abstract: The current study employs item difficulty modeling procedures to evaluate the feasibility of potential generative item features for nonword repetition. Specifically, the extent to which the manipulated item features affect the theoretical mechanisms that underlie nonword repetition accuracy was estimated. Generative item features were based on the phonological loop component of Baddelely's model of working memory which addresses phonological short-term memory (Baddeley, 2000, 2003; Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). Using researcher developed software, nonwords were generated to adhere to the phonological constraints of Spanish. Thirty-six nonwords were chosen based on the set item features identified by the proposed cognitive processing model. Using a planned missing data design, two-hundred fifteen Spanish-English bilingual children were administered 24 of the 36 generated nonwords. Multiple regression and explanatory item response modeling techniques (e.g., linear logistic test model, LLTM; Fischer, 1973) were used to estimate the impact of item features on item difficulty. The final LLTM included three item radicals and two item incidentals. Results indicated that the LLTM predicted item difficulties were highly correlated with the Rasch item difficulties (r = .89) and accounted for a substantial amount of the variance in item difficulty (R2 = .79). The findings are discussed in terms of validity evidence in support of using the phonological loop component of Baddeley's model (2000) as a cognitive processing model for nonword repetition items and the feasibility of using the proposed radical structure as an item blueprint for the future generation of nonword repetition items. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Educational Psychology 2011

<p dir="ltr">The goal of the study was to investigate vowel accuracy in preschoolers with and without speech sound disorders (SSD) on nonword repetition tasks. Children ages 4 and 5 years completed a battery of speech and language measures, as well as two nonword repetition tasks, the Syllable Repetition Task (SRT) and the Nonword Repetition Task (NRT). A total of 41 children participated in the study divided among 3 groups: 14 children with typical speech and language skills (TD), 14 children with isolated speech sound disorders (SSD-only), and 13 children with SSD and comorbid Developmental Language Disorder (SSD+DLD). Ultimately, it appears that children with SSD+DLD make more vowel errors on the Nonword Repetition Task, and that vowel accuracy on nonword repetition tasks and phonological awareness may share underlying mechanisms.</p>

Ce travail est consacré à lévaluation de lhypothèse selon laquelle une limitation des capacités de traitement est à lorigine des troubles langagiers et non langagiers des enfants dysphasiques (ou enfants avec troubles spécifiques du langage, TSL). Les enfants présentant ces troubles montrent des limitations importantes de leurs compétences langagières sans raison apparente (absence de troubles auditifs, intellectuels et affectifs ou de lésions neurologiques). Ces dernières années, la spécificité des troubles langagiers a été remise en cause par de nombreuses études révélant lexistence de difficultés non spécifiquement linguistiques chez les enfants avec TSL, tels que des troubles attentionnels, exécutifs et moteurs. Certains auteurs ont formulé l'hypothèse quune limitation des capacités de traitement est à lorigine des troubles langagiers et non langagiers des enfants avec TSL. Selon cette hypothèse, les troubles langagiers observés chez ces enfants ne sont pas dus à un déficit des représentations linguistiques, mais reflètent une performance limitée par des difficultés à mobiliser lensemble des ressources, linguistiques et/ou non linguistiques, nécessaires à la réalisation de la tâche. Les recherches réalisées ont permis dévaluer si une telle hypothèse permet dexpliquer les performances observées dans deux épreuves linguistiques considérées par plusieurs auteurs comme des marqueurs comportementaux des TSL, les traitements morphosyntaxiques et la répétition de non-mots, en manipulant les processus recrutés ou la quantité de ressources nécessaires lors de la réalisation de la tâche. Nous avons également manipulé la complexité dans une épreuve non linguistique afin détudier si les limitations des capacités de traitement peuvent être considérées comme générales ou si elles savèrent limitées aux traitements linguistiques. Globalement, nos résultats ne sont pas compatibles avec lhypothèse dune limitation des capacités de traitement à lorigine des troubles linguistiques des enfants avec TSL. Ces enfants ne présentent pas de limitation importante de leurs capacités de traitements qui permette dexpliquer leurs troubles langagiers.

This study investigates the patterns in nonword repetition performance of children with a developmental language disorder and bilingual children. It has been shown by previous research that both children with developmental language disorder and bilingual children tend to perform poorly in nonword repetition tasks. As these tasks are one of the tools often used for diagnosing markers of DLD in young children, diagnosing bilinguals with DLD proves to be difficult, since both of the groups exhibit a poor performance. An analysis of the patterns found in NWR performance of bilingual children and children with DLD might shed more light onto the issue. The study focuses on analysing the performance in a widely used assessment task - The Children's Test of Nonword Repetition. Three samples of data were analysed. The first sample of data consisted of monolingual English-speaking children diagnosed with a developmental language disorder. The second sample of data consisted of Czech-English bilingual children from international schools in Prague who started acquiring English at the time of birth, i.e. simultaneous bilinguals. The third and final sample consisted of Czech- English bilingual children from international schools in Prague who started acquiring English after one year of age, i.e. sequential bilinguals....

Syfte: Studien syftade till att undersöka om det fanns en relation mellan barns prosodiska och expressiva grammatiska förmågor samt hur förmågan att använda betoning hos barn med typisk språkutveckling kan beskrivas. Metod: Tolv barn i åldrarna 3;7–6;11 med typisk språkutveckling rekryterades till studien. Två material utarbetades för att dels undersöka expressiv grammatisk förmåga och betoningsförmåga, dels expressiv betoningsförmåga och fonologi vid repetition av ord och nonord. Barnens grammatiska förståelse testades med Nya SIT. I ord- och nonordsuppgiften analyserades förmågan att producera korrekt andel stavelser samt förmågan att producera korrekta konsonanter, vokaler samt korrekt betoning. I det expressiva grammatiskt-prosodiska materialet analyserades förmågan att uttrycka korrekt andel stavelser samt expressiv grammatisk förmåga och betoning i respektive grammatisk konstruktion. Resultat: Det fanns en svag, icke-signifikant korrelation mellan förmågan att producera korrekt andel stavelser i det grammatiskt-prosodiska materialet och förmågan att producera stavelser i ord- och nonordsuppgiften. Det fanns en stark, signifikant korrelation mellan förmågan att producera korrekt andel stavelser och expressiv grammatisk förmåga. Det fanns även en stark, signifikant korrelation mellan expressiv grammatisk förmåga och förmågan att repetera vokaler och konsonanter i ord- och nonord. Slutsats: Barnen uttryckte både betoning och grammatik väl och hade mycket hög förmåga till att realisera vokaler och konsonanter enligt målyttrandena. Det fanns inte någon skillnad i prestation som gick att hänföra till skillnader i betoningsmönster. Om ett barn i den här gruppen var bra på att uttrycka korrekt betoning var barnet även bra på expressiv grammatik, men förmågorna är inte testade oberoende av varandra. På grund av gruppens storlek går inte resultaten att generalisera till en större population. / Aim: The study aimed to investigate whether there was a relationship between children's prosodic and expressive grammatical abilities and how the ability to use stress patterns in children with typical language development can be described. Method: Twelve children aged 3;7–6;11 with typical language development were recruited to this study. Two materials for assessment were developed, one for examining expressive grammatical and prosodic ability and stress patterns, and one for examining phonology and stress patterns by word and nonword repetition. The children’s grammatical understanding was assessed with “Nya SIT”. In the word and nonword repetition task the use of syllables and the ability to produce consonants and vowels as well as the use of stress patterns were analyzed. In the expressive grammatical-prosodic material, the ability to express the correct proportion of syllables and expressive grammatical ability as well as prosodic stress in respective grammatical constructions were analyzed. Results: There was a weak, non-significant correlation between the ability to produce the correct proportion of syllables in the grammatical-prosodic material and the ability to produce syllables in the word and nonword task. There was a strong, significant correlation between the ability to produce the correct proportion of syllables and expressive grammatical ability. There was also a strong, significant correlation between expressive grammatical ability and the ability to repeat vowels and consonants in words and nonwords. Conclusions: The children expressed both prosodic stress patterns and grammar well and had a very high ability to realize vowels and consonants according to the target utterances. There was no difference in performance that could be attributed to differences in prosodic stress patterns. If a child in this group was good at expressing correct prosodic stress, he/she was also good at expressive grammar, but these abilities were not tested independently. Because of the group’s size, the results cannot be generalized to a larger population.