Phonological development in first language Laki-speaking children aged 3 to 5 years: A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Phonetics and Phonology
• Child Language Acquisition
• Linguistic Diversity

Background:

• Limited research exists on Laki speech sound acquisition in Iran.
• Understanding early phonological development is crucial for linguistic and clinical insights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a pilot study on the speech development of 56 Laki-speaking children aged 3-5 years.
• To establish baseline data for Laki phonological acquisition.

Main Methods:

• Picture naming tasks were used to elicit single words from children.
• Speech samples were analyzed for percentage of consonants correct (PCC), percentage of vowels correct (PVC), and proportion of whole word proximity (PWP).
• Data were analyzed across four age groups and by gender.

Main Results:

• All Laki speech sounds emerged by 53 months; most were mastered by age five, except /ɢ, z, ŋ, ʒ/.
• Age significantly influenced PCC and PWP, but not PVC.
• No significant gender differences were observed in PCC, PVC, or PWP.

Conclusions:

• Findings contribute to general phonological acquisition theories and enable crosslinguistic comparisons.
• Identified language-specific characteristics are vital for clinical practice with Laki-speaking children.