• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.57-67
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• 2019

This study aimed to investigate regional differences in the development of speech production in Korean children. A total of 619 children aged 2 to 7 years from the Jeolla, Seoul/Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, and Gyeongsang areas were included in this study. The subjects were assessed with the UTAP2 word-level test. In PWC, PMLU, and PWP, the performance was significantly lower in Gyeongsang at 2 years 11 months and in Jeolla and Chungcheong at 3 years 5 months than in Seoul/Gyeonggi. The total PCC of Gyeongsang and Chungcheong and UTAP PCC of Chungcheong were significantly lower at 2 years 11 months compared with those of Seoul/Gyeonggi, while Jeolla and Chungcheong showed significantly lower total PCC and UTAP PCC than Seoul/Gyeonggi at 3 years 5 months. However, no regional difference was observed in any indicators after the age of 3 years 6 months. These results suggest that there are regional differences in the ability to produce speech sounds at a very young age, and that the differences can be explained by the differences between Seoul/Gyeonggi and the other provinces rather than by the individual characteristics of specific regions.