Difficulty of phonological tasks in Polish-speaking preschoolers with and without speech sound disorders
Background: Children with speech sound disorders are the largest group receiving speech and language therapy. Because speech disorders have multiple underlying causes, therapy should include not only articulation training but also exercises targeting phonological skills, which are essential for literacy acquisition.
Aim: To discuss differences in the difficulty of phonological tasks between the groups of preschool children.
Method/approach: The study included two groups of Polish-speaking preschool children (mean age: 81 months): children with speech sound disorders as a primary impairment (n=49) and typically developing peers (n=44). A ranking of the relative difficulty of phonological tasks was created. High average performance indicated a low difficulty index (closer to 0), whereas low average performance indicated a great difficulty index (closer to 1). The project was approved by the Faculty of Educational Studies Ethics Committee at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (no. WSE-KEdsPB-9/2024/2025).
Results/findings: In both groups, the easiest tasks involved phoneme discrimination (0.05–0.15) and syllable segmentation (0.12–0.21), whereas the most difficult tasks measured phonological memory (0.60–0.77) and syllable deletion (0.53–0.78). Children with speech sound disorders performed worse on phoneme segmentation and blending, syllable deletion, and alliteration recognition (d = 0.72–0.96). Although phoneme discrimination and non-word repetition were relatively easy in both groups, significant between-group differences with large effect sizes were observed.
Conclusion: Before children start school, they need phonological training, especially in phonological memory, verbal fluency, and sound manipulation. Children with speech sound disorders need the most support with phoneme segmentation and blending, which are important for reading development. The ranking may help adjust therapy by gradually increasing task difficulty. Non-word repetition and phoneme discrimination tasks may also serve as useful screening measures of phonological skills in children with speech sound disorders.
Implications for children and families: Phonological training is essential for literacy development, and you can practice this at home.
Implications for practitioners: You will know how to gradually increase the difficulty of phonological tasks for children with speech sound disorders who speak a more transparent language.
Funding: Excellence Initiative – Research University, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (Poland), no. 140/04/POB5/0018.
Keywords: speech sound disorder, phonological skills, speech therapy, literacy
This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: