wohlert, A. B., & Goffman, L. (1994). Human perioral muscle activation patterns. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 37(5), 1032–1040. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3705.1032

Goffman, L., & Smith, A. (1994). Motor unit territories in the human perioral musculature. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 37(5), 975–984. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3705.975