The Difference Between Phonemes Discrimination and Phoneme Detection in 5-to-6 years-of-age Russian Children

• In Event: Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Topic - Language, Communication

Abstract

Introduction

Phonological processing is essential for adequate development of oral language skills and reading. It has long been acknowledged that phoneme detection is associated with reading acquisition (Bryant et al., 1990; Hulme et al., 2002). For Russian primary schoolchildren, it was shown that more complex phonological tests of Russian test of Phonological Processing (RuToPP) have higher predictive value for reading fluency than simple phonological tests and that greater individual cost associated with introducing one more linguistic process to a phonological test are reliably associated with a decrease in reading fluency (Dorofeeva et al., 2020). The significant differences between typically developing and dyslexic Russian primary school children were shown in phoneme detection (Dorofeeva et al., 2019).
However, phonological processing in preschool children is underinvestigated in Russian. There are no data about normative levels for preschool children for RuToPP and it remains elusive if simple phonological tests (such as Phonemes Discrimination) and more complex phonological tests (such as Phoneme Detection) could be used interchangeably for assessing phonological skills at early stages. The present study aimed to evaluate normative ranges for Phonemes Discrimination and Phoneme Detection tests of RuToPP for 5 to 6 years of age Russian children and to examine if the performance in these two phonological tests significantly differ.

Method

We examined phonological processing skills using the Phonemes Discrimination and the Phoneme Detection tests from the Russian Test of Phonological Processing (Dorofeeva et al., 2020). All participated children (N=26) were native Russian speakers, 5 to 6 years of age, and had no history of diagnosed neurological and/or psychiatric disorders. All had normal vision and normal hearing confirmed by screening for primary auditory impairment (using Audiogramm version 4.6.1.3, Professional Audiometric System; Sennheiser HDA 280 audiometry headphones). The tests were programmed in Java SE 8 and administered using a Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM‐T585 (2016) on Android 7.0 platform, screen size 10.1′′, 1,920 × 1,200 px. Audio stimuli were pre‐recorded by a professional speaker in a recording studio. Data analysis was performed in R (Version 3.6.1) with psych package.

Results

The performance in the Phonemes Discrimination and the Phoneme Detection test significantly differed both in accuracy (t = -2.80, p-value = 0.01, 95% CI [-0.18; -0.028]) and in reaction times (t = 3.10, p-value = 0.005, 95% CI [508.43; 2517.42]). The Phoneme Detection test (Mean = 0.74, SD = 0.14) that involved more linguistic processes was more difficult for participated children than Phonemes Discrimination test (Mean = 0.84, SD = 0.15).
We found significant correlation between two tests in reaction times (cor = 0.46, t = 2.57, p-value = 0.017) but not in accuracy (cor = 0.145, t = 0.72, p-value = 0.48).


Conclusion

Our findings provide data for assessing normative levels of phonological processing in 5 to 6 years of age Russian children, and confirmed the substantial difference between phonological processing tests involving different number of linguistic processes for successful performance. It means that the Phonemes Discrimination and the Phoneme Detection tests could not be used interchangeably.

Authors

• Svetlana V. Dorofeeva, HSE University
  Presenting Author

• Elizaveta Shitikova, HSE University
  Non-Presenting Author