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The association between language exposure and nonword repetition performance in bilingual children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 December 2022

Gianmatteo Farabolini Open the ORCID record for Gianmatteo Farabolini [Opens in a new window] ,
Analí R. Taboh ,
Maria Gabriella Ceravolo  and
Federico Guerra
Gianmatteo Farabolini*
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Analí R. Taboh
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Neurociencia, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina Departamento de Física, FCEyN, UBA and IFIBA, Conicet, Buenos Aires, Argentina Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Maria Gabriella Ceravolo
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
Federico Guerra
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
*
Address for correspondence: Gianmatteo Farabolini, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy. E-mail: g.farabolini@pm.univpm.it; gianmatteo.farabolini@gmail.com.
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Abstract

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between nonword repetition (NWR) and language exposure in bilingual children and explored whether the association is influenced by other variables. We performed a blind literature review on ERIC and Google Scholar, a random-effects model meta-analysis and subgroup analyses to test potential moderators. Out of 822 screened articles, we identified 24 works including 1399 children. Significant associations were found using either cumulative or current exposure, language-like nonwords, phoneme NWR scoring, in children with typical language development. Nonsignificant associations were found in studies either using age of first exposure, on children older than six, with less than 50 participants, using NWR lists containing 16-24 nonwords or with participants having different native languages. Weak associations were found when considering whole-word scoring or gray literature. We highlight the contributions of different variables to NWR, and evidence to optimally design NWR for bilingual language assessment.

Keywords

nonword repetitionlanguage exposurebilingualismsystematic reviewmeta-analysischildren
Type
Review Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , May 2023 , pp. 621 - 635
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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