Browsing by Author "Kämäräinen, Maiju"

According to previous studies, early lexical development has a significant connection to later language skills. With early screening it is possible to recognize children at risk for serious language disorders. However, there are only few screening methods available. The aim of this study was to examine the connection between the results gathered from Sanaseulamethod and later language skills. This master’s thesis is a part of the Communicative Development Inventories –method’s Finnish version’s norming study (Sanaseula-research; responsible leader Docent Suvi Stolt). The participants were 66 full-term children who were examined at the age of two with Sanaseula-method and at the age of five with Boston Naming Test and morphology test. Statistical methods were used to analyze data. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between lexical development at age two and language skills at age five. Linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between children’s performance in Sanaseula-method, parent’s education and later language skills. The connection between word combinations at age two and language performance at age five was examined by the aid of ChiSquare Test. According to the results there was a statistically significant correlation between the performance in Sanaseula-method at age two and the performance in Boston Naming Test and in morphology test at age five. Parent’s education was not a significant predictor of a child’s language skills at age five. There was no significant correlation between combining words at age two and later language skills. The results indicate strongly that children’s later language performance can be predicted using the Sanaseula-method.