Twenty-four individuals with impaired speech (anarthria or dysarthria) were compared on tests of receptive language to a control group with normal speech. All subjects were cerebral-palsied and groups were matched on age and nonverbal ability. The speech-impaired subjects performed less well than controls on a phoneme discrimination task in which they were required to judge whether pairs of nonwords were the same or different. They were also impaired relative to controls on a receptive vocabulary test, but not in understanding of grammatical structure. One year later, phoneme discrimination skills were reassessed in this sample, using another same-different task, plus a new task in which subjects were required to judge if the name of a picture was spoken correctly or altered by one sound. Speech-impaired subjects performed as well as controls on the word judgment task, indicating that they can discriminate phoneme contrasts adequately. However, the same-different task again resulted in highly significant differences between speech-impaired and control groups. It is concluded that poor performance on the same-different task reflects weak memory for novel phonological strings, rather than impaired phoneme perception. It is proposed that retention of unfamiliar words is facilitated by overt or covert repetition, so individuals who cannot speak fluently have difficulty remembering nonwords. This explanation can account both for the poor performance of speech-impaired subjects on the same-different task, and for their selective deficit in vocabulary acquisition.
This study examined the utterances of infants born preterm in order to ascertain whether there were any differences in speech‐sound production between healthy preterm infants and those who had suffered perinatal insult. Thirty‐three infants whose corrected ages ranged from nine months to 22 months were assessed. Of these, 21 had suffered intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH); the remaining 12 acted as controls. The assessment measure was derived from the literature on early vocalisations through to two‐word combinations. These assessments were administered by a speech therapist and a medical student. Results showed a high correlation with the results of a standardised test of expressive communication administered by a psychologist. Both groups of subjects showed delay in speech‐sound acquisition but the IVH infants showed a more severe delay and wider range of performance than did the control group. These findings and their implications are discussed together with others relating to the most propitious situation for utterances and the appropriateness of the procedures.
Summary
The verbal expression of five adult aphasic subjects was compared in unstructured (spontaneous speech) and structured interactions (a picture description task) at specified intervals over the period of one year. Transcribed tape recordings were analysed to describe the subjects' syntactic system in each language sample. The possible influence of the therapists' speech contribution upon both interactions was assessed.
A measurable and longitudinal difference was found between the subjects' performance in the two interactions. Subjects produced the largest proportion of discrete grammatically analysable utterances in the picture description task. A further comparison of the language samples was then made. The data was examined, for example, at the levels of the clause and phrase structures used. This indicated that the subjects tended to produce a similar range and form of grammatical structures in either task. Some practical suggestions arising from these points are discussed.
The presence of the picture stimulus, rather than any alteration in the therapists' language, seems to be the most important factor in determining subjects' performance in the structured interaction. However in the unstructured situation, evidence was found of the speech therapist modifying her input in order to try to compensate for subjects' transient difficulties in formulating adult sentences. This is described with examples, together with suggestions for application to therapeutic work.
This paper describes a programme designed to teach mothers to facilitate their children's language development. Three sequential processes are discussed. The rationale upon which the programme has been based is explained. The programme is presented together with preliminary evidence of its success. Finally, strategies for dissemination are mentioned and one successful avenue of dissemination is described.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.