Nonword Repetition in Bilingual Assessment: A Guide to Clinical Application

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
José A. Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Clinical Application ◽  
Diagnostic Tool ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Bilingual Assessment ◽  
Method Of Assessment

Purpose: Nonword repetition (NWR) is a useful tool in the identification of language impairment in bilingual children. As a method of alternative assessment, the task is less biased than many traditional forms of assessment. Despite its potential utility, the use of NWR in language assessment is limited. The goal of this tutorial is to provide speech-language pathologists with the information needed to use NWR as a diagnostic tool in bilingual assessment by describing research into its diagnostic accuracy and considerations for clinical application. Conclusions: NWR is a useful diagnostic tool in bilingual language assessment when used as part of an assessment battery. Although its diagnostic accuracy limits its ability to be used in the absence of other tools, it can provide valuable information that can be used to strengthen clinical impressions. When using NWR measures, clinicians should take several important aspects in account, including the language and age for which it was intended, the type of stimuli included, and the scoring procedures. Clinicians who work with bilingual children should consider including NWR in their diagnostic toolkits, as a less biased method of assessment.

Using Nonword Repetition to Identify Language Impairment in Bilingual Children: A Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
José A. Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Meta Regression Analysis ◽  
Word Search ◽  
Meta Analyses

Purpose Nonword repetition has been endorsed as a less biased method of assessment for children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, but there are currently no systematic reviews or meta-analyses on its use with bilingual children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate diagnostic accuracy of nonword repetition in the identification of language impairment (LI) in bilingual children. Method Using a key word search of peer-reviewed literature from several large electronic databases, as well as ancestral and forward searches, 13 studies were identified that met the eligibility criteria. Studies were evaluated on the basis of quality of evidence, design characteristics, and reported diagnostic accuracy. A meta-regression analysis, based on study results, was conducted to identify task characteristics that may be associated with better classification accuracy. Results Diagnostic accuracy across studies ranged from poor to good. Bilingual children with LI performed with more difficulty on nonword repetition tasks than those with typical language. Quasi-universal tasks, which account for the phonotactic constraints of multiple languages, exhibited better diagnostic accuracy and resulted in less misidentification of children with typical language than language-specific tasks. Conclusions Evidence suggests that nonword repetition may be a useful tool in the assessment and screening of LI in bilingual children, though it should be used in conjunction with other measures. Quasi-universal tasks demonstrate the potential to further reduce assessment bias, but extant research is limited.

scholarly journals A Quasi-Universal Nonword Repetition Task as a Diagnostic Tool for Bilingual Children Learning Dutch as a Second Language

2015 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1747-1760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tessel Boerma ◽  
Shula Chiat ◽  
Paul Leseman ◽  
Mona Timmermeister ◽  
Frank Wijnen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Tool ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Clinical Accuracy ◽  
Group A ◽  
Bilingual Group ◽  
Repetition Task

Purpose This study evaluated a newly developed quasi-universal nonword repetition task (Q-U NWRT) as a diagnostic tool for bilingual children with language impairment (LI) who have Dutch as a 2nd language. The Q-U NWRT was designed to be minimally influenced by knowledge of 1 specific language in contrast to a language-specific NWRT with which it was compared. Method One hundred twenty monolingual and bilingual children with and without LI participated (30 per group). A mixed-design analysis of variance was used to investigate the effects of LI and bilingualism on the NWRTs. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were conducted to evaluate the instruments' diagnostic value. Results Large negative effects of LI were found on both NWRTs, whereas negative effects of bilingualism only occurred on the language-specific NWRT. Both instruments had high clinical accuracy in the monolingual group, but only the Q-U NWRT had high clinical accuracy in the bilingual group. Conclusions This study indicates that the Q-U NWRT is a promising diagnostic tool to help identify LI in bilingual children learning Dutch as a 2nd language. The instrument was clinically accurate in both a monolingual and bilingual group of children and seems better able to disentangle LI from language disadvantage than more language-specific measures.

scholarly journals Nonword Repetition and Sentence Imitation as Clinical Markers for Primary Language Impairment in bilingual French-English- and English-French-speaking children in Northern Ontario

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 61-69
Author(s):  
Sara Dubreuil-Piché ◽  
Jenna Lachance ◽  
Chantal Mayer-Crittenden
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Primary Language ◽  
Clinical Markers ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Sentence Imitation ◽  
Primary Language Impairment

Studies indicate that nonword repetition and sentence imitation are useful tools when assessing bilingual children. Bilingual children with primary language impairment (PLI) typically score lower on these two tasks than their typically developing counterparts. Studies show that bilingual children are not disadvantaged during nonword repetition if they have limited language exposure. However, since sentence imitation tasks are constructed with words from the target language, it is expected that it would be more influenced by previous language exposure. The goal of this article will be to review the influence of bilingual exposure on both tasks. This review provides the theoretical background for future studies that will compare the accuracy of both tasks when identifying PLI in bilingual children.

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.

The Use of Dynamic Assessment for the Diagnosis of Language Disorders in Bilingual Children: A Meta-Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1298-1317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla I. Orellana ◽  
Rebekah Wada ◽  
Ronald B. Gillam
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Methodological Quality ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Study Results

Purpose Dynamic assessment (DA) has generally been accepted and recommended for use with bilingual children; however, no meta-analysis or systematic review of the diagnostic accuracy for language impairment within this population exists. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the current use of DA and its diagnostic accuracy for language impairment in bilingual children. Method Through a key word search of PsycINFO, ERIC, Academic Search Premier, and MEDLINE via EBSCOhost, 7 studies were identified. Participants ranged from 3 to 8 years old. Areas of language addressed through DA included labeling single words, morpheme rule learning, ability to learn nonwords, and narratives. Study results were analyzed with respect to diagnostic accuracy, participant modifiability, and methodological quality. Results Overall, participants with typically developing language received higher scores on the language assessments used in DA studies compared to participants with a language impairment. Gain scores were generally not useful for differentiating between children who did or did not have language impairments. However, clinician judgments of modifiability during the teaching phase of DA consistently yielded significant group effects favoring the typically developing children. Across the 7 studies, sensitivity and specificity were reasonably high, with all studies meeting or close to meeting the set criteria (≥ 0.8). Conclusion Suggestive evidence supports the use of DA for diagnosing language disorders in bilingual children. However, limitations in the methodological quality of the studies that were reviewed could have resulted in inflated diagnostic accuracy and decreased validity. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8232926

Evaluation of Three Proposed Markers for Language Impairment in English: A Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 2261-2273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Pawłowska
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Likelihood Ratios ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Study Heterogeneity ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Verb Tense

Purpose The goal of the study was to determine to what extent 3 proposed markers of language impairment (LI) in English (verb tense, nonword repetition, and sentence repetition) accurately distinguish affected and unaffected English-speaking individuals. Method Electronic databases were searched for diagnostic accuracy studies involving the 3 markers. Quality of relevant studies was described. Numbers of true and false positives and negatives were extracted and used to calculate likelihood ratios (LRs). Results Thirteen studies met the selection criteria. The majority were based on clinically ascertained samples. Pooled LRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for tense (LR+) and sentence repetition (LR+ and LR−) were suggestive of presence (LR+) or absence (LR−) of LI. Wide CIs around the value of inconsistency I 2 index reduced reliability of pooled values for sentence repetition. High between-study heterogeneity precluded pooling of LR values for tense (LR−) and nonword repetition (LR+ and LR−). Conclusion The limited evidence available suggests that the proposed markers may be at best suggestive of LI in English. Future research may refine existing marker tasks to increase their accuracy and test the most promising tasks in unselected samples of participants with and without LI.

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