Phonological Memory in 5 to 6 Year-Old Korean Children

Abstract

Objectives: Phonological memory plays a crucial role in speech and language development, especially in the stages when children learn new vocabulary. This study aims to investigate phonological memory using three different tasks believed to tap into phonological memory in 5 to 6 year-old Korean children, and examine the relationships among the three tasks and between phonological memory and vocabulary skills. Methods: Forty-two typically developing Korean children aged 5-6 years completed nonword repetition (NWR), sentence repetition (SRT), and picture pointing tasks, as well as the Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test (REVT). Children’s correct responses were analyzed from each memory task and compared to examine whether the two age groups show different performances. Children’s responses from SRT were examined by two scoring systems including or excluding articulation errors and their error responses in SRT were analyzed in detail. Results: Significantly higher correct response ratios were observed in 6-year-olds compared to 5-year-olds in the three phonological memory tasks, excluding correct item ratios of SRT. The results from error analysis of SRT showed that 5-year-olds had a significantly higher number of additions, particularly additions of grammatical morphemes. The three phonological memory tasks showed significant correlations with each other. Also, receptive and expressive vocabularies exhibited significant correlations with the three phonological memory tasks. Conclusion: The study indicated active development of phonological memory between ages 5 and 6. We addressed the components in the speech processing model that the three phonological memory tasks tapped into, and discussed their relationship with vocabulary.