Procesos fonológicos en una prueba de repetición de no-palabras en niños con trastorno específico del lenguaje

Abstract

Phonological processes have been extensively studied in spontaneous speech samples and in early stages of development. However, there are very few studies that have addressed these processes in Spanish at later ages in tasks involving a high processing load of the working memory such as a test of non-word repetition (NWR) in children with specific language impairment (SLI). This paper contrasts the occurrence of phonological errors among Mexican children with SLI and typically developing children (TD) using a NWR task. The study included 16 children aged 5-6 years: 8 children with SLI and 8 with TD. The results showed general patterns in the behavior of phonological processes in both groups. Also, a similar distribution of processes was in the SLI and TD groups. These results support studies in other languages both in type and tokens of processes: the SLI group had a higher number of phonological processes. The most productive processes in both groups were assimilation, processes with modification of the syllabic structure and multiple processes. The TD and SLI groups could be distinguished by phonological processes. Among those processes that showed differences between groups were multiple processes, followed by processes that modify the syllabic structure. We show that phonological processes are persistent into the school years when children are presented with a task that involves a greater processing load.