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Abstract:
Working memory refers to a limited capacity system where
information storage and processing occurs simultaneously. Children
with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulty performing
tasks involving phonological working memory (Gathercole &
Baddeley, 1990; Montgomery, 1995; Marton & Schwartz, 2000).
Nonword repetition is the method most authors use to measure
phonological working memory in children. The purpose of this study
was to investigate the underlying processes of phonological working
memory difficulties in children with SLI. The participants were
6-10 years old children with SLI and age matched typically
developing peers. Both groups included 13 children. Nonword
repetition and discrimination were tested under different
conditions (single nonwords, nonword lists, and nonwords with
sentence context). The overall production results showed
significant differences between the two groups of children. A
detailed phonological analysis of all children's errors indicated
that the children with SLI had produced qualitatively similar
errors than their typically developing peers, however, with a much
higher frequency. The results of the error analysis suggest that
the children with SLI had not enough working memory capacity to
perform all the required processes (e.g., processing the correct
order and position of the stored items). They produced a large
number of segment changes and metatheses. The error patterns
indicated capacity limitations. The results of nonword
discrimination, however, showed that none of the children had
encoding difficulties.
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