responses are due by Monday, Sept. 27th, 2010
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by: Brandon Trammel
In this particular study three children with Down’s Syndrome were tested on their language and grammar comprehension in comparison to typically normal children. In the study the children with Down syndrome produce their first 10 words on average 12 months later than typically developing children. This suggests that once the children with Down syndrome get going with the production of the language, they in fact show a similar pattern as typically developing children in the early stages of grammar. Although I know little to nothing about those who have Down’s Syndrome after reading the results of the experiment I was somewhat surprised. I assumed that children with Down’s Syndrome would be slow to catch up on language and grammar rules, but would not have thought once these children grasped the rules of grammar would have the ability to learn it just as well as a typical students. Although I am surprised by these findings I also feel that this cannot be used as valid information for all children with Down’s Syndrome. The study was only done on three children which is a small ratio when being compared to all who have the disease.
If a study is conducted on just 3 children, then this research is void. There is no way you can make a hypothesis without better research. I believe down syndrome children are obviously going to develop at a different rate.
ReplyDeleteI first and foremost believe that a sample group of three is a statistical absurdity. One cannot take a sample size of 3 as to calculate or estimate the population mean. This test should have had a sample size of at least 50 children in order to be scientifically quantifiable. And despite the beginning stating its sample size of 3, it mentions 12 a few paragraphs down. That being said, the article made some interesting points regarding students with Down’s syndrome and how they develop a personal use and understanding of grammar. It appeared in the study that although they were slow to learn certain morphemes in comparison to non-retarded children, they were still able to develop the majority of their speech at a “normal level” after a period of time. 3 morpheme rules out of 14 were not developed in the 12 children observed, and it is only speculative as to why this is. However, in my opinion, a sample size of larger than 12 should expand the data to make a better conclusion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates that a group of 3 children is too small of an amount to obtain adequate research. While doing research like this the focus group should have been a much larger group in order to collect correct data. However, i find it remarkable that these 3 studies with down syndrome were able to process information at the same rate as the samples without down syndrome. I think that something can be learned about the abilities and capabilities of those who have down syndrome from this article. I enjoyed the summary and article.
ReplyDeleteAs amazing as it is that the three children processed information at simular rates, I too have to agree that this is way to small of a test group for any real valid information to be drawn from.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though I have learned nothing from this article. From many research classes and papers, we all know what is usable information and what is not. If I cited this particular research, my teacher would cross it off my reference list for the sheer fact that they only tested 3 children. Some may know that when a DS child gets something they are interested in, they excell in it. So, if grammar was one of those things I see no reason why they could not be at the same level of grammar knowledge, if not better than a normal kid their age.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else, that 3 is such a small test group there should have been groups of at least 20 or more.But i am intrigued that the three children all were processing the information at a same rate, though can not say that I fully trust this information and would believe it more when the study is done again with a larger test group.
ReplyDeleteI agree everyone else. There is absolutely no way this study could be valid because only three children with Down's Syndrome took part. Yes, the information and results are interesting for the three children but the study needs to be done on a larger scale in order to apply these results to all people with Down's Syndrome.
ReplyDeleteLike the rest of my classmates, I am appalled that this study can even be considered valid, since they used only 3 children. They mentioned that the children were selected from 30 possibilities. Why didn't the researchers use all 30 children? It would have been much more valid. 3 children cannot represent the entire population of people affected by Down Syndrome.
ReplyDeleteA sample size is by no means only three children. Furthermore, there is more than one level of down syndrome. All children with down syndrome are affected differently; again, three is not a sample size not only of the general population but of the population of people with down syndrome. While children with down syndrome are quite possibly delayed in their learning of language, children with Down Syndrome have the ability to learn just as children without, as long as they have the proper tools and guidance.
ReplyDeleteDespite the questionability of the information gathered from this study, I found the idea intriguing. The idea that children with Trisomy twenty-one develop the same skills as other children, just later, would coincide with the idea that these children are delayed, not blocked, in learning. However, the idea that once they have learned the basics, they can learn at the same level as other children is an interesting, though almost implausible, thought.
ReplyDeleteKnowing multiple children with Down Syndrome, I cannot say that this statement is a universal truth. My cousin, for example, is three years old and has just begun to speak using verbal tones. Before, he had communicated with single sign language cues. He is speaking now at a good rate but certainly not at the level of other three year olds. Despite knowing the basics, he is still having difficultly acquiring the language skills. Also, I know a middle school student who still struggles with her tenses; she will constantly say phrases such as: she watch me, or I sees that. Using these two cases, I could counter this article’s argument; however, I think that more study needs to be done not only in numbers but also with increasing age to further understand the language abilities of these children.
I would agree that conducting this experiment on only 3 children would make this study technically void. However, I definitely do not find this "appalling" like some of the classmates. I work in an elementary school, sometimes with children that do have down syndrome; my fiance works at Five Star and works with several children with down syndrome. You would be amazed at how smart these children are. Mostly all of them learn perfectly fine and are on the same level as children their age. These children may seem less intelligent, and learning may be more difficult but they are perfectly capable of learning the same as me or you.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that three children is a big enough sample size for this experiment. This is too small of a test group to understand the learning capabilities of kids with down syndrome.
ReplyDeleteChildren with Down's syndrome say their first 10 words approximately 1 year later than children without Down's syndrome. This does not surprise me because I know Down's syndrome affects people in many ways. I'm also not surprised that once the children start speaking they don't stop, they learn at the same rate as children without Down's syndrome. I'm not surprised because it makes sense to me that children with Down's syndrome would take longer to catch on but once they know how to do something they will constantly improve. With all of this said though children with Down's syndrome will still be behind, learning wise, children without Down's syndrome. It seems as though children with Down's syndrome will never catch up to a person who does not have the syndrome.
ReplyDeleteI don't even think this article should have been published. There is not enough information or research done on this topic. There are so many people with down syndrome, why were only three students studied? This study needs to broadened and re-done and then republished with the new results.
ReplyDeleteI think it very interesting that the sample size of the group was indeed only 3. Which, like most of us said is a little unrealistic to a population and to draw substantial research from. However, in regards to the data about children with Down Syndrome I am not suprised that they can develop at the same level other children did. Down Syndrome is a disease but the article did not talk about the environment of the children in the study at all. In my opinion there environments have a tremendous effect on how these children develop language.
ReplyDeleteFrom reading this article, I believe that children who have Down Syndrome are not exempt from having the same learning ability as a normal child. Believe it or not, I believe children with this condition sometimes will put more effort into and be passionate about learning than some normal children. I do believe that the environments does have an influence on their language or grammar usage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone that 3 people is not enough evidence to base this theory on. But on the other hand, I wouldn't be too surprised if this was true. Down Syndrome does affect the speed in which one learns and likey how one learns the information. But again I do feel like the article was too general in their experiments
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everyone that 3 children is too small of a sample size. Even though the results were the same, and most likely true, there is absolutely no way that anyone could actually use this information.
ReplyDeleteAs the people before me stated, you can't really base test on just three children; test of those sort should be conducted on hundreds of children with Down Syndrome. But overall I do believe that they can learn as well as the author of the article.
ReplyDeleteAn experiment done only to three children cannot be considered valid. One cannot draw conclusions based on three children and expect that the findings will turn out credible. Studying children with and without learning difficulties is complex because each child has his or her own learning ability and learning style. So in order to have credible findings, researchers must experiment with many children of different races and cultural backgrounds otherwise the experiment is left with many gaps.
ReplyDeleteDespite the small sample size, I think this is an interesting study. I do not know any children with down syndrome so I can not say whether or not this has any validity. I am surprised as well to think that down syndrome children can be that proficient in grammar. I do think that the author should have selected a larger sample size to support his research.
ReplyDelete