FEATURES OF SPEECH IN LEFT-HANDED PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN Marina Voronova Tatiana Akhutina Olga Ruzmanova The Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Left-handed people are characterized by intra- and interhemispheric functional diffusion of brain structures, non-pronounced functional specialization of hemispheres, instability of interaction between voluntary and involuntary levels of the vertical mental activity of the regulatory system (Simernitskaya, 1978; Mikadze, 2008).

Left-handed children have disproportions and retardations in the next mental functions: for mnestic processes (memory) сonstructive processes affective-will processes, speech function (oral and written), reading and counting skills (Mikadze, 2008; Semenovich, A.V., 2009)

The Aim -To reveal differences in the formation of certain processes of speech comprehension and production

Research I.Lateral organization profile participants (first grade elementary school – 7-8 years) II.Diagnostics of speech function – 78 participants

Lateral organization profile sensor asymmetry coefficients (ear, eye) were equivalent manual asymmetry coefficients were quantitatively commensurable (e.g., -37 in a left-handed and 39 in a right-handed) As a result of this stage of the research, 39 left-handed and 39 right-handed children were accepted for the next stage of the experiment.

Diagnostics of speech function* Expressive speech Impressive speech * «Diagnostics of speech impairments at school children using neuropsychological methods» (Fotekova T.A.., Akhutina T.V., 2007)

Expressive speech Motor realization of speech Formation of word-building skills Sintax Cojoint speech Nominative function

Impressive speech Peculiarities of acoustic analisys Audio-verbal memory Semantic differentiation of words Comprehention of complex logico- grammatical constructions Features of phonemic perception

Results of the research expressive speech (**- p<0.01, * - p<0.05)

Results of the research impressive speech (** - p<0.01)

Conclusion Left-handed children are characterized by a lower level of formation of separate component of oral speech (p<0,01) in comparison with the right- handed. With right-handed children the average scores for different test correspond to the population average, while the left-handed show lower scores, but do prominantly exceed the ones of children with general alalia and mental retardation (Fotekova, Akhutina 2007).

Conclusion Never the less the highest assessments of left- handed children in all tests are corresponding to the ones of the right-handed, which is evidence of heterogeneity of the left-handed sample group, some subjects of which are capable of successfully performing given tasks. This confirms the assumption of discontinuity of certain components of the higher mental functions within the norm and pathology (Akhutina, T.V., Pylaeva, N.M.,2008).

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