Examining the language development of preschool children with delayed language-speech

Delayed speech-language is a deficiency in age-related language development in children. Children with delayed speech-language may have deficiencies in receptive language, which is the ability to understand communication, and expressive language skills, which enable the transmission of messages in communication. There are factors such as sensory deficiencies, neurological disorders, the child's exposure to screens, and demographic structure that can cause delayed speech-language. This study was conducted to compare the language development of children with delayed speech-language with children with normal language development and to examine their language development according to various demographic information. TEDİL is the Turkish adaptation of the Test of Early Language Development (TELD-3) language development test. This test, which measures receptive and expressive verbal language skills in children between 2 years 0 months and 7 years 11 months, is used to diagnose children with early language disorders, to show the weak and strong aspects of their language development, to provide information about the development process and to conduct research. The study was evaluated on 30 children under the age of 8 with delayed language-speech and 30 children under the age of 8 with normal language development. The aim of TEDİL (Turkish Early Language Development Test) was to evaluate and compare receptive and expressive language development. The aim of the test results was to reveal the effects of language development history, gender, screen exposure, socioeconomic level and parental education level on children's language development and to inform families so that they can contribute more to language development. The data were evaluated using the SPSS-27 program. The TEDİL standard scores of children with delayed speech and children with normal language development were compared with their receptive and expressive language equivalent ages. 50% of the children had normal language development and 50% had delayed language and speech problems. In the evaluation, there was no statistically significant difference in the TEDIL test results in children with normal language development and children with delayed language and speech according to the gender variable. In the evaluation made according to the screen exposure variable, a decrease in the expressive language standard score was observed in children with normal language development. No statistically significant difference was observed in children with delayed language and speech. No significant difference was observed in the receptive language standard score, receptive language and expressive equivalent age assessment in both groups. According to the TEDİL Test results, the mean receptive language and expressive language standard scores of children with normal language development are significantly different and larger than those of children with delayed language and speech. The mean receptive language and expressive language equivalent age of children with normal language development is significantly different and larger than those of children with delayed language and speech. According to the mother/father education level and economic level variable groups, the receptive language and expressive language standard scores of children with normal language development are statistically significantly different, while no statistically significant difference was observed in the receptive language and expressive language equivalent age. In children with delayed language and speech, no significant difference was observed according to the TEDİL test results in the variables of mother-father education level and economic level. The results of the study show that children's language development history has a decisive effect on both receptive and expressive language skills. It is of great importance that children with delayed language-speech are diagnosed early and directed to appropriate language development support programs. According to the TEDİL test results, it was seen that screen exposure directly affects expressive language skills. Parents' limiting children's screen time indicates that they should approach children based on verbal communication and interaction, especially in early childhood. It has been revealed that the sociocultural and socioeconomic level of families can be an important environmental factor in children's language development. Within the scope of the study, it is suggested that gender discrimination alone is not sufficient in the evaluation of language development and that individual differences should be taken into consideration.