Thushani Umesha Munasinghe, Bhavana Bhat, Hayo Terband
{"title":"Speech Perception in Children With Speech Sound Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.","authors":"Thushani Umesha Munasinghe, Bhavana Bhat, Hayo Terband","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00949","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00949","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study aimed to evaluate the evidence on speech perception abilities of children with speech sound disorders (SSDs) to understand how the perceptual skills contribute to the diagnosis and characterization of SSDs.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We conducted a systematic and meta-analysis by searching four electronic databases for studies published between 2017 and 2025 that examined the speech perception skills of children with SSDs. We qualitatively evaluated the included studies based on study characteristics and methodological quality and performed a meta-analysis for the eligible homogeneous studies.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Forty-nine papers met the inclusion criteria for the qualitative synthesis. Half of the studies featured identification tasks, while the other half featured discrimination, judgment, or neurophysiological paradigms. Methodological quality ranged from 74% to 96%. Seven homogeneous studies that used the forced-choice identification task were included for the meta-analysis. The pooled effect size based on 277 participants (SSD: <i>n</i> = 140, typically developing [TD]: <i>n</i> = 137) was statistically significant (Hedges's <i>g</i> = 0.84, <i>p</i> < .001), indicating that the speech perception scores of children with SSDs are lower than those of TD children.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings demonstrate that children with SSDs show measurable deficits in speech perception, underscoring the clinical importance of assessing perceptual skills when diagnosing SSDs. Identification tasks currently provide the most consistent evidence, while emerging neurophysiological methods expand insight into underlying processing mechanisms. Recommendations for future research include examining perception in more natural listening conditions, such as speech perception in noise, and testing whether perceptual interventions can improve speech outcomes.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33246702.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4859-4878"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148805330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Erratum to \"Development of Narrative Abilities in (Re)telling a Story in Typically Developing Dutch School-Aged Children\".","authors":"","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00599","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00599","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"5044-5050"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148993570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fenqi Wang, Hugo Botha, Joseph R Duffy, Gemeng Zhang, Leland R Barnard, Rene L Utianski
{"title":"Phonological Posterior Probabilities as Interpretable Markers of Articulatory Impairment in Motor Speech Disorders.","authors":"Fenqi Wang, Hugo Botha, Joseph R Duffy, Gemeng Zhang, Leland R Barnard, Rene L Utianski","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00095","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00095","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study examined whether phoneme-level posterior probabilities generated by an articulatory-informed deep learning model (Phonet) can serve as interpretable and sensitive markers of articulatory impairment in motor speech disorders (MSDs). The goal was to determine whether these features distinguish individuals with and without MSDs and reflect varying severity levels of articulatory impairment.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A total of 676 participants (199 with MSDs, 477 without MSDs) completed a remotely captured word repetition task. Speech recordings were phonetically aligned, and posterior probabilities were extracted using a retrained version of the Phonet model, which estimates frame-level probabilities for 23 phonological classes. Segment-level posterior values were computed and compared across groups and severity levels using linear mixed-effects regression models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Posterior probabilities were significantly reduced in the MSD group across all phoneme types. Within the MSD group, posterior probabilities decreased progressively with greater clinical severity, as measured by both perceptual sound distortion ratings and a cumulative articulation error score. Segment-specific analyses revealed systematic differences across phoneme classes, indicating that posterior probabilities capture distinct patterns of articulatory degradation associated with motor speech impairment.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Phoneme-level posterior probabilities serve as interpretable, segment-specific indicators of articulatory impairment in MSDs. These features differentiate clinical status and reflect gradations of severity, making them promising tools for augmenting traditional perceptual speech assessments. Their linguistic transparency and scalability support future clinical applications in diagnosis, monitoring, and targeted intervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-20"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149186874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Taylor D Snodgrass, Thomas J Sitzman, Xiangming Fang, Patrick M Briley, Bradley P Sutton, Jamie L Perry
{"title":"Does Race Influence Velopharyngeal Structure Size and Velar Stretch During Sustained Phoneme Production in Children?","authors":"Taylor D Snodgrass, Thomas J Sitzman, Xiangming Fang, Patrick M Briley, Bradley P Sutton, Jamie L Perry","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00147","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00147","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Differences in the size of velopharyngeal structures across racial groups at rest have been described in the literature, with race influencing adenoid thickness, pharyngeal depth, effective velar length, and velar length. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in velopharyngeal anatomy and velar stretch during sustained phoneme production in two racial groups.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A cross-sectional design was utilized for the study. Five- and 6-year-old children who were either Black or White completed structural magnetic resonance imaging scans in the midsagittal plane at rest, during /i/, and during /s/. Outcome measures were velar length at rest, during /i/, and during /s/; effective velar length at rest, during /i/, and during /s/; velar thickness at rest, during /i/, and during /s/; velar stretch during /i/ and /s/; pharyngeal depth; adenoid depth; functional adenoid thickness; velopharyngeal ratio; and effective velopharyngeal ratio.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Twenty-five participants were included in the study: 11 Black participants and 14 White participants. Six variables were significantly associated with race: effective velar length at rest (<i>p</i> < .001, Black [B] > White [W]), effective velar length during /s/ (<i>p</i> = .011, B > W), velar thickness during /i/ (<i>p</i> = .036, B > W), velar thickness during /s/ (<i>p</i> = .037, B > W), velar stretch during /i/ (<i>p</i> = .011. W > B), and velar stretch during /s/ (<i>p</i> = .040, W > B). Three additional variables had medium effect sizes: velar length during /i/ and /s/ (B > W) and effective velar length during /s/ (B > W).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Black children in the study presented with significantly longer effective velums and significantly thicker velums during sustained phoneme production, resulting in Black children needing significantly less velar stretch than White children. Based on this, race-specific preliminary reference data for velopharyngeal anatomy during sustained phoneme production are needed to allow clinicians to interpret individual patient imaging within the appropriate demographic context. Without race-specific reference data, a Black child with velopharyngeal insufficiency whose velar measurements fall within the typical range for White children may go unrecognized, as what appears to be \"normal\" for a White child may not be normal for a Black child.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4841-4850"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678636/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148842777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Leora R Cherney, Laura E Kinsey, Erin E Blaze, Elizabeth L Gray, Mary J Kwasny, Sarel Van Vuuren
{"title":"Dose Considerations and Generalization Following Script Training for Poststroke Aphasia: A Randomized Factorial Clinical Trial.","authors":"Leora R Cherney, Laura E Kinsey, Erin E Blaze, Elizabeth L Gray, Mary J Kwasny, Sarel Van Vuuren","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00120","DOIUrl":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00120","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Using script training as an intervention, this study modulated the dose parameters of stimulus repetition (i.e., long vs. short scripts) and session frequency (i.e., distributed vs. massed practice) and assessed their impact on maintenance and generalization in people with chronic poststroke aphasia.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>The study was a single-site, factorial, single-blind randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomized in a 2 × 2 factorial design into one of four study arms, stratified by pretreatment aphasia severity: (a) distributed/short script, (b) distributed/long script, (c) massed/short script, and (d) massed/long script. Participants completed 10, 1-hr sessions of computer-based script training. Participants were assigned to one of four levels of script complexity with levels determined by aphasia severity. The primary generalization outcome measured performance on the trained script in a simulated conversation with a familiar speech-language pathologist posttreatment. Secondary outcomes included evaluating (a) maintenance of the primary outcome at 3 and 6 weeks posttreatment and (b) generalization of the trained script content to an unstructured conversation with an unfamiliar, naive partner at baseline, posttreatment, and 6 weeks posttreatment.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Eighty-five participants with aphasia enrolled in the study. There was no significant difference between groups from baseline to posttreatment and follow-up for stimulus repetition, but there was a significant difference for session frequency with massed performing better than distributed. Factor interactions over time indicated that long scripts showed greater improvements with distributed versus massed session frequency, whereas short scripts were better maintained than long scripts at 6-week follow-up. Within groups, there was significant improvement from baseline to posttreatment, which was generally maintained at 6 weeks posttreatment.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Results provide further evidence supporting the efficacy of script training. Dose parameters such as session frequency and stimulus repetition may impact the maintenance and generalization of treatment and should be considered when delivering this and other aphasia treatments.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33990859.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"4567-4586"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13678535/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149122822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Halime Sümeyra Sevmez, Eser Sendesen, Meral Didem Türkyilmaz
{"title":"Multidomain Auditory Differences in Tinnitus With a Clinically Normal Audiogram: Accounting for Extended High-Frequency Hearing.","authors":"Halime Sümeyra Sevmez, Eser Sendesen, Meral Didem Türkyilmaz","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00071","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Tinnitus can occur in individuals with clinically normal audiograms, suggesting that conventional threshold-based measures may not capture subtle auditory-system differences. This study aimed to characterize peripheral and subcortical auditory function in tinnitus using a multidomain, exploratory multivariate framework.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Twenty individuals with tinnitus and clinically normal conventional audiograms (0.125-8 kHz) and 25 age-matched controls underwent a multidomain auditory assessment, including auditory brainstem response (ABR), otoacoustic emission, medial olivocochlear suppression, middle ear muscle reflex, temporal fine structure, and extended high-frequency (EHF) audiometry. Group differences were evaluated using exploratory unadjusted analyses, followed by EHF-adjusted analysis of covariance and exploratory principal component analysis (PCA).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Initial exploratory comparisons showed that the tinnitus group had elevated EHF thresholds, reduced ABR Wave I amplitude, differences in cochlear-output and efferent reflex measures, and poorer temporal-processing performance. However, these differences were no longer significant after adjustment for EHF thresholds, suggesting that the overall pattern was largely related to basal cochlear variability. PCA identified three components explaining 72% of cumulative variance, reflecting afferent auditory contribution and basal cochlear output, efferent reflex regulation, and cochlear-temporal coupling.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Individuals with tinnitus and clinically normal conventional audiograms exhibited subtle differences across multiple auditory domains rather than a single isolated deficit. Several of these differences were attenuated after adjustment for EHF, indicating that EHF hearing should be considered when interpreting auditory findings in this population. These findings support the inclusion of EHF assessment as part of the audiological evaluation of individuals with tinnitus.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149170851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Babbling Drift in Bilingual Infants: A Systematic Review.","authors":"Nikola Paillereau, Hana Tomášková","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00069","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This systematic review synthesizes existing evidence on bilingual babbling, with a focus on the emergence of language-specific effects in infant vocal production and on infants' capacity to differentiate their vocalizations across language contexts. Three linguistic domains are examined: segmental, syllabic, and utterance structure with prosodic acoustics. The validity of the babbling drift hypothesis is also discussed.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A total of 219 articles were screened across six databases, of which only seven met the inclusion criteria. In synthesizing findings, priority was given to quantitative studies with controlled methodology and within-subject designs, while single-case studies offered anecdotal support.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Evidence of language differentiation was found primarily at the prosodic level. The timing aligns with the babbling drift hypothesis, though most studies examined structural rather than phonetic-acoustic properties.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Although evidence of babbling drift was identified, particularly for utterance length, the empirical base remains small and heterogeneous. The review therefore outlines key methodological considerations and best practices to guide future research in this still underdeveloped field.</p><p><strong>Supplemental material: </strong>https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.33965401.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-23"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149171000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Working Memory Relates to Second Language American Sign Language Comprehension in Deaf Adults, But First Language English Reading Does Not.","authors":"Kaj Kraus, Deanna Gagne","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-01043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study examined relationships among English reading comprehension, nonverbal working memory, and American Sign Language (ASL) receptive comprehension in prelingually deaf adults who acquired English as an early first language (L1) and learned ASL as a second language (L2) after childhood.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Participants (<i>N</i> = 74) were prelingually deaf adults who acquired English early (age of acquisition ≤ 3 years) and learned ASL later in life (mean age of ASL acquisition = 18.3 years, range: 14-30). Measures included English reading comprehension (Peabody Individual Achievement Test-Revised), nonverbal working memory (backward Corsi), and ASL receptive comprehension (ASL Comprehension Test).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Reading skills were strong, but ASL skills were highly variable. English reading comprehension and age of ASL acquisition were not significantly associated with ASL receptive comprehension. Nonverbal working memory was positively and significantly associated with ASL receptive comprehension and showed an association with English reading comprehension, but only when four participants who completed the Corsi in forward order were included.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Results indicate that for deaf L2 signers, strong English reading skills do not guarantee strong ASL receptive outcomes. Differences in when ASL learning began after childhood did not explain variability in ASL skills. Nonverbal working memory may contribute to language outcomes across modalities, although its role appears clearer for L2 ASL than for L1 English. These findings complicate accounts of L2 learning that assume a direct relationship between L1 and L2 proficiency. Delaying early exposure to accessible language input may pose risks for optimal L2 sign language outcomes in deaf populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149169737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emily Allen-Rice, Sarah Knight, Angela de Bruin, María Muradás-Taylor, Sven Mattys
{"title":"Semantic Interference From First- and Second-Language Maskers During Speech-on-Speech Listening.","authors":"Emily Allen-Rice, Sarah Knight, Angela de Bruin, María Muradás-Taylor, Sven Mattys","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-26-00114","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Broad linguistic properties of masker speech (e.g., phonological and prosodic familiarity) have been shown to affect target speech transcription during speech-on-speech listening. However, it is unclear whether the semantic content of the masker impacts listening accuracy as well. If it does, it would suggest that the semantic content of the masker is co-activated with that of the target rather than being suppressed by a semantic filter mechanism. Also unclear is whether semantic interference from the masker, if found, is attenuated when the masker is in a second language (L2). These questions were addressed in two preregistered experiments.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We used a speech-on-speech task in which participants transcribed a target sentence in their first language (L1), presented simultaneously with a masker sentence that was either semantically related (semantically competing [SC]) or semantically unrelated (neutral [N]) to the target sentence and was either in L1 or L2. Transcription accuracy and intrusion errors (i.e., reports of masker words) were measured as a function of masker semantic relatedness (SC, N) and masker language (L1, L2).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In Experiment 1, we found that the semantic relationship between target and masker speech (either in L1 or L2) did not impact target transcription performance, even though overall accuracy was poorer when the masker was in L1 than L2. This suggests that the masker speech was not semantically processed, at least not to the extent that it affected transcription accuracy. However, SC maskers elicited more intrusion errors than N maskers. These findings were replicated in Experiment 2. A surprise recognition task (Experiment 2) suggested that this semantic intrusion effect likely resulted from listeners misstreaming targets and maskers, rather than from target-masker co-activation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results show that listeners do not process the semantic content of masker speech, which provides evidence for an effective semantic filter mechanism. This contrasts with findings indicating that other broad linguistic features of a masker can interfere with target transcription.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-21"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149140241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unraveling Individual Second-Language Acquisition in Late Bilingual Children With and Without Suspected Developmental Language Disorder: A Longitudinal Approach.","authors":"Jannika Boese, Anna-Lena Scherger","doi":"10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00352","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00352","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Research in bilingual language acquisition has experienced a shift toward more individual-focused analyses within longitudinal studies. The aim of the present study was to retrospectively investigate early markers for suspected developmental language disorder (DLD) in late bilingual children (onset after 5 years of age) with German as their second language.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>The development of initially 62 children was followed over a period of 2 years. After an additional year, a diagnostic procedure was implemented to identify suspected DLD.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Results indicate that there are large individual differences in the second language acquisition of participating children. Although children suspected of having DLD scored below their peers on average in all measurement time points, there is no clear distinction between children with and without suspected DLD retrospectively. Only for nonword repetition does accuracy appear to be satisfactory, although it increases with length of exposure.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The present findings are consistent with previous research and indicate a gap in studies investigating late bilingual language acquisition. Even after longitudinal observation and repeated testing, a clear diagnosis of DLD is not possible in all cases. We therefore suggest to use the term <i>suspected DLD</i> for those children.</p>","PeriodicalId":520690,"journal":{"name":"Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR","volume":" ","pages":"1-20"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149130238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}