Abstract
First, we explore the performance of nonword repetition (NWR) in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing children (TD) in order to investigate the accuracy of NWR as a clinical marker for SLI in Swedish-speaking school-age children. Second, we examine the relationship between NWR, family aggregation, and parental level of education in children with SLI. A sample of 61 children with SLI, and 86 children with TD, aged 8–12 years, were administered an NWR test. Family aggregation, measured as the prevalence of language and/or literacy problems (LLP) in parents of the children with SLI, was based on family history interviews. The sensitivity and specificity of nonword repetition was analyzed in a binary logistic regression, cut-off values were established with ROC curves, and positive and negative likelihood ratios reported. Results from the present study show that NWR distinguishes well between Swedish-speaking school-children with and without SLI. We found 90.2% sensitivity and 97.7% specificity at a cut-off level of −2 standard deviations for binary scoring of nonwords. Differences between the SLI and TD groups showed large effect sizes for the two scoring measures binary (d = 2.11) and percent correct consonants (PCC) (d = 1.79). The children with SLI were split into two subgroups: those with no parents affected with LLP (n = 12), and those with one or both parents affected (n = 49). The subgroup consisting of affected parents had a significantly lower score on NWR binary (p = .037), and there was a great difference between the subgroups (d = 0.7). When compared to the TD group, the difference from the subgroup with affected parents was almost one standard deviation larger (d = 2.47) than the difference from the TD to the subgroup consisting of non-affected parents (d = 1.57). Our study calls for further exploration of the complex interaction between family aggregation, language input, and phenotypes of SLI.
Highlights
Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have a deficient language development, without general cognitive delays, physical disabilities, neurological problems, or hearing impairment that can explain their difficulties
We found significantly lower results in the SLI group on the nonword repetition (NWR) Binary and NWR percent correct consonants (PCC) scorings as compared to the typically developing children (TD) group
Differences between the SLI and TD groups showed large effect sizes for NWR binary and NWR PCC measures (Table 2); the largest was found for NWR
Summary
Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have a deficient language development, without general cognitive delays, physical disabilities, neurological problems, or hearing impairment that can explain their difficulties. Poor NWR has been reported as a clinical marker for SLI in several languages such as Spanish [22], Dutch [23], French [24], Italian [25], and Slovak [26] Such studies are, lacking in Swedishspeaking children. Growing up with parents affected with language-related problems such as with language or reading impairment for example, probably influences verbal communication in the family, and the linguistic input to the child with SLI. Comparisons of language input for children with SLI growing up with affected versus non-affected parents are lacking, as Corrigan [43] points out Another factor which may contribute to the home language environment is parental level of education, often used as an approximation of socio-economic status (SES). Research Questions Is NWR a clinical marker for Swedish school-age children diagnosed with SLI? Given the high prevalence of languagerelated problems in parents of children with SLI, is there an association between family aggregation and NWR performance? is the parents’ level of education associated with family aggregation and NWR performance?
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