A comparison of the average words length (AWL) of pre-school children with and without stuttering

Aim: In this study, a comparıson of the average words length (AWL) of pre-school chıldren wıth and wıthout stutterıng has been made. Material and Method: A total of 60 children were included in the study, including 30 children with normal language development who did not stutter in pre-school age, and 30 children with pre-school stutter. The Turkish Early Language Development Test (TELDT), which measures receptive and expressive language skills, was administered to all children. Stuttering severity level of children with stuttering was measured with KESIDA-4 Test. While the dependent variable of the study is the AWL value, the independent variables are age, gender, presence of stuttering and the severity of stuttering. Results: The AWL value of children with stuttering was found to be lower than that of children without stuttering, but no significant difference was found. It was found that as the severity of stuttering increased, the difference between the normal AWL values increased in children with stuttering. Conclusion: As a result of the study, lower AWL values were found in children with stuttering compared to children without stuttering. Likewise, it was not found statistically significant. In children with stuttering, as the severity of stuttering increases, it is lower than the normal AWL value. This situation is thought to be caused by the difficulty in communicating in children as the severity of stuttering increases and the situation of interrupting the speech act in case of fluency.