Word list in Tulu language to assess speech production skills in 3-8 year old Tulu speaking children--a preliminary study

In a multi-lingual country like India where every language has its own phonological system, there is a need for language specific articulation test. Although in recent times there has been increasing awareness among parents for early intervention in children with articulation problems within the regional areas of the nation, the availability of articulation tests in the regional languages is very limited. The present study makes a preliminary attempt at developing an assessment tool to assess the articulatory skills of Tulu speaking children, who form a significant population in South India. Word list was developed based on familiarity rating and was administered on 50 children, aged 3-8 years. The target speech sounds were embedded in words which were presented in picture form to elicit responses from the participants. The responses were analysed qualitatively and in terms of production accuracy across age groups.