Startseite Non-word repetition performance in Mandarin-speaking preschool children with and without specific language impairment (SLI)
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Non-word repetition performance in Mandarin-speaking preschool children with and without specific language impairment (SLI)

  • Wang Xiaoqing

    WANG Xiaoqing is a doctoral student of Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Nankai University. Her research efforts have focused on theoretical linguistics, syntax, and child language acquisition.

     EMAIL logo     und Huang Jiandan

    HUANG Jiandan is Research Assistant at Institute of Language, Tianjin Normal University. Her research efforts have focused on first language acquisition and language disorder, specifically, Specific Language Impairment (SLI) of Mandarin-speaking preschool Children.
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 16. September 2016
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Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics
Aus der Zeitschrift Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics Band 39 Heft 3

Abstract

Childhood is a critical period for language development, and it is of great importance to discover normal language development and any specific language impairment (SLI) in child language acquisition and then to give them timely diagnosis and treatment. Also it has been previously shown that the non-word repetition task is an efficient assessment tool to screen out those children suspected with SLI. Based on this premise, the present study examined whether the non-word repetition task can be a suitable screening tool to detect language disorders for preschool children in Mandarin Chinese in China. A non-word repetition task was adapted specifically for this purpose. This study examined differences in non-word repetition performance of Mandarin-speaking preschool children screened by a criterion-referenced diagnostic test of specific language impairment (SLI) (the value of Cronbach Alpha at 0.86). A sample of 282 children were administered the diagnostic test, and a total of 23 SLI suspects were screened out as their language ability measures deviated from the mean by 1.5 SDs. Results indicated that children with SLI made no error with respect to tone in Mandarin, but they showed great difficulty in non-word repetition skills compared to age-matched controls. The findings confirmed that the non-word repetition task is a culturally nonbiased index of language disorders, and that two syllable non-words can be used to identify language disorder.

Keywords: specific language impairment; non-word repetition; preschoolers; Mandarin Chinese

(Copyedited by Duncan Sidwell & Ding Yanren)

About the authors

Wang Xiaoqing

WANG Xiaoqing is a doctoral student of Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Nankai University. Her research efforts have focused on theoretical linguistics, syntax, and child language acquisition.

Huang Jiandan

HUANG Jiandan is Research Assistant at Institute of Language, Tianjin Normal University. Her research efforts have focused on first language acquisition and language disorder, specifically, Specific Language Impairment (SLI) of Mandarin-speaking preschool Children.

Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the Child Caring Center, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China. We would like to thank Ning Chunyan for carrying out the language ability investigation. We furthermore would like to thank all the children, their parents, and their teachers for their participation in this research.

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Published Online: 2016-9-16
Published in Print: 2016-9-1

© 2016 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Second Language Acquisition
  3. Acquisition of English reflexive verb constructions: roles of syntactical indeterminacy and token frequency
  4. Second Language Acquisition
  5. A comparison of the L2 motivational self system between Chinese EFL and ESL learners
  6. Second Language Acquisition
  7. Functions of you know and I mean in academic seminar discussions by ELF speakers
  8. Language Teaching
  9. The functional approach to the teaching of translation: a case study on Beiying and its English translations
  10. Language and Cognition
  11. Problem-based L2 learning: self-negotiated linguistic cognition
  12. Language and Cognition
  13. Non-word repetition performance in Mandarin-speaking preschool children with and without specific language impairment (SLI)
  14. Teacher Development
  15. How teachers’ beliefs are in accordance with major SLA notions
https://doi.org/10.1515/cjal-2016-0022
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
specific language impairment; non-word repetition; preschoolers; Mandarin Chinese

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Second Language Acquisition
  3. Acquisition of English reflexive verb constructions: roles of syntactical indeterminacy and token frequency
  4. Second Language Acquisition
  5. A comparison of the L2 motivational self system between Chinese EFL and ESL learners
  6. Second Language Acquisition
  7. Functions of you know and I mean in academic seminar discussions by ELF speakers
  8. Language Teaching
  9. The functional approach to the teaching of translation: a case study on Beiying and its English translations
  10. Language and Cognition
  11. Problem-based L2 learning: self-negotiated linguistic cognition
  12. Language and Cognition
  13. Non-word repetition performance in Mandarin-speaking preschool children with and without specific language impairment (SLI)
  14. Teacher Development
  15. How teachers’ beliefs are in accordance with major SLA notions
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