Auditory event-related potentials in children with benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes

Benign focal epilepsy in childhood with centro-temporal spikes (BECTS) is one of the most common forms of idiopathic epilepsy, with onset from age 3 to 14 years. Although the prognosis for children with BECTS is excellent, some studies have revealed neuropsychological deficits in many domains, including language. Auditory event-related potentials (AERPs) reflect activation of different neuronal populations and are suggested to contribute to the evaluation of auditory discrimination (N1), attention allocation and phonological categorization (N2), and echoic memory (mismatch negativity – MMN). The scarce existing literature about this theme motivated the present study, which aims to investigate and document the existing AERP changes in a group of children with BECTS. AERPs were recorded, during the day, to pure and vocal tones and in a conventional auditory oddball paradigm in five children with BECTS (aged 8–12; mean = 10 years; male = 5) and in six gender and age-matched controls. Results revealed high amplitude of AERPs for the group of children with BECTS with a slight latency delay more pronounced in fronto-central electrodes. Children with BECTS may have abnormal central auditory processing, reflected by electrophysiological measures such as AERPs. In advance, AERPs seem a good tool to detect and reliably reveal cortical excitability in children with typical BECTS.

Using children’s literature in ELT: A story-based approach

There has been a growing interest in the role of children’s literature in language teaching since the 80s, when the communicative approach made it possible to bring stories into the classroom (Garvie, 1990). It is undeniable that storytelling has many benefits. Not only are children naturally drawn to stories, but they are also an effective and enjoyable way to teach and learn. This article presents the findings of a MA project on using stories with children. It shows the importance of stories on language acquisition and concludes with some practical suggestions based on my teaching experience with young learners.