ABSTRACT

Children growing up in disadvantage are more vulnerable to speech, language, and literacy difficulties, which are important in the acquisition of many different life skills. Despite supported playgroups engaging directly with families living in disadvantage, very few speech and language studies have been delivered within this setting. This study aimed to identify needs related to speech, language, and literacy of children of young mothers who were attending a supported playgroup in Brisbane, Australia. This was a cross-sectional study with 11 mother–child dyads. Child assessments were delivered by a speech pathologist and compared with normative data. Results indicate that children’s speech and language skills were age-appropriate, despite presenting with some speech sound errors. Children aged 4–5 years had difficulty with some literacy tasks. These findings suggest that future research or language interventions for the supported playgroup setting should provide language-learning opportunities that address speech sound production and early literacy skills.

摘要

在不利条件下长大的儿童更容易受到言语、语言和识字困难的影响，这对获得许多不同的生活技能很重要。尽管支持的游戏小组直接与生活在不利条件下的家庭互动，但在这种环境中进行的言语和语言研究很少。本研究旨在确定在澳大利亚布里斯班参加受支持游戏小组的年轻母亲的孩子在语言、语言和识字方面的需求。这是一项包含 11 名母子二人组的横断面研究。儿童评估由言语病理学家提供，并与规范数据进行比较。结果表明，尽管存在一些语音错误，但儿童的言语和语言技能与年龄相适应。4-5 岁的儿童在完成一些识字任务方面有困难。