PURPOSE: To characterize the performance of a group of preschool children with phonological disorder in metaphonological tasks of identification and production of rhyme and alliteration. METHODS: Participants were 56 preschool children of both genders, with ages between 4 years and 0 months and 6 years and 11 months, distributed into: Research Group, comprising 28 preschoolers with phonological disorder, and Comparison Group, comprising 28 preschool children with normal speech and no complaints related to oral communication. The following testes were applied: Child Language Test ABFW - Phonology, tasks of identification and product ion of rhymes and alliteration of the Phonological Awareness Test: Instrument of Sequential Assessment - CONFIAS. Data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Preschoolers with phonological disorder had worse overall phonological sensitivity performance. In both groups, children had better scores with the segment of alliteration, and there was no difference in performance between the tasks of identification and production. With rhyme segments, preschoolers showed better performance in the identification task, while with alliteration segments they showed better performance in the production task. Rhyme production was the most difficult task, and alliteration production was the easiest. CONCLUSION: Preschoolers with phonological disorder showed worse performance in phonological sensitivity than children with normal speech. However, both groups showed better performance with the alliteration segment, and showed no differences between identification and production tasks.
Speech disorders; Child; preschool; Articulation disorders; Language disorders; Child language
