Verbal Working Memory and Syntax Comprehension Skills in Children with Developmental Language Disorders and Typically Developing Peers

Abstract

The intertwined nature of language with mental functions can be used in examining the relationships between different language components and mental functions. problems in understanding syntax, which may arise in the form of understanding the word order in the sentences and the relationships between words and sentence types, also make it difficult to understand verbal language in children with special needs. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between verbal working memory and complex syntax comprehension skills in typically developing children and children with developmental language disorder. The Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) group consisted of 60 Arabic-speaking participants aged 6,;3 to 12,4 (Mage = 9,5; SD = 3,2), included 47 boys and 13 girls, all of them were monolinguals. The typically-developing group (TD) consisted of 60 Arabic -speaking monolingual participants aged 6,11 to 12,6 (Mage = 9,7; SD = 3,2), included 44 boys and 16 girls. Descriptive, correlational analysis statistics and simple regression analysis were used. The results of this study found a difference in syntax comprehension skills by typically developing children and those with developmental language disorder, and that difference was significant.