Children’s language status, not language, predicts vocabulary size

One of the most prominent characteristics of developmental language disorder (DLD) is limited vocabulary sizeand poor vocabulary composition. Through a cross-linguistic comparison of vocabulary breadth based on the CDI-III, we aimed to determine whether language and children’s language status can affect the vocabulary of 41- to 48-month old children with typical language development (TLD) and those with DLD. Children with DLD were observed to have a smaller vocabulary than children with TLD, even in semantic categories containing words typically acquired at earlier stages of language development.Therefore, it is not language itself that contributes to differences between groups, but rather the children’s language status, i.e., the presence of a language disorder (TLD vs DLD).