Nonword Repetition of Typically Developing Children

Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of nonword length and phonological complexity on the performances of nonword repetition in Korean-speaking children. Methods: Typically developing Korean-speaking children of age 5 to 9 (N=152) participated in this study. They were asked to repeat 32 nonwords of different lengths (2 to 5 syllables) and of two levels of phonological complexity. Two scoring methods were applied: total number of correctly repeated nonwords and percentage of correctly repeated syllables. Results: A three-way ANOVA of age x nonword length x phonological complexity revealed statistically significant main effects of age, nonword length, and phonological complexity and a significant interaction between nonword length and age. In other words, the older children repeated nonwords more accurately than the younger children, and the children experienced more difficulty in correctly repeating the longer or phonologically complex nonwords relative to the shorter or phonologically simple nonwords. The effect of nonword length on children's repetition performances decreased with age. Conclusion: The results indicated that Korean-speaking children of age 5 to 9 repeat nonwords more accurately as they grow up. The effects of nonword length and phonological complexity on nonword repetition were consistent with the results of previous studies (e.g., Gallon, Harris, & Van der Lely, 2007; Munson, Kurtz, & Windsor, 2005). How the differences in the features of nonwords, test procedures, and scoring systems may affect children's performances on nonword repetition tests was discussed.