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Nonword repetitions of children with specific language impairment: Exploration of some explanations for their inaccuracies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Jan Edwards  and
Margaret Lahey
Jan Edwards*
Affiliation:
The Ohio State University
Margaret Lahey
Affiliation:
Emerson College
*
Department of Speech & Hearing Science, The Ohio State University, 110 Pressey Hall, 1070 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

To examine possible explanations of the reported inaccuracies of children with specific language impairment (SLI) on nonword repetition, we compared the repetitions of 54 children with SLI and their peers in terms of number and type of error as well as latency and duration of response. We found no evidence of differences between the groups in auditory discrimination or response processes, but we did find some evidence suggesting differences in either the formation or storage of phonological representations in working memory. Because repetition accuracy was significantly correlated with expressive, but not receptive, measures of language, we hypothesized that the problem lay with the nature of phonological representations in working memory and not with the ability to hold phonological information in working memory.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , April 1998 , pp. 279 - 309
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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