The Early Prelinguistic Skills in Iranian Infants and Toddlers

Objectives: The prelinguistic skills which pave the way for language development have always been an area of research in the Speech Therapy field. Although studying these skills is important, there is a study gap among Persian children. Therefore, this study explored prelinguistic skills among a sample of Persian-speaking children aged ۶ to ۲۴ months and made a comparison between different age groups. We also studied the effects of gender and family history of speech-language disorders on children’s prelinguistic abilities.  Methods: In the present study, ۲۷۷ mothers of Iranian Persian-speaking children aged ۶ to ۲۴ months were asked to fill a research-made checklist that evaluated the prelinguistic skills of their children. This study was cross-sectional and was conducted in Tehran City, Iran, in ۲۰۲۱. Children’s abilities in different age groups were compared using the analysis of variance (ANOVA), Scheffe test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the post-hoc test. The differences between the total scores of the two genders were also determined using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Comparing the prelinguistic skills in different age groups indicated a statistically significant increase in the scores as children grow up. Children with a positive family history of speech-language disorders scored lower on the checklist than the others (۹۱.۰۳±۱۷.۳۷). Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences between the two genders in developing gesture, vocalization, first words, social interaction, imitation, and play; girls had higher scores.  Conclusion: Based on the studies conducted in different countries, prelinguistic skills develop as children grow up; these skills facilitate language acquisition and other social skills. The present study also demonstrated the development of these skills alongside children’s development. This similarity between Persian-speaking children and other children from different cultures and languages, as well as better performance in children with a negative family history of speech-language impairments, confirm the role of genetic factors in children’s development. Moreover, the differences in the development of some prelinguistic skills between girls and boys reveal the impact of various factors, such as social factors, on prelinguistic skills development.

Keywords:

Prelinguistic skills , Communication , Children , Gesture , Eye contact , Vocalization