[Is there a correlation between low-level auditory processing and phonological processing in preschool children?].

BACKGROUND: It appears to be widely accepted that specific language impairment (SLI) and developmental dyslexia result from some form of phonological deficit. Some theorists contend that these deficits are directly and exclusively caused by a cognitive deficit specific to representation and processing of speech sound. However, separate theories hold that phonological deficits indeed may cause SLI or dyslexia but phonological deficits arise due to sensory, mainly auditory, deficits. Here we studied if there is a correlation between two hotly debated measures of auditory low-level processing and measures of phonological processing in preschool children.
DESIGN: prospective study. SAMPLE: preschool children. VARIABLES: monaural and binaural temporal order judgement (TOJ(b) and TOJ(m)), several standardized measures of broad and narrow phonological processing (Bielefelder Screening BISC). STATISTICS: correlation analysis.
RESULTS: A significant correlation was found between TOJ(b)/TOJ(m )and phonological processing. However, these data show that "impaired" TOJ(b) and TOJ(m) is neither a necessary nor a sufficient prerequisite for impaired phonological processing. DISCUSSION: Although TOJ(b) and TOJ(m) as measures of auditory low-level processing show a correlation with some measures of phonological processing, the precise nature of mechanisms leading to SLI or dyslexia still remains an unsolved problem.