Grammatical performance in children with dyslexia: The contributions of individual differences in phonological memory and statistical learning

Merel Van Witteloostuijn; Paul Boersma; Frank Wijnen; Judith Rispens

doi:10.1017/S0142716421000102

Grammatical performance in children with dyslexia: The contributions of individual differences in phonological memory and statistical learning

Merel Van Witteloostuijn^*, Paul Boersma, Frank Wijnen, Judith Rispens

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Amsterdam

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Several studies have signaled grammatical difficulties in individuals with developmental dyslexia. These difficulties may stem from a phonological deficit, but may alternatively be explained through a domain-general deficit in statistical learning. This study investigates grammar in children with and without dyslexia, and whether phonological memory and/or statistical learning ability contribute to individual differences in grammatical performance. We administered the CELF word structure and recalling sentences subtests and measures of phonological memory (digit span, nonword repetition) and statistical learning (serial reaction time, nonadjacent dependency learning) among 8-to 11-year-old children with and without dyslexia (N = 50 per group). Consistent with previous findings, our results show subtle difficulties in grammar, as children with dyslexia achieved lower scores on the CELF (word structure: p =.0027, recalling sentences: p =.053). While the two phonological memory measures were found to contribute to individual differences in grammatical performance, no evidence for a relationship with statistical learning was found. An error analysis revealed errors in irregular morphology (e.g., plural and past tense), suggesting problems with lexical retrieval. These findings are discussed in light of theoretical accounts of the underlying deficit in dyslexia.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	791-821
Number of pages	31
Journal	Applied Psycholinguistics
Volume	42
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716421000102
Publication status	Published - May 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would first and foremost like to thank all children, their parents, and the primary schools (De Bosmark; De Kemp; De Ludgerschool, and De Ieme) that participated in our study. We are also grateful to Imme Lammertink for collaboration on the development of the statistical learning measures. Furthermore, we thank Iris Broedelet, Sascha Couvee, and Darlene Keydeniers for help with testing the control group and Dirk Jan Vet for technical assistance in developing the tasks. This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through a personal Vidi grant awarded to Judith Rispens (grant number 276-89-005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

Funding

We would first and foremost like to thank all children, their parents, and the primary schools (De Bosmark; De Kemp; De Ludgerschool, and De Ieme) that participated in our study. We are also grateful to Imme Lammertink for collaboration on the development of the statistical learning measures. Furthermore, we thank Iris Broedelet, Sascha Couvee, and Darlene Keydeniers for help with testing the control group and Dirk Jan Vet for technical assistance in developing the tasks. This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through a personal Vidi grant awarded to Judith Rispens (grant number 276-89-005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Keywords

dyslexia
morphology
phonological memory
statistical learning
syntax

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10.1017/S0142716421000102

grammatical-performance-in-children-with-dyslexia-the-contributions-of-individual-differences-in-phonological-memory-and-statistical-learningFinal published version, 1.03 MBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

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title = "Grammatical performance in children with dyslexia: The contributions of individual differences in phonological memory and statistical learning",

abstract = "Several studies have signaled grammatical difficulties in individuals with developmental dyslexia. These difficulties may stem from a phonological deficit, but may alternatively be explained through a domain-general deficit in statistical learning. This study investigates grammar in children with and without dyslexia, and whether phonological memory and/or statistical learning ability contribute to individual differences in grammatical performance. We administered the CELF word structure and recalling sentences subtests and measures of phonological memory (digit span, nonword repetition) and statistical learning (serial reaction time, nonadjacent dependency learning) among 8-to 11-year-old children with and without dyslexia (N = 50 per group). Consistent with previous findings, our results show subtle difficulties in grammar, as children with dyslexia achieved lower scores on the CELF (word structure: p =.0027, recalling sentences: p =.053). While the two phonological memory measures were found to contribute to individual differences in grammatical performance, no evidence for a relationship with statistical learning was found. An error analysis revealed errors in irregular morphology (e.g., plural and past tense), suggesting problems with lexical retrieval. These findings are discussed in light of theoretical accounts of the underlying deficit in dyslexia. ",

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note = "Funding Information: We would first and foremost like to thank all children, their parents, and the primary schools (De Bosmark; De Kemp; De Ludgerschool, and De Ieme) that participated in our study. We are also grateful to Imme Lammertink for collaboration on the development of the statistical learning measures. Furthermore, we thank Iris Broedelet, Sascha Couvee, and Darlene Keydeniers for help with testing the control group and Dirk Jan Vet for technical assistance in developing the tasks. This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through a personal Vidi grant awarded to Judith Rispens (grant number 276-89-005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.",

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N1 - Funding Information: We would first and foremost like to thank all children, their parents, and the primary schools (De Bosmark; De Kemp; De Ludgerschool, and De Ieme) that participated in our study. We are also grateful to Imme Lammertink for collaboration on the development of the statistical learning measures. Furthermore, we thank Iris Broedelet, Sascha Couvee, and Darlene Keydeniers for help with testing the control group and Dirk Jan Vet for technical assistance in developing the tasks. This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through a personal Vidi grant awarded to Judith Rispens (grant number 276-89-005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

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Grammatical performance in children with dyslexia: The contributions of individual differences in phonological memory and statistical learning

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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