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Speech development in preschool children: evaluating the contribution of phonological short-term and phonological working memory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2019

Rebecca WARING Open the ORCID record for Rebecca WARING [Opens in a new window] ,
Susan RICKARD LIOW ,
Patricia EADIE  and
Barbara DODD
Rebecca WARING*
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology
Susan RICKARD LIOW
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Patricia EADIE
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Graduate School of Education
Barbara DODD
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Emerging evidence suggests domain-general processes, including working memory, may contribute to reduced speech production skills in young children. This study compared the phonological short-term (pSTM) and phonological working memory (pWM) abilities of 50 monolingual English-speaking children between 3;6 and 5;11 with typical speech production skills and percentage consonant correct (PCC) standard scores of 12 and above (n = 22) and typical speech production skills and PCC standard scores of between 8 and 11 (n = 28). A multiple hierarchical regression was also conducted to determine whether pSTM and/or pWM could predict PCC. Children with typical speech production skills and PCC standard scores of 12 and above had better pWM abilities than children with typical speech production skills and PCC standard scores of between 8 and 11. pSTM ability was similar in both groups. pWM accounted for 5.3% variance in overall phonological accuracy. Implications of phonological working memory in speech development are discussed.

Keywords

typical speech developmentphonological working memorypreschool-aged children
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , July 2019 , pp. 632 - 652
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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