The study examined the relationship in 44 preschoolers (considered to have varying degrees of predicted risk for poor school performance) between otitis media (middle ear disease) during the first 3 years of life and speech production (articulation) during preschool and school age years. Speech production accuracy was assessed by the number of consonant errors in words and sentences, intelligibility of speech, and the suprasegmental features used during conversational speech. Transcriptions were typed, stored, and analyzed via computer. The total duration of bilateral and unilateral otitis media during the first 3 years of life ranged from 4 to 884 days; the total duration of bilateral or unilateral otitis media ranged from 8 to 937 days. Preliminary speech analysis revealed that the otitis media durations were correlated with two specific types of speech errors: final sounds at age 3 and voicing at age 5. Otitis media durations were not correlated with the overall number of errors or other error types. Results suggest that otitis media is a predictor of only certain types of speech errors and must be interpreted cautiously because of the small number of subjects at each age level. (CL)