Phonological Working Memory and Speech Production in Preschool Children

1995 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Adams ◽  
Susan E. Gathercole
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Phonological Memory ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Speech Output ◽  
Play Session ◽  
Speech Corpora

This study investigates whether phonological working memory is associated with spoken language development in preschool children. Assessments were made of speech corpora taken from 3-year old children grouped in terms of their phonological memory abilities. Both quantitative and qualitative indices of the children’s spontaneous speech output were taken in a structured play session. Significant differences were found, with children of good phonological memory abilities producing language that was more grammatically complex, contained a richer array of words, and included longer utterances than children of poor phonological memory abilities. The possible mechanisms by which phonological working memory skills are linked to the production of speech are considered.

Phonological Working Memory and Spoken Language Development in Young Children

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 216-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Adams ◽  
Susan E. Gathercole
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Standard Test ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Unselected Sample

This study investigated the relationship between phonological working memory and spoken language development in a large unselected sample of 4- and 5-year old children. Assessments were made of the language produced by the children on the Bus Story (Renfrew, 1969), a standard test of continuous speech. In this test, children listen to a story, which they then recount with the aid of visual clues. The amount of information recalled and the average length of the five longest utterances are taken as indices of children's expressive language abilities. Phonological working memory skills were indexed by memory span and the ability to repeat non-words. The ability to repeat non-words made a significant contribution to the variance in the children's speech independently of age, vocabulary knowledge, and nonverbal cognitive skills. The possible mechanisms by which skills assessed by phonological memory tasks may be linked to the development of speech production abilities are considered.

Speech development in preschool children: evaluating the contribution of phonological short-term and phonological working memory

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (04) ◽  
pp. 632-652
Author(s):  
Rebecca WARING ◽  
Susan RICKARD LIOW ◽  
Patricia EADIE ◽  
Barbara DODD
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
English Speaking

AbstractEmerging evidence suggests domain-general processes, including working memory, may contribute to reduced speech production skills in young children. This study compared the phonological short-term (pSTM) and phonological working memory (pWM) abilities of 50 monolingual English-speaking children between 3;6 and 5;11 with typical speech production skills and percentage consonant correct (PCC) standard scores of 12 and above (n = 22) and typical speech production skills and PCC standard scores of between 8 and 11 (n = 28). A multiple hierarchical regression was also conducted to determine whether pSTM and/or pWM could predict PCC. Children with typical speech production skills and PCC standard scores of 12 and above had better pWM abilities than children with typical speech production skills and PCC standard scores of between 8 and 11. pSTM ability was similar in both groups. pWM accounted for 5.3% variance in overall phonological accuracy. Implications of phonological working memory in speech development are discussed.

scholarly journals Nonword Repetition by Children With Cochlear Implants

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1103-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin M. Dillon ◽  
Rose A. Burkholder ◽  
Miranda Cleary ◽  
David B. Pisoni
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Rehearsal

Seventy-six children with cochlear implants completed a nonword repetition task. The children were presented with 20 nonword auditory patterns over a loud-speaker and were asked to repeat them aloud to the experimenter. The children's responses were recorded on digital audiotape and then played back to normal-hearing adult listeners to obtain accuracy ratings on a 7-point scale. The children's nonword repetition performance, as measured by these perceptual accuracy ratings, could be predicted in large part by their performance on independently collected measures of speech perception, verbal rehearsal speed, and speech production. The strongest contributing variable was speaking rate, which is widely argued to reflect verbal rehearsal speed in phonological working memory. Children who had become deaf at older ages received higher perceptual ratings. Children whose early linguistic experience and educational environments emphasized oral communication methods received higher perceptual ratings than children enrolled in total communication programs. The present findings suggest that individual differences in performance on nonword repetition are strongly related to variability observed in the component processes involved in language imitation tasks, including measures of speech perception, speech production, and especially verbal rehearsal speed in phonological working memory. In addition, onset of deafness at a later age and an educational environment emphasizing oral communication may be beneficial to the children's ability to develop the robust phonological processing skills necessary to accurately repeat novel, nonword sound patterns.

scholarly journals Spoken Language Development in Oral Preschool Children With Permanent Childhood Deafness

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Z. Sarant ◽  
C. M. Holt ◽  
R. C. Dowell ◽  
F. W. Rickards ◽  
P. J. Blamey
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Childhood Deafness

Predictions of Actions and Their Justifications in False-Belief Tasks: The Role of Executive Function

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Putko ◽  
Agata Złotogórska
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Mental States ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Current Location ◽  
False Belief Tasks ◽  
Development Of Language

Abstract The main objective of this study was to examine whether children’s ability to justify their action predictions in terms of mental states is related, in a similar way as the ability to predict actions, to such aspects of executive function (EF) as executive control and working memory. An additional objective was to check whether the frequency of different types of justifications made by children in false-belief tasks is associated with aforementioned aspects of EF, as well as language. The study included 59 children aged 3-4 years. The ability to predict actions and to justify these predictions was measured with false-belief tasks. Luria’s hand-game was used to assess executive control, and the Counting and Labelling dual-task was used to assess working memory capacity. Language development was controlled using an embedded syntax test. It was found that executive control was a significant predictor of the children’s ability to justify their action predictions in terms of mental states, even when age and language were taken into account. Results also indicated a relationship between the type of justification in the false-belief task and language development. With the development of language children gradually cease to justify their action predictions in terms of current location, and they tend to construct irrelevant justifications before they begin to refer to beliefs. Data suggest that executive control, in contrast to language, is a factor which affects the development of the children’s ability to justify their action predictions only in its later phase, during a shift from irrelevant to correct justifications.

Exploring which test-taker characteristics predict young L2 learners’ performance on listening and reading comprehension tests

2021 ◽  
pp. 026553222199113
Author(s):  
Sarah Sok ◽  
Hye Won Shin ◽  
Juhyun Do
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Test Taker ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Comprehension Tests ◽  
Reading Comprehension Tests

Test-taker characteristics (TTCs), or individual difference variables, are known to be a systematic source of variance in language test performance. Although previous research has documented the impact of a range of TTCs on second language (L2) learners’ test performance, few of these studies have involved young learners. Given that young L2 learners undergo rapid maturational changes in their cognitive abilities, are susceptible to affective factors in unique ways, and have little autonomy with respect to the context of L2 acquisition, the relationship between their personal attributes and their test performance merit separate research attention. To fill this gap, we investigated the extent to which sixth-grade, Korean-L1, EFL learners’ ( n = 107) TTCs predicted their performance on tests of L2 listening and reading comprehension. The TTCs under investigation included three cognitive characteristics (aptitude, phonological working memory, L1 competence), one affective factor (motivation), and two demographic variables (socioeconomic status and gender). Results showed that aptitude and phonological working memory significantly predicted participants’ performance on both L2 listening and reading comprehension tests, whereas motivation predicted performance on the L2 listening comprehension test only. These findings suggest that higher aptitude, phonological working memory, and motivation contribute positively to young learners’ L2 outcomes.

Signed and Spoken Language Development in a Hearing Child of Hearing Parents

1980 ◽  
Vol 1028 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Holmes ◽  
David W. Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Hearing Child ◽  
Hearing Parents
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document