A Comparative Study on the Vocabulary Learning of Children According to Selective Attention Latent Group

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine whether selective attention is significantly influential in vocabulary learning, by dividing preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI) and those with typical development (TD) into clusters according to selective attention, and by comparing the groups' vocabulary learning ability. Methods: 16 children with SLI and 15 children with TD participated in this study. Variable clustering with selective attention as a latent variable was employed to separate the children into two groups. Children in both groups had book-reading intervention 12 times, followed by measurement of the amount of target words in receptive and expressive types. Results: All three categories of receptive language, receptive vocabulary, and selective attention were statistically significant factors in cluster variables. All children divided two groups according to receptive language, receptive vocabulary, and selective attention showed a significant difference in their mean age, whereas their difference in nonverbal intelligence had no significance. With age and nonverbal IQ controlled, the amount of receptive vocabulary was significantly different in two groups. Conclusion: The results highlight that selective attention along with existing language ability plays an important role in vocabulary learning, which may lead to difference between individuals in vocabulary learning ability. Our findings suggest that children's receptive vocabulary learning may depend on their selective attention.