[Evaluation of phonological awareness in stutterer and non stutterer children of aged 4 to 8 years in Tehran]

ABSTRACT

The relationship between language and stuttering is an important issue in development of children because initiation of stuttering is generally contemporaneous with the period of rapid language development in children. Phonological awareness is part of language function which simultaneously develops with language and is the basis for oral and aural skills. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the relationship between stuttering and phonological awareness and the importance of phonological awareness in the process of evaluation and treatment of stuttering. It was a cross-sectional comparative study. Conducted on 53 children aged 4 to 8 years in Tehran. Participants' profile was made by examiner through interview with participants' therapist, parents and instructor. Voice of stutterer children was recorded and the phonological awareness test was performed. Obtained data was analyzed. Regarding the scores of phonological awareness test there were significant differences between stutterer and non-stutterer groups and also between different ages [p<0.05]. Scores of phonological awareness test in children with different stuttering severities were not significantly different. Children younger than 4 years had the least scores while children older than 7 years had the most and the differences were statistically significant [p<0.05]. This shows that the score improves by aging. Phonological awareness, age, type and severity of stuttering should be considered in assessment and treatment of Persian stutterer children aged 4 to 8 years old.