Benchmarking typically developing children’s prosodic performance on the Irish version of the Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C)

Abstract

Objective: To identify the normal prosodic performance for typically developing children aged 5-11 years on the Irish version of the Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech Communication (PEPS-C) assessment and identify significant age related changes between different age groups. Method: Thirty typically developing children between the ages of 5;9 and 11;1 years completed the PEPS-C assessment which involved both receptive and expressive tasks. Results: Significant differences were found between the youngest group’s prosodic performance and the two older groups. The 5/6 year old age group performed less well than the 10/11 year age group (p<0.05). The 10/11 year age group performed above chance level on all prosodic tasks. Conclusion: While 5/6 year old children have acquired some functional prosodic skills, there are further developments between the ages of 5;9 and 9;5, with some aspects of prosody continuing to develop up to 11 years.