[Language competence of 14-year-old adolescents in relation to their sociocultural origin: results from a logopedic study in the framework of the Basel kindergarten study].

Between 1986 and 1988 speech and language abilities of a representative sample of 341 fourteen-year-old Basle schoolchildren were assessed as part of the 2nd Follow-up examination of the Basle Kindergarten-study. The language and speech test consisted of retelling and writing two stories, one of them played by tape-recorder, the other by video recorder. In addition three established language tests (Mottier-, IMK- and KLI-speechtest) were used. The results show significant differences between Swiss children and children of Italian workers in different test parts. There are also differences between boys and girls and between social classes. The high proportion of children with language difficulties is alarming. Parts of the tests used in this study were found to be appropriate for a screening of speech and language abilities.