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.

Keywords:

• Prosody
• children
• assessment
• PEPS-C

Acknowledgments

We thank staff, parents and children from the preschools who facilitated this research and to Michelle Foley for advice throughout the project. Some of the work reported in this study constituted a final year honours project by Heather Smyth, University College Cork, Ireland, 2012.

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.