ERIC Number: EJ1261139
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Aug
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0142-7237
EISSN: N/A
Syntactic Complexity and Verbal Working Memory in Bilingual Children with and without Developmental Language Disorder
Zebib, Racha; Tuller, Laurice; Hamann, Cornelia; Abed Ibrahim, Lina; Prévost, Philippe
First Language, v40 n4 p461-484 Aug 2020
Sentence repetition (SR) tasks have been shown to be excellent indicators of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). However, there is still no consensus about which core ability they measure: language vs. Verbal Short-Term Memory (VSTM) and Verbal Working Memory (WM). Moreover, very few studies have investigated whether variables predicting SR performance differ in children with DLD compared to typically developing (TD) children, especially concerning bilingual children. This article reports on an SR study of 76 5- to 8-year-old bilingual children with (n = 23) and without (n = 53) DLD. The Bi-DLD group displayed significantly lower scores than the Bi-TD group on SR and on VSTM and WM measures. Regression analyses showed that SR was mainly linked to WM in the Bi-DLD group, but not in the TD group, where SR was mainly linked to (independent) language measures. This suggests that children with DLD, who have deficient linguistic knowledge, may rely more on their general processing ability (i.e. WM) in contrast to Bi-TD children, whose language skills are normal, and thus can be solicited for SR. Moreover, individual results suggested that performance on SR does not depend on minimal VSTM or WM spans.
Descriptors: Sentences, Repetition, Syntax, Verbal Communication, Verbal Ability, Short Term Memory, Predictor Variables, Bilingualism, Young Children, Language Impairments, Developmental Disabilities, Language Skills, Language Acquisition, Foreign Countries, Children, Intelligence Tests, Vocabulary Development, Receptive Language, Expressive Language
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: France
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Raven Progressive Matrices; Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A