Developing a word list to assess articulation skills in Sinhala speaking children with cleft lip and palate: age range between 3 Years to 3 ½ Years

Abstract

Cleft lip and palate (CLP) cause disordered articulation, which is defined as cleft type errors (CTC). Currently in Sri Lanka, speech and language therapists conduct informal assessments to assess cleft type errors. However, there is no consistency between these measures used. In this context, developing a culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment to identify cleft errors is a great necessity. This need was addressed at a primary level by developing a word list to assess articulation skills for Sinhala speaking children with cleft lip and palate for the age range of 3-3½years. 30 typically developing children were selected as participants from a preschool setting. The word list comprised of 24 words for 18 consonants in word initial and medial position. Each word was represented by a toy or an object. The competency analysis was identified based on Templin’s 75 % assigning criterion guidelines. All 30 subjects were able to produce all sounds in initial position within the attempts of spontaneous, first repeat or second repeat. 28 subjects were able to produce all sounds in medial position within the spontaneous attempts, first repeat or second repeat. Only 2 subjects were unable to produce sound /r/ in medial position. The study findings suggest that all 18 consonant sound and all 24 words used in sound initial and medial position can be use to assess articulation skills of Sinhala speakers within the age range of 3 to 3 ½ years. For future directions, the word list could be standardized as a formal assessment by validating among children with and without CLP.