Documenting norms for typical phonological processes in Sri Lankan Tamil, Sinhala and Sri Lankan English in children aged between 3;0- 3;11 years

Abstract

Sri Lankan Tamil, Sinhala and Sri Lankan English are distinct languages which contain language specific features. In Sri Lanka, to identify typical phonological processes in clinical practice, clinicians use normative data developed for British English-speaking children. It is essential to document normative data for Sinhala, Sri Lankan Tamil and Sri Lankan English as it will be useful in differentially diagnosing between typical phonological processes, phonological delays and disorders. The aim of the studies conducted was to document the phonological processes in 3;0- 3;11 year old typically developing children in different dialects of Sinhala and Sri Lankan Tamil as well as in Sri Lankan English. Three picture-based assessments devised by the researchers and the South Tyneside Assessment of Phonology were used to gain speech samples from 160 Sinhala speaking, 160 Tamil-speaking and 30 Sri Lankan English speaking children between the ages of 3 – 3; 11 years from four geographical locations (Matara, Matale, Kandy district-Akurana and Kandy district- tea estate) for the former two groups and from Colombo for the latter group. The data were phonetically transcribed and the phonological processes were described in relation to word positions. In addition, the data were statistically analyzed using t-tests on SSPS 16.0. The findings indicate a statistically significant influence of age, dialect and gender on the phonological processes produced. In addition, some unclassified phonological processes, language and dialect-specific processes were observed and will be discussed in relation to British English phonology norms and its implications for clinical practice.