Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Delaware, Newark.
Nanjing Normal University, China.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2022 Apr 4;65(4):1543-1560. doi: 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00401. Epub 2022 Mar 23.
Sentence repetition (SR) is believed to be a clinical marker for developmental language disorder (DLD) across many languages. This study explored the potential of a self-designed Mandarin SR task (MSRT) to reflect Mandarin-speaking preschoolers' language ability and to differentiate children with and without DLD in this population. Furthermore, we aimed to compare five scoring systems for evaluating children's MSRT performance.
In Study 1, the MSRT was administered to 59 typically developing (TD) children aged 3;6 (years;months) to 6;5 in China. The task was examined regarding its ability to correlate with language indices derived from children's narrative samples. In Study 2, both a TD and a DLD group were recruited to investigate the task's sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios to distinguish between children with and without DLD.
Study 1 showed that, using four of the five scoring methods, TD children's performance on the MSRT significantly correlated with all the language measures derived from narratives. Study 2 showed that the MSRT was able to differentiate children with and without DLD.
The MSRT is a promising tool to reflect language abilities and identify DLD in Mandarin-speaking preschoolers. Based on the current evidence, we recommend that researchers and clinicians select the number of errors in the syllable method or the binary method when scoring responses to meet their specific needs.
句子重复（SR）被认为是许多语言中发育性语言障碍（DLD）的临床标志物。本研究探讨了自行设计的普通话句子重复任务（MSRT）的潜力，以反映说普通话的学龄前儿童的语言能力，并在该人群中区分有和没有 DLD 的儿童。此外，我们旨在比较五种评分系统，以评估儿童的 MSRT 表现。
在研究 1 中，MSRT 被施测于 59 名中国 3 岁 6 个月至 6 岁 5 个月的典型发育儿童。考察了该任务与从儿童叙事样本中得出的语言指标相关的能力。在研究 2 中，同时招募了典型发育组和 DLD 组，以研究该任务在区分有和没有 DLD 的儿童方面的敏感性、特异性和似然比。
研究 1 表明，使用五种评分方法中的四种，TD 儿童在 MSRT 上的表现与所有从叙事中得出的语言测量显著相关。研究 2 表明，MSRT 能够区分有和没有 DLD 的儿童。
MSRT 是一种有前途的工具，可以反映普通话学龄前儿童的语言能力并识别 DLD。基于目前的证据，我们建议研究人员和临床医生在评分反应时选择音节法或二进制法中的错误数量，以满足他们的特定需求。
