Nonword repetition accuracy in Serbian preschool children

Abstract

The nonword repetition task (NRT), which consists of instantaneous repetition of presented nonsense words, enables the investigation of the ability which closely resembles that of learning a new word. It is widely used for gaining insight into the phonological, lexical and overall language development in typically developing (TD) children, as well as in vulnerable language populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of phonological repetition of TD Serbian preschool children by using a NRT constructed according to the characteristics of the Serbian language. The NRT consists of 48 nonwords of varying prosodic complexity, constructed by systematically varying phonological parameters on four simple two-syllable nonwords: two parameters of syllable structure (onset: consonant/consonant cluster, and coda: null/consonant) and two of metrical structure (number of syllables: two/three/four, and position of syllable stress: first/second syllable). Seventyfive TD children aged 3 to 7 (n = 15 per age group) and 20 adults participated in the study. Prerecorded nonwords were presented in two randomized orders. The participants’ repetitions were audio recorded, transcribed and coded for accuracy and types of errors. The results show that nonword repetition accuracy significantly increases with age in Serbian TD children (F(5,89) = 55.50, p < .001) and that 7-year-olds do not differ significantly from adults on the overall performance on the task. Further, the analyses show a significant effect of the number of syllables on repetition accuracy (F(2,178) = 243.09, p < .001), as well as a significant interaction of age and number of syllables (F(10,178) = 10.21, p < .001). The effect of the syllable structure on repetition accuracy is also significant (F(3,267) = 79.61, p < .001), as well as the interaction of age and syllable structure (F(15,267) = 6.13, p < .001). The analysis of the errors in repetitions reveals a significant effect of age (F(80,390) = 2.33, p < .001) for 11 of 16 types of errors on the word, syllable and phoneme level, with phoneme substitution, onset consonant cluster reduction and coda consonant omission being the most frequent. It may be concluded that the ability of phonological repetition increases with age. While 3-year olds have trouble repeating even the simplest two-syllable nonwords, with age children master prosodic complexity, and at the age of 7 they have mostly mastered the phonological system of the Serbian language. During development, children tend to simplify complex phonological structures, thus making several types of errors on all levels. The nonwords used in this study are highly age discriminative and may be used for constructing a test for the assessment of phonological development in Serbian preschool children.