Abstract
We examined the relative contribution of auditory processing abilities (tone perception and speech perception in noise) after controlling for short-term memory capacity and vocabulary, to narrative language comprehension in children with developmental language disorder. Two hundred and sixteen children with developmental language disorder, ages 6 to 9 years (Mean = 7; 6), were administered multiple measures. The dependent variable was children's score on the narrative comprehension scale of the Test of Narrative Language. Predictors were auditory processing abilities, phonological short-term memory capacity, and language (vocabulary) factors, with age, speech perception in quiet, and non-verbal IQ as covariates. Results showed that narrative comprehension was positively correlated with the majority of the predictors. Regression analysis suggested that speech perception in noise contributed uniquely to narrative comprehension in children with developmental language disorder, over and above all other predictors; however, tone perception tasks failed to explain unique variance. The relative importance of speech perception in noise over tone-perception measures for language comprehension reinforces the need for the assessment and management of listening in noise deficits and makes a compelling case for the functional implications of complex listening situations for children with developmental language disorder.
Highlights
Epidemiological prevalence data from monolingual English-speaking kindergartners in the upper mid-western United States indicate that 7.4% of school-age children (95% confidence interval; 6.3–8.5%) have significant difficulty in language learning and functioning despite normal-range hearing thresholds, non-verbal intelligence, and motor abilities (Tomblin et al, 1997)
Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analyses were conducted to determine the relative contribution of predictors to the outcome variable, in children with developmental language disorder (DLD)
All tone perception tasks were positively and significantly associated with age, non-verbal IQ, phonological short-term memory capacity (STM) capacity, and narrative comprehension subtests that included pictures, but not comprehension of the story narrated without any picture prompt
Summary
Epidemiological prevalence data from monolingual English-speaking kindergartners in the upper mid-western United States indicate that 7.4% of school-age children (95% confidence interval; 6.3–8.5%) have significant difficulty in language learning and functioning despite normal-range hearing thresholds, non-verbal intelligence, and motor abilities (Tomblin et al, 1997). A variety of terms have been used to describe such children including language impairment, language-learning disability, specific language impairment, language-learning impairment, and the recently recommended term, developmental language disorder (DLD), (Bishop et al, 2016, 2017). Substantial evidence supports the comorbidity of language, cognitive, and auditory processing deficits in children with DLD (Bishop, 2009; Dawes and Bishop, 2009; Ferguson et al, 2011; Tomlin et al, 2015; Moore et al, 2018; Gillam et al, 2019; Sharma et al, 2019). Clinical profiles of children diagnosed as having DLD or auditory processing disorder (APD) show remarkable overlap (Ferguson et al, 2011; Miller and Wagstaff, 2011) and are heterogeneous due to the dynamic nature of development (Pennington, 2006). DLD is not an isolated condition given its multifactorial etiology and overlap with other neurodevelopmental disorders (Bishop, 2017)
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