Language development in children who stutter: A review of recent research

Abstract

Purpose: This article reviews recent studies that examined the controversial claim that children who stutter (CWS), as a group, have weaker language skills than children who do not stutter (CWNS). The article was an effort to address the conflicting conclusions of two previous reviews of the research in this area. Method: Studies published in research journals during the past 7 years (2011-2018) were located through a systematic review of the literature. Each study was analysed to determine how well it supported the claim that CWS, as a group, have weaker language skills than CWNS. Result: The evidence was not convincing to support this controversial claim. Rather, the review indicated that CWS performed as well as or better than CWNS on formal language tasks. Conclusion: The claim that language weaknesses are linked to children's stuttering is not well supported by recently published studies. Alternative interpretations of the literature are offered.

Keywords: children; language development; review; stuttering.