Development of Early Speech Perception Test in Gujarati for preschoolers
Nidhi M. Desai, Shweta S. DeshpandeAbstract
Introduction:
Speech perception in children provides the basis for discrimination and comprehension of spoken language. Clinicians utilize different speech perception tests depending on the child’s age. The early speech perception (ESP) test is a commonly used assessment tool in young children that evaluates the child’s ability to discriminate and identify words from a closed set of pictures using auditory cues.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study with purposive sampling method was undertaken to develop and administer Gujarati ESP. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase one included the development of the test material and test-retest reliability analysis. In the second phase, the developed test was administered to 113 typically developing children aged between 3 and 6 years. Two lists consisting of 12 words in each subtest of ESP were administered on all the children.
Results:
The developed ESP test had good-to-excellent test–retest reliability for both the lists. The developed lists exhibit nonequivalence and therefore cannot be employed interchangeably. Results revealed statistically significant difference in the scores for all subtests between typically developing children across age groups. However, no significant difference in scores was noted between male and female participants for both the lists.
Conclusions:
The ESP test developed in Gujarati is suitable for administration to typically developing children aged 3–6 years.