The Diagnostic Accuracy of a New Test of Early Nonword Repetition for Differentiating Late Talking and Typically Developing Children PurposeTo assess the diagnostic accuracy of a new Test of Early Nonword Repetition (TENR) for 2-year-old children.Method232 British-English-speaking children aged 27 (±3) months were assessed on 3 standardized tests (receptive and expressive vocabulary and visual processing) and a novel nonword repetition (NWR) test. Parents completed a British adaptation of the ... Article
Article  |   August 01, 2009
The Diagnostic Accuracy of a New Test of Early Nonword Repetition for Differentiating Late Talking and Typically Developing Children
Stephanie F. Stokes and Thomas Klee
 
Author Notes
  • Contact author: Stephanie F. Stokes, Curtin University of Technology, School of Psychology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia. E-mail: s.stokes@curtin.edu.au.
  • © 2009 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Article Information
Development / Special Populations / Language Disorders / Speech, Voice & Prosody / Language
Article   |   August 01, 2009
The Diagnostic Accuracy of a New Test of Early Nonword Repetition for Differentiating Late Talking and Typically Developing Children
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, August 2009, Vol. 52, 872-882. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0030)
History: Received April 30, 2008 , Revised July 13, 2008 , Accepted November 26, 2008
 
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, August 2009, Vol. 52, 872-882. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0030)
History: Received April 30, 2008; Revised July 13, 2008; Accepted November 26, 2008
Web of Science® Times Cited: 30

PurposeTo assess the diagnostic accuracy of a new Test of Early Nonword Repetition (TENR) for 2-year-old children.

Method232 British-English-speaking children aged 27 (±3) months were assessed on 3 standardized tests (receptive and expressive vocabulary and visual processing) and a novel nonword repetition (NWR) test. Parents completed a British adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences (CDI:WS–UK; Klee & Harrison, 2001). The diagnostic accuracy of two versions (1–3 syllables and 1–4 syllables) of a new NWR test was examined. Standard diagnostic accuracy measures of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and diagnostic odds ratios were generated.

Results177 children (80%) completed the 1–3 syllable task, and 96 children (73%) completed the 1–4 syllable task. The 1–3 syllable version produced a positive likelihood ratio (LR+) of 7.8 (confidence interval [CI] = 4.5–13.6) and a negative likelihood ratio (LR–) of .28 (CI = .12–.65). The 1–4 syllable version of the NWR test produced a LR+ of 14.88 (CI = 6.1–36.2) and a LR– of .13 (CI = .02–.83).

ConclusionThe TENR could be useful for identifying 2-year-old children at risk of language impairment.

Acknowledgments
This project was funded by Economic and Social Sciences Research Council Grant RES-000-22-0712. We thank Carmel Houston-Price and Graham Schafer for access to the Reading University research database, Jill Hearing and Sarah Fincham-Majumdar for excellent work as research assistants, and Northumbria University for their generous support of the project.
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