title: Linguistic features of Japanese twins at 3 or 4 years of age evaluated by Illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities.
abstract: In general, twins have delayed language development early in childhood compared with singletons. The purpose of this study was to clarify the overall linguistic features of twins. A Japanese version of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) was administered in 24 twin pairs (aged 3 to 4 years) at their own homes. The overall language abilities of the twins were in the normal range (based on ITPA normative data: mean scale score 36.0 +/- 6.0 points), and for the ITPA subtests only, Auditory Reception fell within the range of language disorder (mean scale score 24.9 +/- 5.1 points). The findings suggest that in 3- to 4-year-old Japanese twins, overall language abilities are not delayed. However, there may be specific difficulties with auditory reception skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion Science, Faculty of Health Science Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. kobayoko.0626@car.ocn.ne.jp
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayakawa
authors.forename: Rituko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Mikiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Chisato
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mikami
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D018433:Twin Studies as Topic; D014427:Twins