Author(s): Nevzeta SALIHOVIC, Lejla JUNUZOVIC-ZUNIC, Mirela DURANOVIC, Amra FATUSIC
Etiology of fluency disorders has been studied for centuries from various aspects, one of those is language aspect. The purpose of this study was to examine semantic abilities in school-age children, and to determine possible differences in semantic possibilities between stuttering and normally fluent children. Sample of subjects consisted of 58 stuttering children and 856 normally fluent children aged from 6 to 15 years. We examined variables describing stuttering severity, and also extracted semantic variables from the test which examined language abilities in children. Results showed that average result of variable describing stuttering severity indicated moderate degree of stuttering. Compared to normally fluent children, stuttering subjects showed poorer language abilities related to variables describing vocabulary characteristics in majority of analyzed variables. Results of correlation analysis revealed no significant correlation between variables describing stuttering severity and variables describing vocabulary characteristics in school-age stuttering children. Within group of normally fluent children, intragroup correlation between examined semantic variables was something weaker compared to intragroup correlation within group of stuttering children. These results indicate the importance of both evaluation of language abilities in stuttering children and improving development of both fluency and semantic abilities as a part of language abilities in general in stuttering children. Consequently, this indicate the necessity for further study of stuttering which should be directed to both detailed research of specific language skills and evaluation of relationship between language abilities and stuttering.
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