The purpose of this study was to test whether the content and function word dichotomy of speech disfluency found in English-speaking adults who stutter (AWS) was evident in a language other than English. A group of adult Arabic-speaking AWS were sampled across spontaneous speaking, oral reading, and single-word naming tasks. Moments of disfluency were identified and examined in regard to lexical category. Results indicated no significant differences in the amount of disfluency occurring on content and function words. The production of combined content-function words, a unique feature of the Arabic language, was associated with a high level of disfluency. The linguistic bases of stuttering are discussed in regard to language-specific influences.
Due to a substantial shortage of native (Kuwaiti) speech-language pathologists (SLPs), Kuwait needs SLPs from different nationalities and degree programs. One of the concerns with this approach is that speech and language services provided by governmental and private sectors might not meet international standards of clinical practice. This study explored two types of professional values: the Code of Ethics adopted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA, 2003) and the SLP's personal code of ethics. Method: A survey instrument using a Likert scale (i.e., agree, not sure, disagree) was designed and administered to 52 SLPs (22 Kuwaitis, 19 Egyptians, and 11 Jordanians) employed in special schools and hospitals in Kuwait. Four of ASHA's (2003) Principles of Ethics were investigated: (a) SLP services; (b) the SLP's responsibility to achieve and maintain the highest level of professional competence; (c) the SLP's responsibility to the public by promoting public understanding of the A
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