Publications

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Mandarin Language Acquisition and Disorders

Mandarin differs from Indo-European languages in phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and orthography. As such, it provides important insights on the range of natural language features that learners must accommodate and the psycholinguistic foundations that support learning. Our ongoing study with 300 preschool-age Mandarin-speaking children includes a wide range of Mandarin structures. Stay tuned for presentations and publications!

 

Sheng, L., *Yu, J., *Su, P.L., *Wang, D., *Lu, T.-H., *Shen, L., Hao, Y., & Lam, B.P.W. (2023). Developmental language disorder in Chinese children: A systematic review of research from 1997 to 2022. Brain and Language, 241:105268.

Wang, D., Zheng, L., Lin, Y., Zhang, Y., & Sheng, L. (2022). Sentence repetition as a clinical marker for Mandarin-speaking preschoolers with developmental language disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65, 1543-1560.

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Ji, Y., Sheng, L., & Zheng, L. (2023). Acquisition of Non-Canonical Word Orders in Mandarin Chinese. Frontiers in Psychology, 14:1006148.

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Sheng, L., *Yu, J., & Hao, Y. (2022). 汉语发展性语言障碍的现状及建议. The Current State of and Recommendations for Interventions in Developmental Language Disorders in Chinese Children. Early Childhood Development. 早期儿童发展, 4, 73-84.

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 Song, L., Sheng, L., & Luo, R. (2022). Comprehension skills in Chinese dual language learners: Relations across languages and associations with language richness at home. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Published online 1 Nov 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2022.2137386

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*Wang, D., Zheng, L., *Lin, Y., Zhang, Y., & Sheng, L. (2022). Sentence repetition as a clinical marker for Mandarin-speaking preschoolers with developmental language disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65, 1543-1560. https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00401

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Hao, Y., Bedore, L., Sheng, L., Zhou, P., & Zheng, L. (2021). Exploring influential factors of shape classifier comprehension and production in Mandarin-speaking children. First Language, 41(5), 573-604.

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Zhang, Y., Xu, X., Jiang, Y., Sun, W, Wang, Y., Song, Y., Dong, S., Zhu, Q., Jiang, F., &

Sheng, L. (2021). Early language and communication development of Chinese children: Adaptation and validation of a parent report instrument. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 23(4), 372-381.

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Yang, J., Zheng, L., Feng, C., Zhang, X., & Sheng, L., (2021). Characteristics of Chinese word association in children with mild autism. 听力学及言语疾病杂志 Journal of Audiology and Speech Pathology, 28. [Chinese]

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Sheng, L., Shi, H., Wang, D., Hao, Y., & Zheng, L. (2020). Narrative production in Mandarin-speaking children: Effects of language ability and elicitation method. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63, 774-792.

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Zhang, S., Zheng, L. & Sheng, L. (2019). The influence of non-verbal intelligence on vocabulary proficiency in Chinese preschoolers. 幼儿教育 Early Childhood Education, Issue 793, 26-31. [Chinese]

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Shi, H., Zheng, L., Ji, Y., Hsu, N., & Sheng, L. (2018, October). Mandarin speaking children’s comprehension of universal quantifiers and negation. Poster presentation at the 17th Conference on the Processing of East Asian Languages and the 9th Conference on Language, Discourse, and Cognition, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.

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Wang, D., Zheng, L., Yuan, Y., & Sheng, L. (2018, October). Sentence Repetition Task as a Language Assessment Tool in Mandarin Chinese. Oral presentation at the 17th Conference on the Processing of East Asian Languages and the 9th Conference on Language, Discourse, and Cognition, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.

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Ji, Y., Zheng, L. & Sheng, L. (2018, June). Mandarin-speaking children’s acquisition of active, passive and ba-constructions. Poster presented at the 39th annual Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison, Wisconsin.

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Hao, Y., Bedore, L., Sheng, L., & Peña, E.D. (2018). Narrative skills in two languages of Mandarin-English bilingual children. International Journal of Speech-Language. Published online 8 March 2018.

 

Hao, Y., Sheng, L., Zhang, Y., Jiang, F., de Villiers, J., Lee, W., & Liu, X. (2018). A narrative evaluation of Mandarin-speaking children with language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61, 345-359.

 

Guo, F., Zheng, L., & Sheng, L. (2018). The impact of family cultural capital on 5-6 year-old children’s vocabulary ability. Early Childhood Education, Issue 753-754, 77-81. [Chinese]

 

Yang, J., Zheng, L., & Sheng, L. (2018). A comparison between adult and peer influence on preschoolers’ conversational skill development. Research in Preschool Education, Issue 277, 49-63. [Chinese]

 

Hao, Y., Sheng, L., & Gao, L. (2014). Mandarin-speaking children’s pronoun interpretation. Journal of Child Language Acquisition and Development, 2 (6), 1-23.

 

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Bilingualism: Assessment, Intervention, and Effects on Learning and Processing

In the past we have systematically compared the lexical learning of Spanish-English bilinguals and Mandarin-English bilinguals to that of English monolinguals and noted how typological and sociolinguistic factors may shape the learning trajectory and error patterns of the bilingual child. Currently, we are investigating a novel assessment approach that involves parents as the agent of receptive language testing through a web-based platform. Stay tuned for findings!

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Lam, B.P.W., Sheng, L., & Zhang, X. (2023). Children’s likelihood to perform adult-like in word association test: Effects of distributional properties of word relationships and bilingualism. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. 26(1), 216-230. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728922000463

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Li, F., Sheng, L., & Shang, X. (2022). A contrastive study of syntactic production ability in Mandarin-English bilingual children in the United States. Modern Linguistics现代语言学, 10(8), 1668-1676. https://doi.org/10.12677/ML.2022.108224

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*Wang, D., *Wang, S., Zinszer, B., Sheng, L., & Jasinska, L. (2022). Cross-linguistic influences of L1 on L2 morphosyntactic processing: An fNIRS study. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 63, 101063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2022.101063

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Wang, D., Wang, S., Zinszer, B., Sheng, L., & Jasinska, L. (2022). Cross-linguistic influences of L1 on L2 morphosyntactic processing: An fNIRS study. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 63, 101063.

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Sheng, L., Wang, D., Walsh, C., Heisler, L., Li, X., & Su, P.L. (2021). The bilingual home language boost through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology: Language Sciences. 12:667836. 

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Lam, B.P.W., & Sheng, L. (2020). Taxonomic development in young bilingual children: Task matters, and so does scoring method. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 29(3),1162-1177.

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Lam, B.P.W., & Sheng, L. (2020). The native-likeness problem in L2 word association tasks: Examining word class and trials. English Language Teaching, 13(5), 125-138.

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Sheng, L. (2019). Introduction to the Forum: Innovations in Clinical Practice for Dual Language Learners, Part 1. American Journal of Speech-Language-Pathology, 28, 929-931.

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Sheng, L., Wang, D., & Huang, B. (2018, October). The Development of a Mandarin-English Child Online Language Assessment Bank (MECO-LAB). Poster presentation at the East Coast Organization of Language Testers, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey.

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Kastenbaum, J., Bedore, L., Peña, E., Sheng, L., Mavis, I., Sebastian-Vaytadden, R., Rangamani, G., Vallila-Rohter, S., & Kiran, S. (2018). The influence of proficiency and language combination on bilingual lexical access. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. Published online 7 May 2018.

 

Yang, M., Cooc, N., & Sheng, L. (2017). Cross-linguistic transfer between Chinese and English: A meta-analysis. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 2:15.

 

Lam, B.P.W., & Sheng, L. (2016). The development of morphological awareness in young bilinguals: Effects of age and L1 background. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 59, 732-744.

 

Sheng, L., Lam, B.P.W., Cruz, D., & Fulton, A. (2016). A robust demonstration of the cognate facilitation effect in L1 and L2 naming. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 141, 229-238.

 

Mann, W., Sheng, L., & Morgan, G. (2016). Lexical semantic organization in American Sign Language and English acquiring children: Evidence from a repeated meaning association task. Language Learning.

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Reetzke, R., Lam, B., Xie, Z., Sheng, L., Chandrasekaran, B. (2016). Effect of simultaneous bilingualism on speech intelligibility across different masker types, modalities, and signal-to-noise ratios in children. PLOS One.

 

Reetzke, R., Zou, X., Sheng, L, & Katsos, N. (2015). Communicative development in bilingually exposed children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58, 813-825.

 

Sheng, L., & Lam, B.P.W. (2015). Slot-filler and taxonomic organization: The role of contextual experience and maternal education. Published online 24 April 2015.

 

Sheng, L., Lu, Y., & Gollan, T.H. (2014). Assessing language dominance in speakers of Mandarin-English: Convergence and divergence between subjective and objective measures. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17, 364-383. 

 

Sheng, L. (2014). Lexical-semantic skills in bilingual children who are becoming English-dominant: A longitudinal study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17, 556-571. 

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Li, F., & Sheng, L. (2014). The development of semantic category knowledge in Mandarin-English bilingual children in the United States. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 46, 89-102.

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Sheng, L., Bedore, L.M., Peña, E.D., & Fiestas, C.E. (2013). Semantic development in Spanish-English bilingual children: Effects of age and language experience. Child Development, 84, 1034-1045.

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Sheng, L., Bedore, L.M., Peña, E.D., & Taliancich-Klinger, C. (2013). Semantic convergence in Spanish-English bilingual children with primary language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 56, 766-777.

 

Sheng, L., Peña, E.D., Bedore, L.M., & Fiestas, C.E. (2012). Semantic deficits in Spanish-English bilingual children with language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 55, 1-15.

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Peña, E.D., Bedore, L.M. & Sheng, L. (2012). Differentiating language difference versus language impairment in young dual language learners. Young Exceptional Children Monograph Series No. 14, 16-29.

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Peña, E. D., Kester, E. S., & Sheng, L. (2012). Semantic development in Spanish-English bilinguals: Theory, assessment, and intervention. In B.A. Goldstein (Ed.), Bilingual language development & disorders in Spanish-English speakers, 2nd edition (pp.131-149). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

 

Sheng, L., Lu, Y., & Kan, P.F. (2011). Lexical development in Mandarin-English bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14, 579-587. 

 

Shepard, S.D., & Sheng, L. (2009). Vocabulary intervention for elementary and secondary school students who are English language learners: A review of research. Evidence-Based Practice Briefs, 4(4), 1-13.

 

Sheng, L., McGregor, K.K., & Marian, V. (2006). Lexical-semantic organization in bilingual children: Evidence from a repeated word association task. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49, 572-587. 

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Typical and Atypical Lexical-Semantic Development

In this line of research we focus on the rate at which children with typical and atypical learning capacity add vocabulary words and build semantic connections between these words. We study different types of words (e.g., nouns, verbs, compounds) and use methods such as elicitation, recall, parent report, language sampling, and learning paradigm.

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Sheng, L., (2018). Typical and atypical lexical development. In A. Bar-On & D. Ravid (Ed.), Handbook of communication disorders: Theoretical, empirical, and applied linguistic perspectives. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.

 

Sheng, L., Byrd, C.T., McGregor, K.K., Zimmerman, H., & Bludau, K. (2015). List memory in young adults with language learning disability. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58, 336-344.

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Byrd, C.T., Sheng, L., Ratner, N.B., Gkalitsiou, Z. (2015). Veridical and false recall in adults who stutter. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58, 28-42. 

 

Sheng, L. (2014). Semantic development in children with language impairments. In P. Brooks, V. Kempe, & J.G. Golson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language development (pp.534-538). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

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Sheng, L., & McGregor, K.K. (2010). Object and action naming in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53,1704-1719. 

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McGregor, K.K., Rost, G., Guo, L.Y., & Sheng, L. (2010). What compound words mean to young children with SLI. Applied Psycholinguistics, 31, 463-487.

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Sheng, L., & McGregor, K.K. (2010). Lexical-semantic organization in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53, 146-159. 

 

Capone, N., & Sheng, L. (2010). Individual differences in word learning: Implications for clinical practice. In A. Weiss (Ed.), Perspectives on individual differences affecting therapeutic change in communication disorders (pp.29-56). London: Psychology Press.

 

McGregor, K.K., Sheng, L., & Ball, T. (2007). Complexities of expressive word learning over time. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 38, 353-364.

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McGregor, K.K., Sheng, L., & Smith, B. (2005). The precocious two year old: Status of the lexicon and links to the grammar. Journal of Child Language, 32, 563-585.