PhonologicalDevelopment in Normal Egyptian Children

Abstract

The development of meaningful speech is a complex process. In terms of phonological development, children must learn the movements needed to produce words to match the adult targets and they must also be aware of the phonological forms of words in their native language. The data presented in this study established a comprehensive developmental data for the timing of acquiring Egyptian Arabic phonology forCairene children in order to be used as a guide for the correct timing of intervention for phonological therapy. This study was conducted in the period between February 2016 and July 2016, on 140 normal children between the age of 1 month and 8 years,The children were randomly selected from nurseries and school with variable socioeconomically standard in order to be representative as much as possible for the entire Cairene population.Divided over 14 age groups, with 10 children included in each age group. The inclusion criteria for children was that they should be native Arabic speakers, whose parents children have lived in Cairo since birth, with IQ 90 or above, and showing normal language development for age. Children were excluded if they had any neuropsychiatric or developmental disorders, any bite anomalies that may hinder proper phonological development, or having been heavily exposed to a 2nd language. Each child was subjected to a detailed schedule of data collection including:History taking, general examination, mental status examination by psychometric tests, language testing by modified PLS-4 test Arabic edition (Abo Hasiba, 2011) and the Arabic Ain Shams Articulation test (Kotby et al., 1985).Additional words were added to the test to include vowels and the rest of the sounds that do not appear in the Arabic Articulation test. These consonants are /q, θ, ð, andð/. Acquisition criteria: The acquisition criteria were determined as follow: • Acquired (Acq): when 90% of children acquired the phoneme in all positions. • Fully acquired (FA): when 100% of children acquired the phoneme in all positions. Phonemes that are fully acquired before the age of 2 years are: • All vowels /a/, /i/, /e/, /o/, /u/ and /æ/. • Consonants: /h/ and /b/ are fully acquired at age of 1 year. /w/, /j/ /ʔ/ and /m/are fully acquired at age of 1.5 years. /n/ is fully acquired at age of 1.5 years. Phonemes that are fully acquired after the age of 2 years are: • By 2years /t/ and /d/are fully acquired. • At age of 2.5 years /l/ is fully acquired. • By 3 years /ħ/ and /ʕ/ are fully acquired. • At age of 3.5 /k/ and /g/ are fully acquired. • By 4 years /f/ is fully acquired. • At 4.5 years/x/ and /ʃ/ are fully acquired. • By age of 5 years /s/, /s/, /d/ and /t/ are fully acquired. • At age of 5.5 years /ɣ/, /Z/ and /r/ are fully acquired, followed by /ð/, /q/, /ð/and /θ/ which are fully acquired at 6years. These data may be used as guidelines to decide upon the correct trimming to start articulatory therapy for children with speech sound disorders.