Acquisition of /s/ clusters in English-speaking children with phonological disorders. 2010

Mehmet Yavaş, and Sharynne McLeod
Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA. yavasm@fiu.edu

Two member onset consonant clusters with /s/ as the first member (#sC onsets) behave differently from other double onset consonant clusters in English. Phonological explanations of children's consonant cluster production have been posited to predict children's speech acquisition. The aim of this study was to consider the role of the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP), homorganicity, headedness, and factorial typology in the explanation of productions of consonant clusters by children with phonological disorders. Thirty monolingual English-speaking children with phonological disorders produced words commencing with #sC: /s/+stop (/sT/), /s/+nasal (/sN/), /sl/, and /sw/. There was wide individual variation between participants. Overall, there was an increase in accuracy of consonant cluster production as the sonority indices of the second element of the cluster increased: there was significantly greater accuracy of /sl/ than /sN/ and significantly greater accuracy of /sN/ than /sT/. However, /sw/ targets only followed the SSP for phonologically accurate (but not phonetically accurate) productions. Correct renditions justified the binary grouping of the SSP-following vs SSP-violating separation. Homorganicity of the cluster was not a factor in determining relative accuracy of the targets. The percentage of correct renditions justified the /s/+[-continuant] vs /s/+[+continuant] binary separation. There were several counterexamples of predictions of the headedness approach. Thus, sonority and factorial typology were found to be useful in predicting /s/ consonant cluster acquisition of children with phonological disorders.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007802 Language A verbal or nonverbal means of communicating ideas or feelings. Dialect,Dialects,Languages
D007804 Language Development The gradual expansion in complexity and meaning of symbols and sounds as perceived and interpreted by the individual through a maturational and learning process. Stages in development include babbling, cooing, word imitation with cognition, and use of short sentences. Language Acquisition,Acquisition, Language,Development, Language
D008297 Male Males
D010699 Phonation The process of producing vocal sounds by means of VOCAL CORDS vibrating in an expiratory blast of air. Phonations
D010700 Phonetics The science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed) Speech Sounds,Sound, Speech,Sounds, Speech,Speech Sound
D002675 Child, Preschool A child between the ages of 2 and 5. Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001184 Articulation Disorders Disorders of the quality of speech characterized by the substitution, omission, distortion, and addition of phonemes. Phonological Impairments,Speech Articulation Disorders,Articulation Disorders, Developmental,Developmental Articulation Disorders,Disarticulation Disorders,Misarticulation,Phonology Impairment,Unintelligible Articulation,Articulation Disorder,Articulation Disorder, Developmental,Articulation Disorder, Speech,Articulation Disorders, Speech,Articulation, Unintelligible,Articulations, Unintelligible,Developmental Articulation Disorder,Disarticulation Disorder,Disorder, Disarticulation,Disorders, Disarticulation,Impairment, Phonological,Impairment, Phonology,Impairments, Phonological,Impairments, Phonology,Phonological Impairment,Phonology Impairments,Speech Articulation Disorder,Unintelligible Articulations
D013062 Speech Articulation Tests Tests of accuracy in pronouncing speech sounds, e.g., Iowa Pressure Articulation Test, Deep Test of Articulation, Templin-Darley Tests of Articulation, Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation, Screening Speech Articulation Test, Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale. Articulation Test, Speech,Articulation Tests, Speech,Speech Articulation Test,Test, Speech Articulation,Tests, Speech Articulation

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