Sentence repetition as a potential indicator of broader language difficulty in students with dyslexia: A pilot study

What if a 3-minute task could flag students with DLD? Ward et al.'s (2024) meta-analysis of 46 studies established that children with DLD score 2 standard deviations below typically developing peers on sentence repetition. Our new study extended that work. Researchers found that fourth graders with dyslexia who qualified for speech-language services scored significantly lower on sentence repetition than dyslexia-only peers (Hedges' g = −1.61), suggesting the task may help identify broader language vulnerability within dyslexia-identified populations.

This publication was co-authored by Megan V. Gierka, UMD Research Affiliate for the Laboratory for Neurodevelopment of Reading and Language (LNRL). LNRL research focuses on key issues of reading from a neurobiological, cognitive, and educational perspective. Their primary goal is to understand brain development with respect to reading and language and how impairment and remediation are reflected in the cortex.

Read the full publication in Annals of Dyslexia: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the International Dyslexia Association.