Fluency Development in Malayalam Speaking Children of 3.0 to 4.6 Years

Fluency development in Malayalam speaking children of 3.0 to 4.6 years ABSTRACT This study traces the developmental patterns of Malayalam-speaking children by examining the discrepancies between 20 typical Malayalam-speaking children aged 3.0 to 4.6 years of age. Three tasks were used to elicit speech samples, namely general conversation, story narration and recitation. Unfilled pauses, filled pauses repeats, false starts, parenthetical comments, prolongations and audible inspiration/expiration were the forms of disorders analysed. The average percentage of differences was also determined in each group. The findings indicate that more filled pauses accompanied by audible inspiration/expiration, repetitions, prolongation, unfilled pauses; false starts and parenthetical remarks were taken by children in the age range of 3.0 to 4.6 years. As age increased, unfulfilled pauses, repetitions and prolongations declined. As age progressed, filled pauses, false starts, parenthetical remarks and audible creativity and expiration increase. In an age range of 3.0 to 3.6 years, parenthetical remarks were not found. In conclusion, it can be said that the growth of Malayalam-speaking children's fluency followed a comparable pattern in other Indian languages. The present finding has led to the differential diagnosis of normal non-fluency and stuttering and may also assist in the design of effective therapeutic approaches for the necessary ones.