T-PEC: a novel test for the elicited production of clitic pronouns in Italian. Preliminary data

ABSTRACT

The study presented in this article aims at investigating the clinical usefulness of a novel test, called T-PEC, for the diagnosis of Developmental Language Disorder in Italian preschool children. The instrument exploits the production of clitic pronouns, in particular third person direct object clitics (3PDO-CL), as a clinical marker for the disorder. Psychometric properties and normative data were computed on a sample of 70 children ranging in age from 4.6 to 5.8 years: 22 children diagnosed as language-impaired by expert clinicians according to international guidelines, and 48 typically developing peers. The statistical analysis of the collected data revealed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.86) and confirmed the effectiveness of the T-PEC test in distinguishing typically developing and DLD children, especially when the latter showed morphosyntactic deficits (AUC = 79.9%). Its high accuracy, combined with the rapidity and easiness of its administration, makes the T-PEC test suitable for use in clinical settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
• clinical marker
• clitic pronouns
• Italian

Acknowledgments

The authors are deeply in debt to Francesco Grande, who created the pictures of the test.

They are also thankful to the principals of the kindergartens involved in the study, Francesco Dallai (Instituto Comprensivo Masaccio, San Giovanni Valdarno) and Alberto Riboletti (Instituto Giovanni XXIII, Terranuova Bracciolini), and to the speech and language therapists of the Local Health Centre “USL Toscana Centro” engaged in data collection, Elvira Bargagni, Elisa Bargigli, Valentina Geri, Milvia Innocenti and Mila Montangero. The helpful suggestions of Mario Masciovecchio and the anonymous reviewers are also gratefully acknowledged.

Author contributions

Perla Crocetti enrolled the patients, administered the linguistic tests and formulated the logopedic balance; Stefano Fancelli authored the T-PEC test; Ilaria Colpizzi administered the Raven’s Progressive Matrices; Alice Suozzi reviewed scientific literature on clitics, performed the statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript; Emanuele Crocetti performed the statistical analysis; Elisa Borgogni performed the clinical study design and reviewed the scientific literature; Gloria Gagliardi ideated the study, supervised result interpretation and drafted the manuscript. All authors have contributed, read and approved the manuscript.

Data availability statements

The T-PEC test can be downloaded from https://tpectest.altervista.org/.

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding Gloria Gagliardi, upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.