Language development in children with and without a familial risk of dyslexia: The relation with early speech perception

Abstract

Language development of Dutch monolingual children aged 3½ to 4½ years old with a familial risk of dyslexia was compared to that of low-risk age-matched children. Their language development was assessed with a battery of tests. Both groups had been previously assessed on their perception of native and non-native phoneme contrasts (6-8 months of age) and their vocabulary size and use of gestures (10-29 months of age). Their current language development and executive functioning was correlated with their scores on early speech contrast perception. The analysis revealed that children who showed less sensitivity to a non-native speech sound contrast at infant age performed better on a rapid naming test at 3½ to 4½ years of age. Additionally, a positive correlation between decrease of sensitivity to non-native speech sound contrasts and the number of gestures used indicated that infants who focused more on their native language at 6 and 8 months of age knew and used more gestures at 10 and 14 months of age. No significant group differences were found on the language development tests. These results show that early speech perception is related to later language development. However, although it has been suggested that there is a relation of early speech perception and vocabulary size, a significant relation was only found with speed of processing (rapid retrieval) while no significant relation was found with vocabulary size.