Clinical Linguistics: Analysis of Mapping Knowledge Domains in Past, Present and Future

Language competency in autism: a scientometric review

The study of atypical language acquisition in children with, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is crucial for both practical and theoretical reasons. Understanding the course of language development in ASD can inform potential interventions and treatments while shedding light on the necessary conditions for language development in typically developing children. This scientometric review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the research landscape in this field, identifying trends, patterns, and knowledge gaps. The methods employed in this review comprise a systematic search of three major databases: Scopus (5,026 documents), Web of Science (WoS; 4,570 documents), and Lens (3,235 documents). The analysis includes bibliometric indicators such as knowledge production size by year, country, university, source, subject area, author, and citation. Scientometric indicators consist of burst detection, silhouette, clusters, citation, and co-occurrence of keywords. The analysis reveals clusters focusing on various aspects of language development in ASD, such as motor skills, parental communication strategies, cognitive processes, and genetics. Key clusters include the relationship between fine motor gestures and language usage patterns, the role of expressive language skills and maternal gesture use, and the effectiveness of online parent training modules for improving prelinguistic predictors. Other noteworthy clusters explore the importance of core language skills, the role of natural language input and syntactic complexity, and the genetic underpinnings of language abilities in high-functioning adults with ASD. In conclusion, this scientometric review highlights the top 10 clusters and their respective Silhouette values, providing valuable insights into language acquisition in ASD. These findings have important implications for guiding future research directions and informing the creation of targeted and effective interventions to support language acquisition in this population.

Cognitive Linguistics: Analysis of Mapping Knowledge Domains

Language acquisition, processing, comprehension, and production encompass a complex mechanism. Particularly, the mechanisms by which we make sense of language, including perception, conceptualization, and processing, have been controversial topics among cognitive linguists and researchers in cognitive sciences. Cognitive processes such as attention, thought, perception, and memory play a significant role in meaningful human communication. This study aimed to apply the science mapping method to detect and visualize emerging trends and patterns in literature pertaining to cognitive linguistics. In order to accomplish this, eight bibliometric and eight scientometric indicators were used in conjunction with CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 for scientometric analysis and data visualisation. The data were collected and triangulated from three databases, including 2380 from Scopus, 1732 from WOS, and 9911 from Lens from 1969 to 2022. Among the findings were the visualization of eight bibliometric indicators regarding the knowledge production size of cognitive linguistics based on year, country, university, journal, publisher, research area, authors, and cited documents. Second, we presented scientometric indicators with regard to cognitive linguistics development, including the most important authors in the field, co-citation networks, citation networks, sigma metrics to detect works with potential citation growth, and clusters to group related topics to cognitive linguistics. We conclude the study by emphasizing that cognitive linguistics has evolved from the micro level where it focused on studying cognitive aspects of language in relation to time, language, and modality dimensions, to the macro level, which examines cognitive processes and their relationship to the construction of meaningful communication using both sensation and perception.

Biolinguistics: A Scientometric Analysis of Research on (Children’s) Molecular Genetics of Speech and Language (Disorders)

There are numerous children and adolescents throughout the world who are either diagnosed with speech and language disorders or manifest any of them as a result of another disorder. Meanwhile, since the emergence of language as an innate capability, the question of whether it constitutes a behaviour or an innate ability has been debated for decades. There have been several theories developed that support and demonstrate the biological foundations of human language. Molecular evidence of the biological basis of language came from the FOXP2 gene, also known as the language gene. Taking a closer look at both human language and biology, biolinguistics is at the core of these inquiries—attempting to understand the aetiologies of the genetics of speech and language disorders in children and adolescents. This paper presents empirical evidence based on both scientometrics and bibliometrics. We collected data between 1935 and 2022 from Scopus, WOS, and Lens. A total of 1570 documents were analysed from Scopus, 1440 from the WOS, and 5275 from Lens. Bibliometric analysis was performed using Excel based on generated reports from these three databases. CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 were used to conduct the scientometric analysis. Eight bibliometric and eight scientometric indicators were used to measure the development of the field of biolinguistics, including but not limited to the production size of knowledge, the most examined topics, and the most frequent concepts and variables. A major finding of our study is identifying the most examined topics in the genetics of speech and language disorders. These included: gestural communication, structural design, cultural evolution, neural network, language tools, human language faculty, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, and theoretical perspective on language evolution.