Screening language and speech patterns of preschool children

GOAL: The goals under this study are to screen, using Language and Development Screening Form, the language and speech developments of children, aged 3 to 5 years 11 months, attending the kindergartens and nurseries in the District of Beypazari in Ankara, and to determine the receptive and expressive language development ages of the children having language development deficiency/disorder, by means of Preschool Language Scale-5 (PLS-5). METHOD: In our study, 503 children aged 3 - 5 years 11 months attending the preschool education institutions as the kindergartens and nurseries in the District of Beypazari in Ankara were screened. The application section of the study consists of 2 stages. In the Stage 1, the language and speech developments of children were assessed by the Language and Speech Development Screening Form. The form was completed by the parents of the children. The children considered as under risk in terms of language and speech development were determined based on the evaluation of the forms. In the Stage 2 of the study, the Preschool Language Scale-5 (PLS-5) test was administered for the children who were considered to have language and speech deficiency/disorder and the receptive and expressive language development ages of the children were determined. FINDINGS: 503 children aged 3 to 5 years and 11 months enrolled at the preschool institutions were determined. It was found out that 21 of these 503 children enrolled did not resume their education. 4 children out of the remaining 482 children were excluded from the research due to an additional disability. Mothers and/or fathers of 402 children out the remaining 478 children agreed to participate in the study and 76 rejected to do so. 48.8% of 402 children were female and 51.2% were male. It was determined 7 of 22 children participating in the Stage 2 study were female and 15 were male. The chronological age distribution of these children revealed the mean as 59.4 months and SS: ±7.43. A medium level (0.30<|r=0.49|<0.70), positive (r>0) and significant relationship (p<0.05) was found between the chronological age and receptive language age. A high level (0.70<|r=0.88|), positive (r>0) and significant relationship (p<0.01) was found between the chronological age of the children and their receptive language age. No significant relationship was found in the comparison between the question items in the PLS-5 child information form administered on the children participating in the study and the differences found in between the chronological age and receptive and expressive language age. DISCUSSION: Creation of screening programs at the preschool period has great importance in terms of follow-up of language and speech development of children. RESULT: The conclusions from this screening will constitute a major source of data in language and speech perspectives. Keywords: Language, speech, language and speech disorders, delayed speech, PLS-5