Background & Purpose: Typically developing children make some speech errors as they learn to say new words, but they practice the speech several times and finally articulate the correct speech with exercising speech and anatomical and physiological maturity of speech organs. But despite having norma...
Background & Purpose: Typically developing children make some speech errors as they learn to say new words, but they practice the speech several times and finally articulate the correct speech with exercising speech and anatomical and physiological maturity of speech organs. But despite having normal speech organs, hearing, and brain anatomy and function, some children's articulation errors continue past a certain age. Then an articulation disorder is diagnosed. In a clinical setting, a speech-language therapist usually uses a perceptual method to evaluate a child’s articulation competence. The perceptual method can be used when the speech-language therapist listens to the child, and also may use a formal articulation test to record sound errors. Recently, for assessment of the client’s speech, the acoustic method is used. The purpose of this study is to delineate the perceptual-acoustic characteristics in preschool children with articulation disorders. Methods: Fifty-three typically developing children and seventy-two children with articulation disorders, grouped by age in groups of 4, 5, 6 years, served as participants in this study. Forty normal adults (twenty females and twenty males) were also investigated. The mean age of adult females was 21.1±1.71 years and the mean age of adult males was 20.18±1.4 years. U-TAP, Spectrum articulation test, and 7 picture cards containing simple vowels were used. A speech analysis system (Multi- speech model 3700) was used to assess the acoustic characteristics. The PCC, PVC, phonological process, and sound error types were analyzed using the perceptual method. The acoustic parameters, such as duration of consonants, voice onset time, release burst, vowel formants, nasal formants, and so on, were assessed for the words. Results: 1) The PCC, PVC, phonological processing, and error types such as omission, substitution, distortion and addition were a useful index of assessment to diagnosis articulation disorders in 4~6 years old children. 2) The acoustic parameters of vowels, such as vowel duration, total duration of words, formant, pitch, and energy reflected the maturity of articulators by demonstrating the growth and physiological changes in children with and without articulation disorders. 3) The position of front vowels /i/, /E/ in 4~5 years old children with articulation disorders was further back than typically normal children. Also, the vowels /a/, /ɔ/, /ɯ/, /o/, /u/ in 4~5 years old children with articulation disorders was positioned further to the front than typically normal children. 4) Consonant duration, vowel duration, total duration of the words were significantly longer in the children with and without articulation disorders, when compared to normal adults. 5) Release burst and nasal formants in children with and without articulation disorders were significantly higher than those of normal adults. 6) Fricative frequency in lenis fricatives in the initial positions of words is significantly lower in children than that of normal adults. 7) Mutivariate regression analysis indicated that release burst, nasal formant, vowel duration following glottalized stops were significant predictors accounting for PCC in children with and without articulation disorders. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that children with and without articulation disorders' phonological performances such as PCC, PVC, phonological processes, and sound error types were significantly different. However, children with articulation disorders' articulation competence was similar to typically developing children in an acoustic study. Some acoustic lengths, such as VOT and total duration of words, were produced similarly to adult females in 6 year old children with and without articulation disorders. The data of perceptual and acoustic characteristics in children with and without articulation disorders will be very useful in planning of speech therapy and for the assessment of the effects of speech therapy.
Background & Purpose: Typically developing children make some speech errors as they learn to say new words, but they practice the speech several times and finally articulate the correct speech with exercising speech and anatomical and physiological maturity of speech organs. But despite having normal speech organs, hearing, and brain anatomy and function, some children's articulation errors continue past a certain age. Then an articulation disorder is diagnosed. In a clinical setting, a speech-language therapist usually uses a perceptual method to evaluate a child’s articulation competence. The perceptual method can be used when the speech-language therapist listens to the child, and also may use a formal articulation test to record sound errors. Recently, for assessment of the client’s speech, the acoustic method is used. The purpose of this study is to delineate the perceptual-acoustic characteristics in preschool children with articulation disorders. Methods: Fifty-three typically developing children and seventy-two children with articulation disorders, grouped by age in groups of 4, 5, 6 years, served as participants in this study. Forty normal adults (twenty females and twenty males) were also investigated. The mean age of adult females was 21.1±1.71 years and the mean age of adult males was 20.18±1.4 years. U-TAP, Spectrum articulation test, and 7 picture cards containing simple vowels were used. A speech analysis system (Multi- speech model 3700) was used to assess the acoustic characteristics. The PCC, PVC, phonological process, and sound error types were analyzed using the perceptual method. The acoustic parameters, such as duration of consonants, voice onset time, release burst, vowel formants, nasal formants, and so on, were assessed for the words. Results: 1) The PCC, PVC, phonological processing, and error types such as omission, substitution, distortion and addition were a useful index of assessment to diagnosis articulation disorders in 4~6 years old children. 2) The acoustic parameters of vowels, such as vowel duration, total duration of words, formant, pitch, and energy reflected the maturity of articulators by demonstrating the growth and physiological changes in children with and without articulation disorders. 3) The position of front vowels /i/, /E/ in 4~5 years old children with articulation disorders was further back than typically normal children. Also, the vowels /a/, /ɔ/, /ɯ/, /o/, /u/ in 4~5 years old children with articulation disorders was positioned further to the front than typically normal children. 4) Consonant duration, vowel duration, total duration of the words were significantly longer in the children with and without articulation disorders, when compared to normal adults. 5) Release burst and nasal formants in children with and without articulation disorders were significantly higher than those of normal adults. 6) Fricative frequency in lenis fricatives in the initial positions of words is significantly lower in children than that of normal adults. 7) Mutivariate regression analysis indicated that release burst, nasal formant, vowel duration following glottalized stops were significant predictors accounting for PCC in children with and without articulation disorders. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that children with and without articulation disorders' phonological performances such as PCC, PVC, phonological processes, and sound error types were significantly different. However, children with articulation disorders' articulation competence was similar to typically developing children in an acoustic study. Some acoustic lengths, such as VOT and total duration of words, were produced similarly to adult females in 6 year old children with and without articulation disorders. The data of perceptual and acoustic characteristics in children with and without articulation disorders will be very useful in planning of speech therapy and for the assessment of the effects of speech therapy.
주제어
#Articulation disorders in children PCC Acoustic parameters Speech patterns
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