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Non‐Word Repetition In Children With Language Impairment‐Pitfalls And Possibilities
Author(s) -
Sahlen Birgitta,
ReuterskioldWagner Christina,
Nettelbladt Ulrika,
Radeborg Karl
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
international journal of language and communication disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.101
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1460-6984
pISSN - 1368-2822
DOI - 10.1080/136828299247441
Subject(s) - phonology , repetition (rhetorical device) , specific language impairment , psychology , grammar , linguistics , stress (linguistics) , language development , phonological development , language impairment , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , philosophy
Specific language impairment has, although not without controversy, been considered as a consequence of a phonological memory deficit. Non‐word repetition has been proposed as a reliable index of phonological memory and also as predictive of lexical and grammatical development in normally developing and language‐impaired children. The main aim was to study the relationship between repetition of words and non‐words and expressive language skills (phonology and grammar) in 27 5‐year‐old children with language impairment. The authors also wanted to explore the influence of lexical stress on repetition skills. The results showed that words were significantly easier to repeat than non‐words and that non‐word repetition skills were significantly correlated to phonological and grammatical development. The most important predictor of non‐word repetition skills was output phonology. The conclusion is that nonword repetition is not a single, reliable index of phonological memory in preschool children with language impairment. Also, the influence of prosodic variables on segmental aspects of speech production should not be overlooked in non‐word construction, since it was found that unstressed syllables were omitted six times more often in prestressed than in post‐stressed positions of the words and non‐words.