Level of Phonological and Functional Performance of Oral Language among Educable Mentally Retarded Children- Field Study at the Psycho- Pedagogical Centre for Mentally Disabled Children No. 01 - Martyr Al-Muqran Ali in the province of M’sila

Abstract

The present study aimed to identify the levels of phonological and functional performance skills in oral language among children with educable intellectual disabilities. The study was conducted on a sample of three cases of children with educable intellectual disabilities at the Psycho-Pedagogical Centre for Mentally Disabled Children No 01 in the province of M'sila. Accordingly, a descriptive case-study methodology was adopted, utilizing the Chevrie- Muller Test to assess oral production in children with intellectual disabilities. After conducting the field study and collecting, tabulating, and analyzing the data both quantitatively and qualitatively, the results revealed a clear delay in oral language development across various levels: phonetic, lexical, syntactic, and semantic. Additionally, the cases suffer from speech disorders characterized by substitution and omission, which affect speech clarity and lead to difficulty in being understood by others. Furthermore, their lexical repertoire is limited compared to their chronological age, relying on simple and repetitive vocabulary with a weakness in using abstract concepts. Moreover, the sentences produced by the cases show a simple grammatical structure, characterized by the absence of conjunctions and occasional poor word ordering.