Examination of phonological awareness, morphological awareness, reading and verbal language skills of children with and without spesific learning disorder

Uzun, F., Examination of Phonological Awareness, Morphological Awareness, Reading and Verbal Language Skills of Children with and Without Spesific Learning Disorder, Hacettepe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Speech and Language Therapy Program Master's Thesis, Ankara, 2024. Children diagnosed with dyslexia, a subtype of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), often lag in phonological awareness (PA), morphological awareness (MA), and reading skills compared to their peers. These clinical findings may be accompanied by delays in verbal language skills. This study aimed to examine the PA, MA, verbal language, and reading skills of children diagnosed with SLD and children with normal development. Participants were divided into three groups: children with SLD/Dyslexia and language impairment, children with SLD/Dyslexia without language impairment, and a control group of typically developing children. Ethics committee approval was obtained, and tests assessing PA, MA, verbal language, and reading skills were administered. The study included 63 children (44 boys, 19 girls) in the 1st and 2nd grades. Language was assessed using the "Turkish School Age Language Development Test (TODIL)", PA with the "Turkish Phonological Awareness Test (TFF)", MA with the "Morphological Awareness Test", and reading skills with the "Test of Word Reading Knowledge (KOBIT)". Results indicated that the control group had the highest scores across all assessments, while the lowest scores were observed in the group with both dyslexia and language impairment (p<0.001, p<0.05). The study demonstrated that the presence of language impairment in children with SLD/dyslexia significantly impacts their PA, MA, verbal language, and reading skills. Key Words: Spesific Learning Disorder, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, reading, oral language skills