How do children with phonological impairment respond to requests for clarification containing polysyllables?

Abstract

Accurate production of polysyllables (words of three or more syllables) can be challenging for children with phonological impairment. Research with typically developing children has suggested that children can improve their polysyllable productions in response to requests for clarification containing an incorrect model of a target word (Gozzard et al., 2008). This study extends the work of Gozzard et al. (2008) by determining whether accuracy can improve in response to requests for clarification containing a correct (e.g. 'did you say elephant?') versus an incorrect (e.g. 'did you say eresemp?') model. Four children with phonological impairment (aged 3;10, 3;11, 4;3 and 5;4) had segmental and structural difficulties with polysyllables, in both single word and connected speech contexts. All participants revised their productions following requests for clarification containing the incorrect production, with 75.8% of suprasegmental and phonological revisions demonstrating increased accuracy. No phonological or suprasegmental revisions occurred following requests for clarification containing the correct model. The findings suggest that role of communication breakdown and repair in intervention targeting children's polysyllable difficulties needs to be better understood.

A short-form version of the Australian English Communicative Development Inventory

“…It has been used in studies of preterm infants (Crosbie & Holm, 2008), children with Down syndrome (Tang & Smith, 2010), infants at risk for dyslexia (Kalashnikova, Goswami, & Burnham, 2020), and in a range of other basic science studies (e.g. Hemsley et al, 2010Hemsley et al, , 2013Kalashnikova et al, 2019;Lam & Kitamura, 2010;Masso et al, 2014;Mulak et al, 2013). No valid studies of the OZI have yet been done, nor have studies of the extent to which parents can specifically use the OZI to validly report their child's vocabulary.…”

Comparing Feedback Types in Multimedia Learning of Speech by Young Children With Common Speech Sound Disorders: Research Protocol for a Pretest Posttest Independent Measures Control Trial

“…In this paragraph we draw upon examples from speech pathology approaches to illustrate the taxonomy of feedback terminology we adopted, roughly in order of increasing complexity. When working with a child with speech sound disorder (such as a phonological disorder) speech pathologists might highlight errors by claiming to misunderstand the child (Yont et al, 2000 ; Masso et al, 2014 ). When the speech pathologist provides no other feedback or cues to assist in correcting the error, this approach could be categorized as verification feedback.…”

OZI: Australian English Communicative Development Inventory

“…An adaptation of the CDI for Australian English was well overdue. The Australian English Communicative Development Inventory or OZI was developed in 2003 (Schwarz, 2007) and since then, it has been used for research purposes in a number of studies (e.g., Hemsley, Holm, & Dodd, 2010, 2013; Lam & Kitamura, 2010; Masso, McCabe, & Baker, 2014; Mulak, Best, Tyler, Kitamura, & Irwin, 2013; Schwarz & Burnham, 2006; Schwarz, Burnham, & Bowey, 2006). Several researchers have also requested to use the OZI for clinical research studies even with norms still under development, for example for a study with preterm infants (Crosbie & Holm, 2008) and another with Down syndrome children (Tang & Smith, 2010).…”