Nonword Repetitions of 2- to 5-Year-Old Typically Developing Children

Hwang, Jinkyung; Ha, Seunghee

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2010;15(4): 561-571.

Jinkyung Hwang^` , and Seunghee Ha^`

황진경(Jinkyung Hwang)|하승희(Seunghee Ha)

ABSTRACT

Background & Objectives
A nonword repetition task performance reflects the status of speech-language development as related to auditory-perceptual, memorial, and speech planning/programming processes, which are essential for normal speech-language development. Investigation of the normal developmental pattern of nonword repetition skills is necessary so that the repetition skills can be clinically used to identify young children with speech and language impairment. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the developmental patterns of nonword repetition performance in typically developing children between 2 and 5 years of age.
Methods
The participants in this study were 80 typically developing children that were divided into 8 age-groups (6-month intervals, 10 children per group). The repetition task consisted of 1- to 4-syllable nonwords that were systematically manipulated for articulation difficulty levels and syllable structures.
Results
1) Nonword repetition skills improved as children got older. The improvement in repetition skills increased drastically between 2 and 3 years of age, and the performance became stable at 4 years of age. 2) Nonword repetition skills in terms of syllable lengths were different in the 2- to 4-year-old groups, but not in the 5-year-old groups.
Discussion & Conclusion
The nonword repetition task effectively elicited responses from the 2- to 5-year old participants, and developmental change in their repetition skills was observed. The present study provides fundamental data that can be used to identify speech and language impairment in young children.

Keywords: 무의미단어 따라말하기 | 일반아동 | nonword repetition | typically developing children