title: Preschool children's performance on Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C).
abstract: Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C) has not been used widely to assess prosodic abilities of preschool children. This study was therefore aimed at investigating typically developing 4-year-olds' performance on PEPS-C. PEPS-C was presented to 30 typically developing 4-year-olds recruited in southern Ireland. Children were judged to have completed the test if they produced analysable responses to >95% of the items. The children's scores were compared with data from typically developing 5-6-year-olds. The majority (83%) of 4-year-olds were able to complete the test. The children scored at chance or weak ability levels on all subtests. The 4-year-olds had lower scores than 5-6-year-olds in all subtests, apart from one, with the difference reaching statistical significance in 8 out of 12 subtests. The results indicate that PEPS-C could be a valuable tool for assessing prosody in young children with typical development and some groups of young children with communication disorders.
authors: Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. f.gibbon@ucc.ie
authors: Fiona E
authors: FE
authors: Gibbon
authors: Heather
authors: H
authors: Smyth
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests; D008144:Loudness Perception; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D010898:Pitch Perception; D013060:Speech