Investigating the Relationship Between Nonword Repetition Performance and Syllabic Structure in Typical and Atypical Language Development

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 708-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Tamburelli ◽  
Gary Jones
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Syllabic Structure ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Phonological Complexity ◽  
Different Levels

Purpose In this study, the authors examined the role of syllabic structure in nonword repetition performance in typically developing (TD) children and children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method Eighteen children with SLI (5;7–6;7 [years;months]) and 18 TD children matched for chronological age were tested on their ability to repeat phonemes in different positions within syllable structure (onset, nucleus, coda). The test involved 2 separate nonword repetition tasks differing in lexicality (high vs. low). High-lexicality nonwords contained subparts that are morphemes of the language (i.e., subparts were “lexical”), whereas nonlexical nonwords did not. Results Repetition performance across the 3 syllabic positions showed a significant effect for both populations and on both tasks. However, although on the high-lexicality task the direction of the effect revealed the onset as the most error-prone constituent (onset > coda > nucleus), on the low-lexicality task, it was the coda that attracted most errors (coda > onset > nucleus). Conclusions Results suggest that the procedures involved in computing syllabic structure are qualitatively similar in the 2 populations. We take these results to support the view that different syllabic positions involve different levels of phonological complexity and that tests that control for lexicality are crucial in illuminating these differences.

scholarly journals Nonword repetition depends on the frequency of sublexical representations at different grain sizes: evidence from a multi-factorial analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub M. Szewczyk ◽  
Marta Marecka ◽  
Shula Chiat ◽  
Zofia Wodniecka
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Phonotactic Probability ◽  
Grain Sizes ◽  
Comprehensive Examination ◽  
Phonological Complexity ◽  
Repetition Task

The nonword repetition task (NWR) has been widely used in basic cognitive and clinical research, as well as in clinical assessment, and has been proposed as a clinical marker for Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Yet the mechanisms underlying performance on this task are not clear. This study offers insights into these mechanisms through a comprehensive examination of item-related variables identified in previous research as possibly contributing to NWR scores and through testing the predictive power of each in relation to the others. A unique feature of the study is that all factors are considered simultaneously. Fifty-seven typically developing children were tested with a NWR task containing 150 nonwords differing in length, phonotactic probability, lexical neighbourhood, and phonological complexity. The results indicate that phonological processing of novel words draws on sublexical representations at all grain sizes and that these representations are phonological, unstructured and insensitive to morphemehood. We propose a novel index – mean ngram frequency of all phonemes – that best captures the extent to which a nonword draws on sublexical representations. The study demonstrates the primacy of sublexical representations in NWR performance with implications for the nature of the deficit in SLI.

Nonword Repetition Skills in Gulf Arabic–Speaking Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3700-3713
Author(s):  
Saleh Shaalan
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Gulf Arabic ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Phonological Complexity

Purpose This study examined the performance of Gulf Arabic–speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) on a Gulf Arabic nonword repetition (GA-NWR) test and compared it to their age- and language-matched groups. We also investigated the role of syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity in light of NWR theories. Method A new GA-NWR test was conducted with three groups of Gulf Arabic–speaking children: school-age children with DLD, language-matched controls (LCs), and age-matched controls (ACs). The test consisted of two- and three-syllable words that either had no clusters, medial clusters, final clusters, or medial + final clusters. Results The GA-NWR distinguished between the performance of children with DLD and the LC and AC groups. Results showed significant syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity effects. Differences between the DLD and typically developing groups were seen in two- and three-syllable nonwords; however, when compared on nonwords with no clusters, children with DLD were not significantly different from the LC group. Conclusions The GA-NWR test differentiated between children with DLD and their ACs and LCs. Findings, therefore, support its clinical utility in this variety of Arabic. Results showed that phonological processing factors, such as phonological complexity, may have stronger effects when compared to syllable length effects. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12996812

Gesture and speech during shared book reading with preschoolers with specific language impairment

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1191-1218 ◽  
Author(s):  
MANUELA LAVELLI ◽  
CHIARA BARACHETTI ◽  
ELENA FLORIT
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Sequential Analysis ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Shared Book Reading ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Potential Effectiveness ◽  
Maternal Speech ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTThis study examined (a) the relationship between gesture and speech produced by children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children, and their mothers, during shared book-reading, and (b) the potential effectiveness of gestures accompanying maternal speech on the conversational responsiveness of children. Fifteen preschoolers with expressive SLI were compared with fifteen age-matched and fifteen language-matched TD children. Child and maternal utterances were coded for modality, gesture type, gesture–speech informational relationship, and communicative function. Relative to TD peers, children with SLI used more bimodal utterances and gestures adding unique information to co-occurring speech. Some differences were mirrored in maternal communication. Sequential analysis revealed that only in the SLI group maternal reading accompanied by gestures was significantly followed by child's initiatives, and when maternal non-informative repairs were accompanied by gestures, they were more likely to elicit adequate answers from children. These findings support the ‘gesture advantage’ hypothesis in children with SLI, and have implications for educational and clinical practice.

What do monolingual and bilingual children with and without SLI produce when phonology is too complex?

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laetitia de Almeida ◽  
Sandrine Ferré ◽  
Marie-Anne Barthez ◽  
Christophe dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Repetition Task

In this study, the authors compare the production of internal codas and branching onsets in four groups of children learning French: monolingual typically-developing children ( n = 12), bilingual typically-developing children ( n = 61), monolingual children with Specific Language Impairment ( n = 17) and bilingual children with Specific Language Impairment ( n = 20). Their elicited productions were collected using a nonword repetition task (LITMUS-NWR-French), containing 71 nonwords with different syllable types. Except for typically-developing monolingual children, all children performed significantly better on branching onsets than on internal codas. Moreover, the repair strategies used in erroneous productions also indicate that children had more difficulties with internal codas: all the cases of metathesis affecting a target internal coda resulted in the production of a branching onset whereas the contrary was not observed. The differences in the rates of target-like production and the patterns of metathesis of these two structures suggest that internal codas are more difficult than branching onsets for children learning French.

scholarly journals Syllable structure development of toddlers with expressive specific language impairment

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
AIMÉE BAIRD PHARR ◽  
NAN BERNSTEIN RATNER ◽  
LESLIE RESCORLA
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Structure Development ◽  
Specific Language

A total of 35 children – 20 with expressive specific language impairment (SLI-E) and 15 typically developing (TD) peers – were compared longitudinally from 24 to 36 months with respect to their production of syllable shapes in 10-minute spontaneous speech samples. SLI-E 24-month-olds predominantly produced earlier developing syllable shapes containing vowels, liquids, and glides. TD 24-month-olds and SLI-E 36-month-olds produced approximately the same proportion of syllable types, with the exception of consonant clusters, where TD 24-month-olds produced more than SLI-E 36-month-olds. TD children at 36 months showed the greatest use of syllable shapes containing two different consonants and consonant clusters. Detailed analyses revealed that SLI-E children produced fewer syllable shapes containing final consonants, more than one consonant type, and consonant clusters. Furthermore, the children with SLI-E were found to vocalize less often than their TD peers. The possible relationships between these findings, SLI-E children's concomitant deficits in morphology and syntax, and the implications for diagnosis and remediation are discussed.

scholarly journals Διερευνώντας τη σχέση μεταξύ της Ειδικής Γλωσσικής Διαταραχής και της Δυσλεξίας: θεωρητικές και κλινικές προεκτάσεις

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 358
Author(s):  
Ασημίνα Μ. Ράλλη ◽  
Ολυμπία Παληκαρά
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Language Delay ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Comparison Groups

In this study, we tested the predictions of two opposing perspectives on the nature of the deficit in Specific Language Impairment (SLI): the language delay approach, and the view that the language development of SLI children is qualitatively different from typically developing children populations. Data consisted of the elicited production of pronominal object clitics from monolingual and bilingual SLI children with various language pairs (Greek always being the children’s second language); younger, typically developing, bilingual language peers, and monolingual Greek-speaking comparison groups. We analyzed the children’s accurate responses and error-types in clitic production. Both SLI groups had more difficulty with clitics in comparison to typically-developing, chronological age-matched peers, while SLI children performed similarly with their younger, unaffected monolingual and bilingual peers. We argue that these findings provide support to the language delay approach and present challenges to the role of bilingualism in SLI.

scholarly journals Phonological complexity and prosodic structure in assessment of Serbian phonological development

Psihologija ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Savic ◽  
Darinka Andjelkovic ◽  
Nevena Budjevac ◽  
der Van
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Metrical Structure ◽  
Preschool Period ◽  
Two Parameters ◽  
Phonological Complexity

In this research we investigate the relevance of phonological parameters in acquisition of Serbian language. Implementation of British Test of Phonological Screeing (TOPhS, van der Lely and Harris, 1999) has revealed that phonological complexity (syllabic and metrical structure) influences accuracy in non-word repetition task and could be used in assessment of phonological development of typically developing children, as well as of children with Grammatical Specific Language Impairment (G-SLI) (van der Lely and Harris, 1999; Gallon, Harris & van der Lely, 2007). Having in mind phonological properties of Serbian language (Zec, 2000, 2007), we hypothesized that several parameters can be used in assessment of phonological development in Serbian: a. onset (consonants cluster at the beginning of syllable; b. rime (consonant at the end of syllable). c. word of three syllables, and d. placement of stressed syllable in a word. Combination of these parameters gave us a list of 96 pseudo words of different levels of complexity. Participants were 14 adults and 30 children from kindergarten divided into three age groups (3, 4 and 5 years). Task for the participants was to loudly repeat every pseudo-word, and their reproduction was recorded. Transcription of their answers and coding of errors allowed us to analyze impact of different parameters on accuracy of phonological reproduction in children of different ages. The results indicate that the ability for reproduction of Serbian phonological properties develops in early preschool period. The most difficult is cluster of consonants at the beginning of syllable, and consonant at the end of syllable. These two parameters are even more difficult for reproduction in three-syllable words or in words that have more then one parameter marked. Placement of stress in a word is acquired even before 3 years. In other words, the results have shown that investigated features could be good indicators in assessment of early phonological development of typically developing children. Delay in their acquisition could reveal possible developmental difficulties.

The Contributions of Phonological Awareness, Alphabet Knowledge, and Letter Writing to Name Writing in Children With Specific Language Impairment and Typically Developing Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey L. Pavelko ◽  
R. Jane Lieberman ◽  
Jamie Schwartz ◽  
Debbie Hahs-Vaughn
Keyword(s):  
Emergent Literacy ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Letter Writing ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Emergent Writing ◽  
Language Status ◽  
Name Writing ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Writing Task

Purpose Name writing is one aspect of emergent writing that has been used to understand emergent literacy development. Name-writing skills and the relationship of name writing to other emergent literacy skills have not been studied extensively in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Children with SLI consistently demonstrate delays in phonological awareness (PA), alphabet knowledge (AK), print awareness, and emergent writing. The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of PA, AK, and letter writing to name writing in children with SLI and typically developing (TD) children. Method Participants were 65 children (22 SLI, 43 TD) with an average age of 53 months. Participants completed the Assessment of Literacy and Language (Lombardino, Lieberman, & Brown, 2005), a letter-writing task, and a name-writing task. Results Data were analyzed using correlation and mediation modeling. Mediation modeling, a more sophisticated analysis, revealed that PA, AK, and letter writing, in serial, were mediating variables for language status on name writing. Conclusion Phonemic awareness, AK, and letter writing help to explain the relationship between language status and name writing. These skills should be integrated during treatment, using a horizontal approach with developmentally appropriate activities, particularly for children with SLI.

Investigating the effects of syllable complexity in Russian-speaking children with SLI

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 979-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
DARYA KAVITSKAYA ◽  
MARIA BABYONYSHEV ◽  
THEODORE WALLS ◽  
ELENA GRIGORENKO
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Structure Complexity ◽  
Age Range

ABSTRACTThis study examined the effect of number of syllables and syllable structure on repetition of pseudo-words by Russian-speaking children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children. One hundred and forty-four pseudo-words, varying in length and syllable complexity, were presented to two groups of children: 15 children with SLI, age range 4 ; 0 to 8 ; 8, and 15 TD children matched in age to the SLI group. The number of errors in the repetition of pseudo-words was analyzed in terms of the number of syllables and syllable complexity. The results demonstrated that children with SLI have deficits in working memory capacity. In addition to the pseudo-word length, the repetition performance was affected by syllable structure complexity.

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