phonological memory during the immediate (Mann-Whitney: Z=2.2, p<.05) and the delayed
post test (Mann-Whitney: Z=2.3, p<.05).

Error analysis

An Error analysis was carried out to identify the different types of responses given in the
contrast task. These are presented in Table 5.15 below.

Table 5.15 Children’s responses in the contrast task

The distribution of children’s responses for both post tests is presented in Table 5.16. Results
from both target words are presented together, since children’s performance on the contrast
task did not differ by target item.

Table 5.16 Children’s responses in the contrast task for both post tests

The contrast task was difficult for the children since there was a high percentage of ''don ^,t
know” responses (80.4% in the immediate post test and 90.8% in the delayed post test).From
the responses provided, most of the children used the "given contrast” than another ''basic
level word” from the same semantic category. The differences were significant both for the
immediate (Wilcoxon: Z=5.2, p<.0000) and the delayed post test (Wilcoxon: Z=3.1, p<.005).

The distribution of responses separately by age and linguistic condition was also investigated.
Appendices 5.24 and 5.25 present the results. The same pattern was found within each age

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