Risk of early literacy difficulties in Polish-speaking preschoolers with speech sound disorders
Background: Children with speech sound disorders are the largest group receiving speech and language therapy. Although therapy often focuses on articulation and speech motor skills, these disorders may also affect phonological development and later reading and writing skills. Because children need stable speech and phonological skills before learning to read and write, increasing attention has been paid to literacy-related risks in this group, especially in transparent orthographies such as Polish.
Aim: To discuss whether Polish-speaking preschoolers with speech sound disorders are at higher risk for preliteracy difficulties than their typically developing peers. The project has been approved by the Faculty of Educational Studies Ethics Committee at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (no. WSE-KEdsPB-9/2024/2025). All children participating in the project provided verbal consent to take part in the study at each meeting with the researchers.
Method/approach: The study included Polish-speaking preschool children with speech sound disorders (n=49) and typically developing peers (n=44; mean age: 81 months). We examined predictors of reading and writing, including language abilities, phonological skills, and letter knowledge. Children scoring below the 25th percentile were classified as being at risk for preliteracy difficulties. Risk levels were compared between groups using probability analysis and logistic regression, with odds ratios as effect-size measures.
Results/findings: Children with speech sound disorders were more likely than typically developing children to achieve lower scores in phoneme segmentation (OR=7.24) and blending (OR=7.80). High odds ratios were also observed for language abilities, including vocabulary and grammar (OR=4.77), and for phonological memory measured with non-word repetition tasks (OR=3.25). For letter recognition and naming, children with speech sound disorders were about three times more likely to obtain lower scores (OR=3.83–4.02).
Conclusion: Children with speech sound disorders are at greater risk of difficulties at the beginning of reading and writing instruction than typically developing children. Therefore, speech and language therapy should focus not only on articulation and speech motor skills, but also include phonological training, as speech-language therapists support the development of overall communication skills, including written language.
Implications for children and families: It is essential to provide children with speech sound disorders with phonological training and to support their overall language development in everyday life.
Implications for practitioners: It is important to provide literacy-based intervention for children with speech sound disorders.
Funding: Excellence Initiative – Research University, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (Poland), nr: 140/04/POB5/0018.
Keywords: preliteracy, speech sound disorder, early childhood, reading instruction
This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: