Attention Networks and Speech Disfluencies among Monolingual Dutch and Bilingual Dutch-Turkish Speaking Children: A...

This pilot study investigated whether attention skills influence speech disfluencies in school-aged children, comparing monolingual Dutch (MONO) speakers and bilingual Dutch-Turkish speakers (BIL). Disfluencies frequently arise from heightened cognitive load and the planning demands of speech production. Given that bilingualism may impose additional attentional demands, we examined whether attention skills predict disfluency patterns across BIL's languages and how language dominance affects these patterns in bilinguals.

A total of 34 typically developing children (17 MONO and 17 BIL) participated. Speech samples were elicited through narrative retelling and spontaneous conversation in Dutch and, for bilinguals, also in Turkish. Disfluencies were coded using the Illinois Disfluency Classification System, distinguishing between stuttering-like disfluencies (SLD) or other disfluencies (OD). Attention was assessed via the Attention Network Test, measuring alerting, orienting, and executive control. Linear mixed-effects models evaluated associations between attention networks and disfluency rates across groups and languages.

Speech elicitation task type significantly influenced disfluency patterns. Retelling a story elicited more SLD, while spontaneous speech elicited more OD. Within BIL, language dominance did not significantly affect disfluency rates. Attention networks did not significantly predict the production of SLD and OD in Dutch in either language group. However, better alerting and executive control scores were associated with fewer OD in the BIL's (non)dominant language.

The results suggest that attention may not be a primary factor that determines disfluency patterns, pointing to a more complex interaction between cognitive and linguistic factors. Future research should include larger, more diverse samples and additional cognitive measures to clarify these relationships.