A New Step towards Stuttering Diagnosis: Assessing the Effectiveness of the Arabic English Non-Word Repetition Task as a Diagnostic Tool among Algerian Children in Tebessa The Case of 4th Graders at Bahloul Rachid Primary School, Tebessa

Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of the Arabic English Non-Word Repetition Task (AEN_NWRT) in diagnosing stuttering among Algerian children in Tebessa due to the prevalence of stuttering and to the deficiency in traditional diagnostic procedures. Prior research highlighted the utility of the AEN_NWRT among Arab speakers in the Gulf region, but its applicability to other Arabic dialects remained unverified. Thus, this research seeks to confirm the efficacy of the task in a different demographic setting, the Algerian one. To reach this aim, a confirmatory research

design with a mixed-method of data analysis were employed. Following a non- probability sampling technique and based on a set of demographic criteria, data were

collected from 28 fourth-graders at Bahloul Rachid Primary School, including both stuttering and non-stuttering children. Participants were audio recorded while producing a non-word list which forms the basis of the AEN_NWRT individually in a controlled setting. Additionally, observations about the stuttering symptoms they displayed were noted by the researchers. The recordings were manually analyzed and the score of the task of every participant was computed. The scores were later correlated with the amount of stuttering symptoms observed using SPSS. The statistically significant negative very strong correlation between the two variables demonstrates that the AEN_NWRT is an effective diagnostic tool for stuttering beyond the Gulf region; its broader applicability and diagnostic validity is confirmed. In the background of this study, future research could rely on an experimental design and develop a specialized diagnostic NWRT tailored specifically for the dialect of Tebessa.