SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 39 Sayı: 2

The Relationship Between Sentence Repetition and Working Memory in the Language Assessment of Children with Autism

OSB Olan Çocukların Dil Becerilerinin Değerlendirilmesinde Cümle Tekrarlama İşleminin Çalışma Belleği ile İlişkisi

Melis Başaran0009-0009-0331-7648
Funda Acarlar0000-0003-3796-4279
Pages
253–273
Publication Date
2026-08-05
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings revealed that working memory performance did not differ significantly between the groups.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:The sample consisted of 20 typically developing (TD) children aged 4–7 years and 20 children with ASD, whose language ages—assessed using the Turkish Early Language Development Test (TEDİL)—also ranged from 4 to 7 years.
📊
Key Findings & Data:Working memory was assessed using a nonword repetition (NWR) task, while sentence repetition performance was evaluated using a sentence list developed by Aksu-Koç, Taylan, and Bekman (2002).
💡
Conclusion & Impact:The findings revealed that working memory performance did not differ significantly between the groups.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:2002 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Otizm spektrum bozukluğu · Çalışma belleği · Cümle tekrarlama işlemi

Abstract

The sample consisted of 20 typically developing (TD) children aged 4–7 years and 20 children with ASD, whose language ages—assessed using the Turkish Early Language Development Test (TEDİL)—also ranged from 4 to 7 years. Working memory was assessed using a nonword repetition (NWR) task, while sentence repetition performance was evaluated using a sentence list developed by Aksu-Koç, Taylan, and Bekman (2002). A comparative analysis was conducted to compare TD and ASD groups across both tasks, and the relationship between the two types of performances was examined. The findings revealed that working memory performance did not differ significantly between the groups. However, children with ASD showed markedly lower sentence repetition performance compared to their TD peers. Furthermore, no correlation was found between working memory and sentence repetition performance in the TD group, while a strong and positive correlation was observed in the ASD group. This finding suggests that sentence repetition in children with ASD is more dependent on working memory capacity. Additionally, a detailed error analysis of the ASD group’s sentence repetitions was conducted to identify the linguistic structures that posed the most difficulty. These findings highlight that sentence repetition tasks reflect not only linguistic competence but also working memory functioning in children with ASD, offering important implications for assessment and intervention strategies.

Özet

Bu araştırmanın amacı, otizm spektrum bozukluğu (OSB) olan çocuklarda çalışma belleği ile dil değerlendirilmesinde kullanılan cümle tekrarlama işlemi arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemektir. Araştırmanın amacına uygun olarak, çalışma grubu kronolojik yaşı 4-7 yaş aralığında tipik gelişim gösteren (TGG) 20 çocuk ve Türkçe Erken Dil Gelişimi Testi (TEDİL) eşdeğer yaş puanları 4-7 yaş aralığında OSB olan 20 çocuktan oluşmaktadır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubu, Kahramanmaraş ilinde bulunan anaokulu ve ilkokullara devam eden TGG ve OSB olan çocuklar arasından belirlenmiştir. Araştırmanın amacı doğrultusunda çalışma belleği performansını belirlemek için anlamsız sözcük tekrarı listesi (AST) ve cümle tekrarlama performansını belirlemek için Aksu-Koç, Taylan ve Bekman’ın (2002) hazırlamış olduğu cümle tekrarlama listesi kullanılmıştır. Toplanan veriler analiz edilerek TGG ve OSB olan çocukların cümle tekrarlama işlemi performansı ve çalışma belleği performansı karşılaştırılmış ve performanslar arasındaki ilişki incelenmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular doğrultusunda, TGG ve OSB olan çocukların çalışma belleği performansı benzerlik göstermektedir. Ancak OSB olan çocukların cümle tekrarlama işlemi performansının, TGG çocuklara göre anlamlı bir şekilde zayıf olduğu belirlenmiştir. TGG çocukların çalışma belleği performansı ile cümle tekrarlama işlemi performansı arasında bir ilişki olmadığı belirlenirken OSB olan çocuklarda bu ilişkinin güçlü ve pozitif olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bu çalışmanın sonucuna göre; alan yazında dil becerilerinin değerlendirilmesinde kullanılan cümle tekrarlama işleminin, OSB olan çocukların dil becerileri ve çalışma belleği performansı ile ilişki olduğu görülmüştür. Bu ilişki sonucunda, çalışma grubunun cümle tekrarlama işleminde sergilediği hatalar incelenmiş olup OSB olan çocukların doğru tekrar etmede güçlük yaşadığı dil yapıları ve sergiledikleri hata türleri belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır.

🔖

Cite This Article

Başaran, M., Acarlar, F. (2026). The Relationship Between Sentence Repetition and Working Memory in the Language Assessment of Children with Autism. Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, Cilt: 39 Sayı: 2, 253–273. https://doi.org/10.19171/uefad.1641028

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (57)

  1. Acarlar, F., & Johnston, J. R. (2011). Acquisition of Turkish grammatical morphology by children with developmental disorders. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 46(6), 728–738. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-6984.2011.00035.x
  2. Akoğlu, G., & Acarlar, F. (2014). Türkçe anlamsız sözcük tekrarı listesinin 3-9 yaş grubu çocuklarda kullanımının incelenmesi. Eğitim ve Bilim, 39(173).
  3. Akoğlu, G., & Acarlar, F. (2014). Gelişimsel dil bozukluklarında söz dizimi anlama ve sözel çalışma belleği ilişkisinin incelenmesi. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 29(73), 89-103.
  4. Aksu-Koç, A., Erguvanlı-Taylan, E., & Bekman, S. (2002). Türkiye’nin üç ilinde erken çocukluk eğitimi konulu ihtiyaç saptaması ve çocukların dilbilgisindeki yetkinlik düzeyinin değerlendirmesi [Yayımlanmamış araştırma raporu]. http://www.acev.org.
  5. Alloway, T. P., & Gathercole, S. E. (2005). Working memory and short-term sentence recall in young children. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 17(2), 207–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/09541440440000005
  6. Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C., & Adams, A. M. (2004). A structural analysis of working memory and related cognitive skills in young children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 87(2), 85–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2003.10.002
  7. Aslan, S., & Acarlar, F. (2022). Otizm spektrum bozukluğu olan çocukların sesbilgisel özelliklerinin incelenmesi. Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 9(2), 615-626. https://doi.org/10.21666/muefd.945064
  8. Bekman, S., Aksu Koç, A., Erguvanlı Taylan, E., & Vakfı, A. Ç. E. (2004). Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi’nde bir erken müdahale modeli: Yaz anaokulu pilot uygulaması. Boğaziçi Üniversitesi ve Anne-Çocuk Eğitim Vakfı, 20(10), 2014.
  9. Brock, J., Norbury, C., Einav, S., & Nation, K. (2008). Do individuals with autism process words in context? Evidence from language-mediated eye-movements. Cognition, 108(3), 896–904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2008.06.007
  10. Brynskov, C., Eigsti, I. M., Jørgensen, M., Lemcke, S., Bohn, O. S., & Krøjgaard, P. (2017). Syntax and morphology in danish-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 47(2), 373–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2962-7
  11. Büyüköztürk, Ş., Kılıç Çakmak, E., Akgün, Ö. E., Karadeniz, Ş. & Demirel, F. (2014). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri (17. Baskı). Pegem Yayınları.
  12. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2000). Research methods in education (5th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203224342
  13. Conti-Ramsden, G., Botting, N., Simkin, Z., & Knox, E. (2001). Follow-up of children attending infant language units: Outcomes at 11 years of age. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 36(2), 207–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/13682820010019883
  14. Demouy, J., Plaza, M., Xavier, J., Ringeval, F., Chetouani, M., Périsse, D., Chauvin, D., Viaux, S., Golse, B., Cohen, D., & Robel, L. (2011). Differential language markers of pathology in autism, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified and specific language impairment. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5(4), 1402–1412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2011.01.026
  15. Devescovi, A., & Caselli, M. C. (2007). Sentence repetition as a measure of early grammatical development in Italian. International journal of language & communication disorders, 42(2), 187–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/13682820601030686
  16. Durrleman, S., & Delage, H. (2016). Autism spectrum disorder and specific language impairment: Overlaps in syntactic profiles. Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 23(4), 361–386. https://doi.org/10.1080/10489223.2016.1179741
  17. Ellis Weismer, S., Lord, C., & Esler, A. (2010). Early language patterns of toddlers on the autism spectrum compared to toddlers with developmental delay. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 40(10), 1259–1273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-0983-1
  18. Eigsti, I. M., & Bennetto, L. (2009). Grammaticality judgments in autism: deviance or delay. Journal of Child Language, 36(5), 999–1021. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000909009362
  19. Eigsti, I. M., Bennetto, L., & Dadlani, M. B. (2007). Beyond pragmatics: morphosyntactic development in autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 37(6), 1007–1023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0239-2
  20. Eigsti, I. M., De Marchena, A. B., Schuh, J. M., & Kelley, E. (2011). Language acquisition in autism spectrum disorders: A developmental review. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5(2), 681-691.
  21. Estigarribia, B., Martin, G. E., Roberts, J. E., Spencer, A., Gucwa, A., & Sideris, J. (2011). Narrative skill in boys with fragile x syndrome with and without autism spectrum disorder. Applied psycholinguistics, 32(2), 359–388. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716410000445
  22. Frizelle, P., O'Neill, C., & Bishop, D. V. M. (2017). Assessing understanding of relative clauses: A comparison of multiple-choice comprehension versus sentence repetition. Journal of Child Language, 44(6), 1435–1457. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000916000635
  23. Frizelle, P., & Fletcher, P. (2014). Relative clause constructions in children with specific language impairment. International journal of language & communication disorders, 49(2), 255–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12070
  24. Güven, S., & Topbaş, S. (2015). Adaptation of the test of early language development- third edition (teld-3) into turkish: Reliability and validity study. International journal of early childhood special education, 6(2), 151-176. https://doi.org/10.20489/intjecse.62795
  25. Habib, A., Harris, L., Pollick, F., & Melville, C. (2019). A meta-analysis of working memory in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. PloS one, 14(4), e0216198. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216198
  26. Hill, A. P., Van Santen, J., Gorman, K., Langhorst, B. H., & Fombonne, E. (2015). Memory in language-impaired children with and without autism. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 7(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-015-9111-z
  27. Joseph, R. M., McGrath, L. M., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2005). Executive dysfunction and its relation to language ability in verbal school-age children with autism. Developmental neuropsychology, 27(3), 361–378. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326942dn2703_4
  28. Karaca-Al, S. (2016). Otizmli ve normal gelişim gösteren çocukların alıcı ve ifade edici dil becerilerinin karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenmesi [Yayınlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi]. Turgut Özal Üniversitesi, Sağlık Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Ankara.
  29. Karakelle Ş., & Ertuğrul Yaşar Z. (2012). Zihin kuramı ile çalışma belleği, dil becerisi ve yönetici işlevler arasındaki bağlantılar küçük (36-48 ay) ve büyük (53-72 ay) çocuklarda farklılık gösterebilir mi?. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 27(70), 1 - 25.
  30. Karasar, N. (2009). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri (10. Baskı). Nobel Yayın Dağıtım.
  31. Kjelgaard, M. M., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2001). An investigation of language impairment in autism: Implications for genetic subgroups. Language and Cognitive Processes, 16(23), 287-308, https://doi.org/10.1080/01690960042000058.
  32. Klem, M., Melby-Lervåg, M., Hagtvet, B., Lyster, S. A., Gustafsson, J. E., & Hulme, C. (2015). Sentence repetition is a measure of children's language skills rather than working memory limitations. Developmental science, 18(1), 146–154. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12202
  33. Klin, A. (2006). Autismo e síndrome de Asperger: Uma visão geral [Autism and Asperger syndrome: an overview]. Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil: 1999), 28 Suppl 1, S3–S11. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1516-44462006000500002
  34. Koizumi, M., & Kojima, M. (2022). Syntactic development and verbal short-term memory of children with autism spectrum disorders having intellectual disabilities and children with down syndrome. Autism & developmental language impairments, 7, 23969415221109690. https://doi.org/10.1177/23969415221109690
  35. Küçük, T., & Acarlar, F. (2022). Investigation of the relationship between semantic information and verbal working memory in children with typical developing, down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder. Cukurova University Faculty of Education Journal, 51(1), 410-442. https://doi.org/10.14812/cuefd.946702
  36. Kaçar-Kütükçü, D. (2021). LITMUS Türkçe Cümle Tekrarı Testinin geçerlik güvenirlik çalışması [Yayımlanmamış doktora tezi]. Anadolu Üniversitesi.
  37. Landa R. (2007). Early communication development and intervention for children with autism. Mental retardation and developmental disabilities research reviews, 13(1), 16–25. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrdd.20134
  38. Landa, R. J., & Goldberg, M. C. (2005). Language, social, and executive functions in high functioning autism: a continuum of performance. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 35(5), 557–573. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-0001-1
  39. Laws, G., & Gunn, D. (2004). Phonological memory as a predictor of language comprehension in Down syndrome: A five-year follow-up study. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 45(2), 326–337. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00224.x
  40. McGregor, K. K., Berns, A. J., Owen, A. J., Michels, S. A., Duff, D., Bahnsen, A. J., & Lloyd, M. (2012). Associations between syntax and the lexicon among children with or without ASD and language impairment. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 42(1), 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1210-4
  41. Melby-Lervåg, M., & Hulme, C. (2010). Serial and free recall in children can be improved by training: Evidence for the importance of phonological and semantic representations in immediate memory tasks. Psychological Science, 21(11), 1694-1700.
  42. Miller I., & Miller M., (2006). John Freund matematiksel istatistik. (Ü. Şenesen, Ed.). Literatür Yayınevi.
  43. Owens, R. E. (2012). Language development: An introduction (8th ed.). Pearson.
  44. Owens, R. E., Farinella, K. A., & Metz, D. E. (2015). Introduction to communication disorders: A lifespan evidence-based perspective (5th ed.). Pearson.
  45. Pallant, J. (2015). SPSS kullanma kılavuzu-SPSS ile adım adım veri analizi [SPSS user guide - step-by-step data analysis with SPSS] (S. Balcı, and B. Ahi, Trans). Anı Publishing.
  46. Pituch, K. A. & Stevens, J. P. (2016). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences (6th ed.). Routledge.
  47. Poll, G. H., Betz, S. K. & Miller, C. A. (2010). Identification of clinical markers of specific language impairment in adults. Journal of speech, language, and hearing research: JSLHR, 53(2), 414-429. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388-2009-08-0016
  48. Rapin, I., & Dunn, M. (2003). Update on the language disorders of individuals on the autistic spectrum. Brain & development, 25(3), 166–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0387-7604(02)00191-2
  49. Riches, N. G., Loucas, T., Baird, G., Charman, T., & Simonoff, E. (2010). Sentence repetition in adolescents with specific language impairments and autism: an investigation of complex syntax. International journal of language & communication disorders, 45(1), 47–60. https://doi.org/10.3109/13682820802647676
  50. Riches N. G. (2012). Sentence repetition in children with specific language impairment: An investigation of underlying mechanisms. International journal of language & communication disorders, 47(5), 499–510. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-6984.2012.00158.x
  51. Schaeffer, J., Durrleman, S., & Eigsti, I. M. (2021). On links between language development and extralinguistic cognitive knowledge: What we can learn from autism. Language acquisition, 28(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/10489223.2020.1769631
  52. Tager-Flusberg, H. (1999). A psychological approach to understanding the social and language impairments in autism. International Review of Psychiatry, 11(4), 325–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540269974203
  53. Talli, I. (2020). Verbal short-term memory as language predictor in children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 10(5), 200–219. https://doi. org/10.4236/jbbs.2020.10513
  54. Ünözkan-Aksu, G. (2022). Otizm spektrum bozukluğu olan ve tipik gelişen çocuklarda zihin kuramı becerileri ve pragmatik dil becerileri arasındaki ilişkinin karşılaştırılması [Yüksek lisans tezi, Üsküdar Üniversitesi].
  55. Wang, Y., Zhang, Y. B., Liu, L. L., Cui, J. F., Wang, J., Shum, D. H., van Amelsvoort, T., & Chan, R. C. (2017). A meta-analysis of working memory impairments in autism spectrum disorders. Neuropsychology review, 27(1), 46–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-016-9336-y
  56. Whyte, E. M., & Nelson, K. E. (2015). Trajectories of pragmatic and nonliteral language development in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of communication disorders, 54, 2–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2015.01.001
  57. Williams, D. L., Goldstein, G., Carpenter, P. A., & Minshew, N. J. (2005). Verbal and spatial working memory in autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 35(6), 747–756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-0021-x