Non-word repetition in Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI).

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
A number of previous studies have revealed that children with Specific Language Impairment have limitations in Phonological Working Memory as revealed by a task that requires them to repeat non-words of increasing syllable length. However, most published studies have used non-words that are phonotactically English.

AIMS:
The purpose was to examine the repetition of non-words that are consistent with the phonotactic patterns of Spanish. The study also examined the relationship between non-word repetition performance and other language measures. METHODS &

PROCEDURES:
Eleven Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment and 11 age-matched children with typical language development aged 8;3-10;11, who were part of a larger study of sentence processing, participated in the study. The primary data were the children's repetition of 20 non-words, four at each syllable length (one, two, three, four and five syllables). The children's productions were transcribed and scored for non-word, segmental and cluster accuracy as well as for error type. OUTCOMES &

RESULTS:
The children with Specific Language Impairment performed more poorly on almost all measures of accuracy, but particularly in their production of three-, four-, and five-syllable non-words. Substitutions were the most frequent error type for both groups. Likelihood ratios indicated that non-word repetition performance is a highly accurate identifier of language status in these preselected groups. The children's non-word repetition was highly correlated with most of the standardized language measures that were administered to the children.

CONCLUSIONS:
The repetition of non-words consistent with Spanish phonotactics reveals word-length effects and error patterns similar to those found in previous studies. It extends these findings to older school-age Spanish-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment. Given the limited choices for instruments that can be used to identify children with Specific Language Impairment, a Spanish Non-word Repetition Task has the potential to be a valuable screening test for clinical and research purposes.

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Author information

Author/s: Girbau, Dolors (D); Schwartz, Richard G (RG);

Affiliation: Jaume I University, Castelló, Spain. girbau(-atsign-)psb.uji.es

Grants: 5R01DC003885 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: International journal of language & communication disorders / Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (Int J Lang Commun Disord), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2007 Jan-Feb; vol 42 (issue 1) : pp 59-75

Dates: Created 2007/03/16; Completed 2007/08/07; Revised 2007/12/03;

PMID: 17365086, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Child
Female
Humans
Intelligence
Language Development Disorders - diagnosis; psychology

Language Tests
Male
Memory Disorders - psychology
Memory, Short-Term
Phonetics

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