What predicts nonword repetition performance?

ABSTRACT

Despite the widespread use of nonword repetition in child neuropsychological research and clinical practice, the specific cognitive, linguistic and motor processes that contribute to variability in performance are unclear. The aim of this work was to determine the role of phonological memory, word reading, oromotor sequencing, and oromotor control on nonword repetition performance in the context of children’s speech and language abilities. Ninety one children between the ages of 9 and 11 years, with a broad range of speech and language abilities participated in the study. Hierarchical regression was used to a) evaluate the contribution of phonological memory, word reading, oromotor sequencing and oromotor control to nonword repetition and b) determine whether speech and/or language ability moderated the relationship between these specific skills and nonword repetition performance. Results showed all four predictor variables were related to nonword repetition performance, accounting for 59% of variance. The variable with the strongest association with nonword repetition was phonological memory, followed by oromotor sequencing ability, word reading, and oromotor control. Contrary to expectations, neither speech nor language ability were significantly associated with the degree to which these specific skills were drawn upon to perform the nonword repetition task. These findings underline the multidimensional nature of the nonword repetition task and provide further evidence of the major contributions made by phonological memory, word reading, speech sequencing and control to performance on this task. Further, findings suggest that speech and language ability, as measured here, do not significantly influence the skills employed for nonword repetition performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Language
• speech
• nonword repetition
• development
• oromotor
• reading

Acknowledgments

LP is funded by an Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship. AM is supported by National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development Fellowship #607315 and Practitioner Fellowship #1105008; NHMRC Center of Research Excellence (CRE) in Child Language #1023493 awarded to SR and AM; NHMRC CRE Speech and Language Neurobiology #1116976; and HEARing Collaborative Research Center. This research is also supported by the CRE in Child Language #1023493 and the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program. For G. Conti-Ramsden, this research was also supported by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Center.

Thank you to Angela Mayes, Cristina Mei and Sarah Barton for assistance with data collection, and Lucy Busija for assistance with data analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council [1023493,1105008,1116976,607315]; National Institute for Health Research; Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship; Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program (HEARing Cooperative Research Center).