Language Processing Research Group

Current members: Jane Marshall (convenor), Nicola Botting, Naomi Cocks, Lucy Dipper, Julie Hickin, Vicky Joffe, Abigail Levin, Tim Pring, Belinda Seeff-Gabriel, Penny Roy and Chloe Marshall.

 

The Department has a strong tradition of research into disordered language processing.  Several studies have explored aphasic language impairments and their remediation (funded by the MRC and the Stroke Association). These have particularly focussed on disorders of word retrieval, sentence processing and jargon aphasia (eg Marshall et al 1990; 1993; 1996 a&b; 1997; 1998 a&b; 2001; Pring et al 1990; Robson et al 1998; 2001; 2003; 2004).  Future research on disorders of word retrieval will incorporate the interests of new members of staff, for example investigating the measurement of word finding in natural conversation (eg Hickin et al 2005) and the relationship between language processing deficits and the response to therapy (eg Hickin et al 2002).  Several members of the group have a particular interest in verb processing (eg Marshall 2003) and, in collaboration with colleagues from University College London staged an international conference on this theme (Verbs: Properties, Processes and Problems, 2003).  A current project (funded by Connect) is exploring verb and event processing skills in people who have aphasia (Marshall and Cairns in press; Cairns et al, submitted for publication).  The group has recently developed its interest in bilingual aphasia and ongoing work is investigating word finding difficulties in aphasic people who are bilingual in Bengali and English (funded by the Barts and the London NHS Trust).  This work is also exploring the effects of therapy and, in particular, whether therapy given in one language brings about gains in the other.  The now completed Deaf Stroke Project (funded by the Wellcome Trust) explored the language processing difficulties experienced by aphasic users of British Sign Language.  This developed a number of new assessments for investigating aphasia in BSL and has reported both individual and group findings (Atkinson et al 2003; 2005; Marshall et al 2004; 2005).

 

Another major theme is the application of psycholinguistic models to children’s language. The department has recently developed a new clinic for children with developmental speech disorders.  Detailed assessment identifies the underlying processing impairments of these children and provides a basis for targeted intervention (see Gourlay et al 2005; Denne et al 2005).  In 2006 a three year project is planned involving children with Specific Language Impairment.  This will entail a series of case studies exploring the effects of theoretically motivated therapies. 

 

The Very Early Processing Skills project (funded by the ESRC) aims to pin point reliable methods of identifying language difficulties in very young children.  Four tests have been developed which explore processing skills that are known to relate to language and communication problems.  These have been administered to just over 200 children aged between 2;6 and 3;6.  These children are now being followed up 2 years later to find out whether they are experiencing language problems and whether the early tests were predictive of this.  At the other end of the spectrum we are also interested in the long term impact of speech, language and communication impairments.  One project followed up adolescents who were diagnosed with SLI at 7 and explored their educational, vocational and social experiences. 

 

References
Atkinson J, Campbell R, Marshall J, Thacker A and Woll B (2004) Understanding not: Neuropsychological dissociations between hand and head markers of negation in BSL. Neuropsychologia, 42, 214 – 229.

 

Atkinson J, Marshall J, Woll B and Thacker A (2005) Testing comprehension abilities in users of British Sign Language following CVA.  Brain and Language, 94, 233 – 248.

Cairns D, Marshall J, Cairns P and Dipper L (submitted for publication) Event processing through naming: Investigating event processing in people with aphasia. 

 

Denne M, Langdown N, Pring T and Roy P (2005) Treating children with expressive phonological disorders: Does phonological awareness therapy work in the clinic?  International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 40, 4, 493 – 504.

 

Hickin, J., Herbert, R., Best, W., Howard, D. and Osborne, F. (2005) Efficacy of treatment: effects on word retrieval and conversation. In S. Byng, C. Pound and J. Marshall (Eds) Aphasia Therapy File: Volume Two. Hove: Psychology Press.

 

Hickin, J., Best, W., Herbert, R., Howard, D. and Osborne, F. (2002) Phonological therapy for word-finding difficulties: a re-evaluation. Aphasiology, 16, 981-999.

 

Gourlay S, Joffe V and Levin A (2005) Speech impairment in children: A psycholinguistic approach.  Bulletin of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, 638, 12 – 17.

 

Marshall J, Pound C, White-Thomson M and Pring T (1990) The use of picture/word matching tasks to assist word retrieval in aphasic patients.  Aphasiology, 4, 167-184.

 

Marshall J, Pring T, Chiat S and Robson J (1996a), Calling a Salad a Federation: An Investigation of Semantic Jargon, Paper 1, Nouns, Journal of Neurolinguistics, 9, 237-250.

 

Marshall J, Chiat S, Robson J and Pring T (1996b).  An investigation of Semantic Jargon, Paper 2, Verbs.  Journal of Neurolinguistics, 9,251-260.

 

Marshall J, Chiat S and Pring T (1997)  An Impairment in Processing Verbs' Thematic Roles: a Therapy Study.  Aphasiology, 11, 855-876.

 

Marshall J, Pring T and Chiat S (1998) Verb retrieval and sentence production in aphasia.  Brain and Language, 63, 159-183.

 

Marshall J, Robson J, Pring T and Chiat S (1998) Why does monitoring fail in jargon aphasia: Comprehension, judgement and therapy evidence.  Brain and Language, 63, 79-107.

 

Marshall J, Pring T, Chiat S and Robson J (2001) When ottoman is easier than chair: an inverse frequency effect in jargon aphasia.  Cortex, 37, 33 - 53.

 

Marshall J (2003)  Noun-Verb Dissociations: Evidence from Acquisition and Developmental and Acquired Disorders.  Journal of Neurolinguistics, 16, 67 – 84.

 

Marshall J, Atkinson J, Smulovitch E, Thacker A and Woll B (2004) Aphasia in a user of British Sign Language: Dissociation between Sign and Gesture.  Cognitive Neuropsychology, 21 (5), 537 - 554.

 

Marshall J, Atkinson J, Thacker A and Woll B (2005) Aphasia in a bilingual user of BSL and English: Effects of Cross Linguistic Cues.  Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22, 719 – 736.

 

Marshall J and Cairns D (in press) Therapy for sentence processing problems in aphasia: working on thinking for speaking.  Aphasiology

 

Pring T, White-Thomson M, Pound C, Marshall J and Davis A (1990) Picture/word matching tasks and word retrieval: some follow up data and second thoughts.  Aphasiology, 4, 479-483.

 

Robson, J, Pring, T, Marshall, J, Morrison, S and Chiat, S (1998) Written Communication in Undifferentiated Jargon Aphasia: A Therapy Study.  International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 33, 305-328.

 

Robson J, Marshall J, Pring T and Chiat S (1999) Phonological naming therapy in jargon aphasia: Positive but paradoxical effects.  The Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 4, 675 – 686.

 

Robson J, Marshall J, Pring T & Chiat S (2001) Enhancing communication in jargon aphasia: a small group study of writing therapy.  International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 36, 471 – 488

 

Robson J, Pring T, Marshall J and Chiat S (2003) Phoneme frequency effects in jargon aphasia: a phonological investigation of neologisms.  Brain and Language, 85, 109 - 124

 

Robson J, Marshall J, Pring T, Montagu A and Chiat S (2004) Processing Proper Nouns in Aphasia: Evidence from Assessment and Therapy.  Aphasiology, 18, 917 – 935.