Typical and Atypical Language Development in Infants and Toddlers Adopted From Eastern Europe

sglennen{at}towson.edu

Longitudinal language development data were collected on 130 infants and toddlers adopted from Eastern Europe. The children were followed by means of parent surveys from the age at adoption up through age 36–40 months. The surveys collected data on expressive vocabulary growth, mean length of the three longest utterances, and development of four bound grammatical morphemes. Additional language data were collected using a modified version of the Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale (1990). A multivariate factor analysis found no significant correlation between preadoption medical and developmental risk factors and eventual language development outcomes. The majority of children acquired English using the same developmental trajectories as nonadopted peers. By age 36–40 months, children adopted at younger ages had fully caught up to English language norms. Children adopted at older ages lagged behind, with the length of delay related to age at adoption. On the basis of these data, clinical guidelines are provided for assessing and treating speech and language disorders in internationally adopted children.

Key Words: language development, adoption (child), orphanage, bilingualism, international adoption

Submitted on June 7, 2001
Accepted on September 24, 2001

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