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Sentence repetition as a marker of language skills in children with dyslexia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2013

KRISTINA MOLL ,
CHARLES HULME ,
SONALI NAG  and
MARGARET J. SNOWLING
KRISTINA MOLL*
Affiliation:
University of York
CHARLES HULME
Affiliation:
University College London
SONALI NAG
Affiliation:
University of York
MARGARET J. SNOWLING
Affiliation:
University of York
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Kristina Moll, Department of Psychology, Karl-Franzens University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This study investigated the role of length and complexity on sentence repetition in children with dyslexia and typical readers. Length and complexity each had independent effects on sentence repetition, and children with dyslexia performed more poorly than typical readers. This group effect was attributable to individual differences in language rather than memory skills. Error analyses revealed that content words (specifically adjectives) were more likely to be omitted in longer than in shorter sentences independent of complexity. In complex sentences, function words (specifically prepositions) were the most vulnerable to errors, particularly for a subgroup of children with dyslexia who had oral language difficulties. It is proposed that deficits in sentence repetition are indicative of language difficulties in children with dyslexia.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , March 2015 , pp. 203 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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