Background: Due to the increasing number of multilingual/bilingual speakers worldwide, indicators and clinical markers for distinguishing language disorder from difference are required.

Aims: Due to the lack of a suitable instrument for evaluating linguistic skills in bilingual children, this study aimed to investigate the importance of morphosyntactic and semantic measures in bilingual Azeri-Persian-speaking children aged 5.5 to 6.5 years with and without language impairment.

Method: In this cross-sectional study, the recruited bilingual participants, whose parents signed an informed consent, were 30 children with language impairment (LI) and 15 children without language impairment (WLI) who were selected from nurseries and speech therapy clinics. Language samples were collected through storytelling in Azeri and Persian. Linguistic analysis was completed based on morphosyntactic and semantic parameters. The Alberta Language and Development Questionnaire (ALDeQ) parent report questionnaire was administered to differentiate language impairment from language differences.

Results: Study findings revealed a significant difference between the scores of morphosyntactic and semantic measures between bilingual Azeri-Persian-speaking LI and WLI children (p˂0.05).

Conclusions: The results indicate that morphosyntactic and semantic parameters of language samples in bilingual Azeri-Persian-speaking children could be utilised to provide diagnostic information for speech and language pathologists with LI children in bilingual Azeri-Persian communities.

Implications for children and families: Learning two languages does not confuse children. Families of bilingual children should be aware of the vocabulary and completeness of their child’s speech production in both of their languages.

Implications for practitioners: PasteHERE

Key words: language impairment, morphosyntactic measures, semantic measures, multilingualism

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 4: Quality Education