H εκτίμηση της φωνολογικής βραχύχρονης μνήμης σε Ελληνόφωνα παιδιά 2 και 3 ετών: στοιχεία για τη σχέση της με την ανάπτυξη της γλώσσας

Abstract

Phonological working memory, as measured by the ‘non-word repetition’ task, has been associated with various dimensions of child language development. Although most studies have focused on ages older than 4 years, several successful attempts to measure phonological working memory in younger children are present in the bibliography. The aim of this study was to develop a non-word repetition task and methodology that would enable the assessment of phonological working memory in very young Greek-speaking children, as well as to explore the relationship between performance on this task and the linguistic level of the same children. Forty-two typically developing toddlers aged 2 and 3 years participated in a word & non-word repetition task which was especially developed for the purposes of this study. At the same time, a speech sample of the same children was collected, whereby the ‘number-of-different-words’ (word types) and the ‘mean length of utterance in morphemes' (MLU-m) have been estimated. Results reveal the sensitivity of the task in children's age, the stimulus type (words vs. non-words) and in syllabic length. Moreover, performance in this task appears significantly correlated with the two measures of children´s expressive language. These results are discussed in relation to previous findings and the possibilities this task could offer for the assessment of Greek-speaking young children’s language skills.