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Phonological processing in children with specific language impairment with and without reading difficulties
Author(s) -
Loucas Tom,
Baird Gillian,
Simonoff Emily,
Slonims Vicky
Publication year - 2016
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 - 10.1111/1460-6984.12225
Subject(s) - specific language impairment , psychology , reading (process) , phonology , phonological awareness , language disorder , developmental psychology , cognition , communication disorder , dyslexia , cognitive psychology , audiology , linguistics , medicine , philosophy , neuroscience
Background Specific language impairment (SLI) is heterogeneous and identifying subgroups within it may help explain the aetiology of the condition. Phonological processing abilities distinguish between children with SLI who do and do not have reading decoding impairments (RDIs). Aims To probe different levels of phonological processing in children with SLI with and without RDI to investigate the cognitive basis of these differences. Methods & Procedures A total of 64 children aged 5–17 years were classified using the results of standardized language and single‐word reading tests into those with no SLI and no RDI (No SLI/No RDI) ( N = 18), no SLI but with RDI (No SLI/RDI) ( N = 4, not included in analyses because of the small number), SLI/No RDI ( N = 20), and SLI/RDI ( N = 22). The groups were compared on a range of tasks engaging different levels of phonological processing (input and output processing and phonological awareness). Outcomes & Results The SLI/RDI group was distinguished from the SLI/No RDI and No SLI/No RDI groups by more errors in the longer items in non‐word repetition and by poorer phonological awareness. Non‐word discrimination scores indicated a gradient of performance across groups that was not associated with a qualitatively different pattern of performance. Conclusions & Implications This is the first study contrasting input and output processes associated with phonological processing. The results suggest that deficits in SLI plus RDI may be associated with impairment in actively maintaining phonological representations for phonological processing, which is not present in those without RDI and which leads to reading decoding difficulties.