ERIC Number: EJ1241423
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Dec
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
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Available Date: N/A
Sentence Repetition: A Clinical Marker for Developmental Language Disorder in Danish
Christensen, Rikke Vang
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v62 n12 p4450-4463 Dec 2019
Purpose: The aim of the study was to explore the potential of performance on a Danish sentence repetition (SR) task--including specific morphological and syntactic properties--to identify difficulties in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) relative to typically developing (TD) children. Furthermore, the potential of the task as a clinical marker for Danish DLD was explored. Method: SR performance of children with DLD aged 5;10-14;1 (years;months; n = 27) and TD children aged 5;3-13;4 (n = 87) was investigated. Results: Compared to TD same-age peers, children with DLD were less likely to repeat the sentences accurately but more likely to make ungrammatical errors with respect to verb inflection and use of determiners and personal pronouns. Younger children with DLD also produced more word order errors that their TD peers. Furthermore, older children with DLD performed less accurately than younger TD peers, indicating that the SR task taps into morphosyntactic areas of particular difficulty for Danish children with DLD. The classification accuracy associated with SR performance showed high levels of sensitivity and specificity (> 90%) and likelihood ratios indicating good identification potential for clinical and future research purposes. Conclusion: SR performance has a strong potential for identifying children with DLD, also in Danish, and with a carefully designed SR task, performance has potential for revealing morphosyntactic difficulties.
Descriptors: Indo European Languages, Morphology (Languages), Verbs, Grammar, Error Patterns, Developmental Disabilities, Language Impairments, Syntax, Children, Adolescents, Form Classes (Languages), Accuracy, Age Differences, Classification, Task Analysis, Identification, Language Usage, Sentences, Speech Communication
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
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