Rhyming and related skills in children with specific language impairment

Journal/Book: Cah Psychol Cognitive. 1998; 17: C N R S-C R N C, 31, Chemin Joseph Alguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France. Adrsc-Assoc Diffusion Recherch es Sciences Cognitives. 479-512.

Abstract: This paper presents two studies which investigated rhyme-related abilities in children with specific language impairment. The first study, a preliminary exploratory investigation, looked at the performance of four specifically language impaired (SLI) children on tasks involving the production of poetry, the reproduction of nursery rhymes, and the production of rhyming and alliterative words. The second study investigated the phonological awareness skills of 44 SLI children in comparison with age-matched and language-matched control groups. Results of both studies indicated that the SLI children experienced difficulty with rhyme and related tasks, both at an epilinguistic and at a more conscious metalinguistic level. The SLI children in the second study not only performed significantly worse than the age-matched control group, but also than the younger language-matched control group. It is suggested that the SLI children had difficulty in making the shift from content to form: a shift which is believed to be necessary for metalinguistic awareness. This relative insensitivity to the sound properties of language places language-impaired children at risk of reading and spelling difficulty. Moreover, the difficulties experienced by the SLI group with the metalinguistic tasks may also disadvantage them further in the development of more complex higher-level learning.

Note: Article Joffe VL, Univ Oxford, Dept Expt Psychol, S Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3UD, ENGLAND

Keyword(s): sound-based language play; rhyming; phonological awareness; specific language impairment; literacy; LINGUISTIC AWARENESS; DISORDERED CHILDREN; NURSERY RHYMES; YOUNG-CHILDREN; WORD; KINDERGARTEN; POEMS; DIFFICULTIES; EMERGENCE

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