Evaluation of the Crosslinguistic Nonword Repetition Test: Evidence From a Large and Diverse Secondary Data Set.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Evaluation of the Crosslinguistic Nonword Repetition Test: Evidence From a Large and Diverse Secondary Data Set.
Authors:	Polišenská, Kamila^1,2 kamila.polisenska@city.ac.uk, Chiat, O. Shula¹, Szewczyk, Jakub³, Antonijevic, Stanislava⁴, Blom, Elma⁵, Boerma, Tessel⁶, Bohnacker, Ute⁷, Chan, Angel^8,9, Chondrogianni, Vasiliki¹⁰, Fu, Nga Ching⁸, Gatt, Daniela¹¹, Grech, Helen¹¹, Jezek, Magdalena^12,13, Kapalková, Svetlana¹⁴, Kunnari, Sari¹⁵, Maier, Juliane¹⁶, Mayer-Crittenden, Chantal¹⁷, Öberg, Linnéa⁷, Schwob, Salomé¹⁸, Skoruppa, Katrin¹⁸
Source:	Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. Nov2025, Vol. 68 Issue 11, p5363-5383. 21p.
Subject Terms:	Statistical correlation, Research methodology evaluation, Multilingualism, Research methodology, Research, Communication, Language acquisition, Inter-observer reliability, Language disorders in children, Research evaluation, Descriptive statistics, Linguistics, Sound recordings, Social classes
Abstract:	Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the crosslinguistic validity of the Crosslinguistic Nonword Repetition Test (CL-NWR) based on a large multicountry sample by investigating factors related to language ability, as well as potential confounds. Method: The data consisted of CL-NWR scores from children aged 37-165 months, collected by 18 research teams across 15 countries. Item-level analysis was employed to examine any nondesirable effects of gender, socioeconomic status, bilingual status, and the amount of exposure to the test language, as well as desirable effects of age, item length, and clinical status (children categorized as typically developing [TD], with developmental language disorder [DLD], or with reported language concerns [LC], respectively). Subsamples were used to evaluate the consistency of findings across three time points and between different versions of the CL-NWR. Results: Bayesian analysis provided strong evidence for the effects of age, item length, and clinical status on CL-NWR performance, as well as consistency across time points. In contrast, there was weak or no evidence for the effects of gender, socioeconomic status, bilingual status, amount of exposure, or test version. Additionally, there were two interactions between (a) item length and clinical status, suggesting that children with DLD found longer nonwords disproportionately more challenging than TD children, and (b) age and clinical status, with the gap between TD and LC groups narrowing with age. Conclusions: The CL-NWR was unaffected by environmental and demographic factors that often influence language assessments, including some nonword repetition tests. Performance was driven by factors reflecting language abilities. This makes the CL-NWR a unique and valuable tool for language assessment contributing to the identification of DLD in diverse linguistic, social, and geographical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the crosslinguistic validity of the Crosslinguistic Nonword Repetition Test (CL-NWR) based on a large multicountry sample by investigating factors related to language ability, as well as potential confounds. Method: The data consisted of CL-NWR scores from children aged 37-165 months, collected by 18 research teams across 15 countries. Item-level analysis was employed to examine any nondesirable effects of gender, socioeconomic status, bilingual status, and the amount of exposure to the test language, as well as desirable effects of age, item length, and clinical status (children categorized as typically developing [TD], with developmental language disorder [DLD], or with reported language concerns [LC], respectively). Subsamples were used to evaluate the consistency of findings across three time points and between different versions of the CL-NWR. Results: Bayesian analysis provided strong evidence for the effects of age, item length, and clinical status on CL-NWR performance, as well as consistency across time points. In contrast, there was weak or no evidence for the effects of gender, socioeconomic status, bilingual status, amount of exposure, or test version. Additionally, there were two interactions between (a) item length and clinical status, suggesting that children with DLD found longer nonwords disproportionately more challenging than TD children, and (b) age and clinical status, with the gap between TD and LC groups narrowing with age. Conclusions: The CL-NWR was unaffected by environmental and demographic factors that often influence language assessments, including some nonword repetition tests. Performance was driven by factors reflecting language abilities. This makes the CL-NWR a unique and valuable tool for language assessment contributing to the identification of DLD in diverse linguistic, social, and geographical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	10924388
DOI:	10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00158