LANGUAGE MATCHES - ILLUMINATING OR CONFOUNDING

The practice of matching younger, language-matched controls, in additi on to age-matched controls, is often used in studies of language-disor dered children to examine the role of ''language level'' on performanc e. However, the interpretation of the relative performance of subjects in studies using such dual control groups is problematic. Conceptual concerns arise with the use of language matches because language is a multidimensional skill that is not reflected equivalently for the lang uage-disordered children and their language-matched controls. Furtherm ore, matching by language level inevitably introduces an extraneous ag e effect that confounds interpretation. In addition, erroneous interpr etations of null findings can occur when no differences are found betw een language-disordered and language-matched groups.