Phonological development: a normative study of British English‐speaking children

TLDR

This study reports normative data on phonological development in British English‑speaking children, examining sound acquisition, error suppression, and the influence of age, gender, and socio‑economic status. The authors collected and analysed speech samples from 684 randomly selected children aged 3 to 6 years across eight UK regions to generate normative phonological data. Older children produced more accurate speech with fewer errors; while no gender differences were seen in younger groups, girls outperformed boys in the oldest group, and socio‑economic status had no significant effect.

Abstract

This paper reports a normative study on the phonological development of British English-speaking children. Speech samples of 684 children, aged between 3;0 and 6;11 years, randomly selected from nurseries and schools in eight different areas throughout the UK, were collected and analysed to obtain normative data. This paper reports on two aspects of speech development: the age of acquisition of sounds (phonetic acquisition) and the age that error patterns were suppressed (phonemic acquisition). It discusses the effects of age, gender and socio-economic status on speech sound development. The study found that older children had more accurate production and fewer error patterns in their speech. It found no gender differences in the younger age groups. However, in the oldest age group, it found the phonological accuracy measures of girls' better than boys. It found no significant effects of socio-economic status on any of the phonological accuracy measures.