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Verbal and Motor Skills in Mandarin-Speaking Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Do Co-Occurring Motor Deficits Matter?

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Title: Verbal and Motor Skills in Mandarin-Speaking Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Do Co-Occurring Motor Deficits Matter?
Authors: Hsu, Hsin-Jen1,2 hsinjen.hsu@mx.nthu.edu.tw, Tseng, Yu-Ting2,3, Huang, Tzu-Jung4
Source: American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. May2026, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p1100-1118. 19p.
Subject Terms: *Motor ability, *Intellect, *Data analysis, *Movement disorders, *Teachers, *Language disorders, *Special education schools, *Research, *Vocabulary, *Intelligence tests, *Short-term memory, *Verbal behavior, *Children, Cross-sectional method, Task performance, Grammar, Affinity groups, Multiple regression analysis, Questionnaires, Age distribution, Analysis of covariance, Multivariate analysis, Descriptive statistics, Psychology of movement, Statistics, Medical referrals, Regression analysis, Reliability (Personality trait), Postural balance
Geographic Terms: Taiwan
Abstract: Background: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) often show motor coordination difficulties. Yet, it remains unclear whether children with DLD who have motor difficulties represent a distinct subtype with different verbal profiles compared with children with DLD whose motor coordination falls within the typical range. This study examined the verbal and motor profiles of Mandarin-speaking school-age children with DLD, comparing subgroups with and without co-occurring developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Method: Thirty-five children with DLD and 59 typically developing (TD) children completed assessments of vocabulary, syntax, verbal short-term memory (STM), and motor coordination. Group comparisons of specific motor components (manual dexterity, aiming and catching, and balance) and overall motor coordination were conducted between the full DLD sample and the TD group, followed by subgroup comparisons among the DLD-only, DLD + DCD, and TD groups. Results: Children with DLD showed widespread deficits in motor coordination. Subgroup analyses indicated that the DLD + DCD group scored significantly lower than both the DLD-only and TD groups across all motor components, whereas the DLD-only group also showed reduced overall motor coordination relative to TD peers. For verbal abilities, the DLD + DCD group scored lower than the other two groups across all verbal domains, whereas the DLD-only group showed weaknesses in syntax and verbal STM but not in vocabulary. Finally, overall motor coordination significantly predicted verbal abilities within the DLD sample after controlling for age and nonverbal IQ. Conclusions: Motor coordination difficulties are common in DLD and may signal a more severe verbal profile. These findings point to potentially interrelated developmental and neurocognitive connections between motor and verbal domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Verbal and Motor Skills in Mandarin-Speaking Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Do Co-Occurring Motor Deficits Matter?
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hsu%2C+Hsin-Jen%22">Hsu, Hsin-Jen</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo><i> hsinjen.hsu@mx.nthu.edu.tw</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Tseng%2C+Yu-Ting%22">Tseng, Yu-Ting</searchLink><relatesTo>2,3</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Huang%2C+Tzu-Jung%22">Huang, Tzu-Jung</searchLink><relatesTo>4</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22American+Journal+of+Speech-Language+Pathology%22">American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology</searchLink>. May2026, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p1100-1118. 19p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Motor+ability%22">Motor ability</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intellect%22">Intellect</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis%22">Data analysis</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Movement+disorders%22">Movement disorders</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teachers%22">Teachers</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+disorders%22">Language disorders</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Special+education+schools%22">Special education schools</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research%22">Research</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Vocabulary%22">Vocabulary</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intelligence+tests%22">Intelligence tests</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Short-term+memory%22">Short-term memory</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Verbal+behavior%22">Verbal behavior</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children%22">Children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cross-sectional+method%22">Cross-sectional method</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Task+performance%22">Task performance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grammar%22">Grammar</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Affinity+groups%22">Affinity groups</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multiple+regression+analysis%22">Multiple regression analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Questionnaires%22">Questionnaires</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Age+distribution%22">Age distribution</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Analysis+of+covariance%22">Analysis of covariance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multivariate+analysis%22">Multivariate analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+of+movement%22">Psychology of movement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistics%22">Statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+referrals%22">Medical referrals</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Regression+analysis%22">Regression analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reliability+%28Personality+trait%29%22">Reliability (Personality trait)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Postural+balance%22">Postural balance</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Taiwan%22">Taiwan</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Background: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) often show motor coordination difficulties. Yet, it remains unclear whether children with DLD who have motor difficulties represent a distinct subtype with different verbal profiles compared with children with DLD whose motor coordination falls within the typical range. This study examined the verbal and motor profiles of Mandarin-speaking school-age children with DLD, comparing subgroups with and without co-occurring developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Method: Thirty-five children with DLD and 59 typically developing (TD) children completed assessments of vocabulary, syntax, verbal short-term memory (STM), and motor coordination. Group comparisons of specific motor components (manual dexterity, aiming and catching, and balance) and overall motor coordination were conducted between the full DLD sample and the TD group, followed by subgroup comparisons among the DLD-only, DLD + DCD, and TD groups. Results: Children with DLD showed widespread deficits in motor coordination. Subgroup analyses indicated that the DLD + DCD group scored significantly lower than both the DLD-only and TD groups across all motor components, whereas the DLD-only group also showed reduced overall motor coordination relative to TD peers. For verbal abilities, the DLD + DCD group scored lower than the other two groups across all verbal domains, whereas the DLD-only group showed weaknesses in syntax and verbal STM but not in vocabulary. Finally, overall motor coordination significantly predicted verbal abilities within the DLD sample after controlling for age and nonverbal IQ. Conclusions: Motor coordination difficulties are common in DLD and may signal a more severe verbal profile. These findings point to potentially interrelated developmental and neurocognitive connections between motor and verbal domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1044/2025_AJSLP-25-00333
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 19
        StartPage: 1100
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Motor ability
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intellect
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis
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      – SubjectFull: Movement disorders
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      – SubjectFull: Teachers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Language disorders
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Special education schools
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Vocabulary
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intelligence tests
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Short-term memory
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Verbal behavior
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Children
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      – SubjectFull: Cross-sectional method
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Task performance
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      – SubjectFull: Grammar
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Affinity groups
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      – SubjectFull: Multiple regression analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Questionnaires
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      – SubjectFull: Age distribution
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      – SubjectFull: Regression analysis
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      – SubjectFull: Reliability (Personality trait)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Postural balance
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Taiwan
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Verbal and Motor Skills in Mandarin-Speaking Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Do Co-Occurring Motor Deficits Matter?
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              M: 05
              Text: May2026
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              Y: 2026
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