Kapantzoglou, M., Restrepo, M.A., Gray, S., & Thompson,
M.S. (2015). Language ability groups in bilingual children: A latent profile
analysis
Children with a relatively specific and unexpected atypical
language development are considered to have a Specific Language Impairment
(SLI). Nevertheless, SLI groups are notoriously heterogeneous such that some
children have relative deficits in some or another aspect of language. One
effort to understand this heterogeneity is to examine language profiles in
groups in the population.
This studied was based on a large group of predominantly
Spanish speaking 5-7 year old children who were receiving school instruction in
English. Measures of lexical diversity, grammar, length of utterance, rapid
naming, nonword repetition, and nonverbal intelligence were completed in
Spanish. A Latent Profile Analysis, a statistical method for identifying latent
groups with similar profiles based on the variables (scores) considered.
Results of this analysis revealed three groups: an average ability group, a
group with relative deficits in the measure of grammar, and a group with
relative deficits in nonword repetition. The nonword repetition deficit was
considered to reflect a deficit in working memory.
The authors suggested that children might have difficulty
learning language for two reasons: difficulties with grammar or processing
phonological aspects of language. Further, they called for the assessment of
both grammar and working memory for phonological information in children with
developmental concerns about language.
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