title: Auditory perception of non-sense and familiar Bengali rhyming words in children with and without SLD.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rhyming ability is among the earliest metaphonological skills to be acquired during the process of speech and language acquisition. Metalinguistic skills, particularly metaphonological skills, greatly influence language learning during early, school grades and reportedly children with learning disorders are poor at these skills.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop and validate a Bengali rhyming checklist and study the auditory perception of non-sense and familiar Bengali rhyming words in children with and without specific learning disability (SLD).
  
  
  METHODS
  60 children, age range 8-11years, participated in two groups; group-A included children with SLD and group-B, typically developing children (TDC). All participants were native Bengali speakers, attending regular school, with hearing sensitivity less than 25dBHL, no history of ear discharge and middle socioeconomic background. A rhyming checklist was developed in Bengali, consisting of familiar (section-A) and non-sense (section-B) words. Test-retest reliability and validity measures were obtained. The items on the checklist were audio recorded and presented to the participants in a rhyming judgment task in one to one set up. Scores were obtained and statistically analyzed using SPSS software (version-11.0).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with SLD scored significantly low on the rhyming judgment task as against TDC (p<.05) for both familiar and non-sense words. Children with SLD performed significantly better on familiar word rhyming judgment task against non-sense words (p<.05). TDC showed no significant difference on familiar and non-sense words rhyming judgment tasks (p>.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Semantic content influences rhyming perception in children with SLD but has no significant effect on TDC. The developed rhyming checklist may be used as a screening tool for children at risk of SLD at primary school grades. Rhyming activities may be utilized by teachers and parents, to promote language learning in young learners.
authors.affiliation: Audiology & Speech Language Pathology, AYJNIHH, NRC, India. Electronic address: anishasinha08@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Anisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.affiliation: National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities, ECR, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address: nachiketa76@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nachiketa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rout
mesh_terms: D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D057189:Checklist; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007804:Language Development; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008037:Linguistics; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012660:Semantics; D013060:Speech
keywords: Non-sense; Phonological awareness; Rhyming; SLD