Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR.
Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2024 Jun 6;67(6):1772-1784. doi: 10.1044/2024_JSLHR-22-00397. Epub 2024 Apr 29.
Nonword repetition (NWR) has been described as a clinical marker of developmental language disorder (DLD), as NWR tasks consistently discriminate between DLD and typical development (TD) cross-linguistically, with Cantonese as the only reported exception. This study reexamines whether NWR is able to generate TD/DLD group differences in Cantonese-speaking children by reporting on a novel set of NWR stimuli that take into account factors known to affect NWR performance and group differentiation, including lexicality, sublexicality, length, and syllable complexity.
Sixteen Cantonese-speaking children with DLD and 16 age-matched children with TD repeated two sets of high-lexicality nonwords, where all constituent syllables are morphemic in Cantonese but meaningless when combined, and one set of low-lexicality nonwords, where all constituent syllables are nonmorphemic. Low-lexicality nonwords were further classified on sublexicality in terms of consonant-vowel (CV) combination attestedness (whether or not CV combinations in nonword syllables occur in real Cantonese words).
Children with DLD scored significantly below their peers with TD. Effect sizes showed that high-lexicality nonwords and nonword syllables with attested CV combinations offered the greatest TD/DLD group differentiation. Nonword length and syllable complexity did not affect TD/DLD group differentiation.
NWR can capture TD/DLD group differences in Cantonese-speaking children. Lexicality and sublexicality effects must be considered in designing NWR stimuli for TD/DLD group differentiation. Future studies should replicate the present study on a larger sample size and a younger population as well as examine the diagnostic accuracy of this NWR test.
非词重复（NWR）已被描述为发育性语言障碍（DLD）的临床标志物，因为 NWR 任务在跨语言上一致地区分 DLD 和典型发育（TD），而粤语是唯一报告的例外。本研究通过报告一组新的 NWR 刺激物来重新检查 NWR 是否能够在粤语儿童中产生 TD/DLD 组差异，这些刺激物考虑了影响 NWR 表现和组分化的因素，包括词汇性、次词汇性、长度和音节复杂性。
16 名患有 DLD 的粤语儿童和 16 名年龄匹配的具有 TD 的儿童重复了两组高词汇性的非词，其中所有组成音节在粤语中都是词素性的，但组合在一起时是无意义的，以及一组低词汇性的非词，其中所有组成音节都是非词素性的。低词汇性非词进一步根据辅音-元音（CV）组合的出现频率（非词音节中的 CV 组合是否出现在真实的粤语词中）进行次词汇性分类。
患有 DLD 的儿童的得分明显低于具有 TD 的同龄人。效应大小表明，高词汇性非词和具有可验证 CV 组合的非词音节提供了最大的 TD/DLD 组分化。非词长度和音节复杂性不影响 TD/DLD 组分化。
NWR 可以捕捉粤语儿童的 TD/DLD 组差异。在设计用于 TD/DLD 组分化的 NWR 刺激物时，必须考虑词汇性和次词汇性效应。未来的研究应该在更大的样本量和更年轻的人群中复制本研究，并检查这种 NWR 测试的诊断准确性。
