Objectives: Using communicative gestures are one of the related factors of language development in toddler periods. The purpose of this study was to examine communicative gestures in toddlers with and without developmental language delay (DLD) and their relations to language development. Methods: The participants were 10 toddlers with DLD, 10 typically developing chronological age-matched toddlers (CA-matched group), and 10 typically developing language age-matched toddlers (LA-matched group). Communicative gestures were measured with a specific coding scheme consisting of deictic, representational, and conventional gestures in behavior sampled through the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (CSBS DP) and free play for 5 minutes. Results: The results showed the following. The DLD group produced a significantly lower frequency of communicative gestures than the CA-matched group, however there was not a significant difference in the LA-matched group. Among the three types of gestures the DLD group showed a significant difference from the CA-matched group only in deictic gestures. The DLD group revealed significantly lower frequency in pointing and giving deictic gestures than the CA-matched group. The total frequency of gestures and frequency of deictic gestures were positively correlated to receptive and expressive language age as measured by the Sequenced of Language Scale for Infants (SELSI) in the DLD group and the LA-matched group, however they were negatively correlated to expressive vocabulary measured by the Korea MacArthur-Bates Communication Development Inventory (K M-B CDI) in the CA-matched group. Conclusion: We discuss the relationship between communication gestures and DLD based on these results.

Objectives: Conversational skills play an important role in social aspects such as the peer relationships and academic achievement of school-aged children. The purpose of this study was to investigate developmental differences according to grade for primary school students in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade. Methods: The participants were a total of 30 children, 10 children per grade. Conversation samples were collected individually by the examiner according to procedure of Hallym Conversation & Pragmatic Assessment Protocol. In terms of engagement indicator, the frequency of turn-taking, frequency of utterances per turn. Additionally, in terms of topic indicator, the total number of topics, frequency of turn per topic, rates of maintenance and rates of change were measured. Results: The results were as follows: in engagement indicator, significant difference was observed in the frequency of utterances per turn. In topic indicator, there were significant differences in the total number of topics, frequency of turn per topic, rates of maintenance, and rates of change. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that as school-aged children's grade increased they were able to converse over a given topic with more consistency. These results help elucidate the development of conversation in elementary school-children and can be used as materials for the assessment and intervention of children with disabilities.

Objectives: While the number of school-aged children who need speech-language therapy has been increasing recently, standardized language tests for identifying those with language disorders are still limited. The present study aimed to develop a standardized language test for school-aged children, the Language Scale for School-aged Children (LSSC). Methods: The study was conducted as follows: composing subtests and developing items based on literature reviews, analyzing the validity of the test and discriminant and difficulty of items, revising the test through two preliminary examinations (1st N= 178, 2nd N= 182), and standardizing the test (LSSC) with 700 children samples. Results: The LSSC demonstrated high concurrent validity with the REVT-R/-E and high construct validity measured by the correlation of the language quotients of the LSSC and subtests. The reliability was measured by internal consistency, split-half, and test-retest methods which showed that the LSSC is highly reliable test. Conclusion: Results are discussed in terms of developing the procedures, and the validity and reliability of the test. The LSSC will be useful for identifying school-aged children with language disorders as well as for assessing the language ability of school-aged children.