Evaluating Part V of the German version of the Token Test as a screening of specific language impairment in preschoolers

Specific language impairment (SLI) is a very common childhood disorder that is characterized by impairments in expressive and/or receptive language regarding different modalities. Part V of the German version of the Token Test was evaluated as a potential screening tool for the early detection of SLI. Forty-five male and 16 female monolingual native German-speaking preschoolers with SLI (4-6 years) and 61 age- and gender-matched typically developing controls were examined with a German version of the Token Test and an established intelligence measure. Token Test performance was significantly worse in preschoolers with SLI including greater group differences at age 4 than at ages 5 and 6. Analyses showed a detection rate of 77% for Part V of the Token Test in the whole sample as well as 85.1% at age 4, 80.6% at age 5, and a nonsignificant detection at age 6. Correctly detected preschoolers with SLI showed significantly worse performance than typically developing controls regarding nonverbal and verbal intelligence, numeracy, problem solving, working memory, visual attention, and memory. Children with SLI show worse Token Test performance, whereas at ages 4 and 5, Part V of the Token Test could potentially serve as a screening tool for the detection of SLI.