Single word test for the assessment of speech sound production in Persian speaking children: Development, validity and reliability

Author(s):  
Akram Ahmadi ◽  
Abbas Ebadi ◽  
Mohammad Kamali ◽  
Talieh Zarifian ◽  
Mehdi Dastjerdi Kazemi ◽  
...  
2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Flipsen ◽  
Diane A. Ogiela

Purpose Our understanding of test construction has improved since the now-classic review by McCauley and Swisher (1984). The current review article examines the psychometric characteristics of current single-word tests of speech sound production in an attempt to determine whether our tests have improved since then. It also provides a resource that clinicians may use to help them make test selection decisions for their particular client populations. Method Ten tests published since 1990 were reviewed to determine whether they met the 10 criteria set out by McCauley and Swisher (1984), as well as 7 additional criteria. Results All of the tests reviewed met at least 3 of McCauley and Swisher's (1984) original criteria, and 9 of 10 tests met at least 5 of them. Most of the tests met some of the additional criteria as well. Conclusions The state of the art for single-word tests of speech sound production in children appears to have improved in the last 30 years. There remains, however, room for improvement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-474
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Haresabadi ◽  
◽  
Leila Ghasisin ◽  
Antonio Schindler ◽  
Hamid Heidarian Miri ◽  
...  

Objectives: The present study aimed to develop and validate a quick repetition test using familiar and culture-based words for assessing Persian-speaking children with Speech Sound Disorders (SSDs). Methods: The study sample was divided into two groups, including 419 participants without any clinical signs of speech impairment and 36 cases with SSD. The psychometric properties of the single word quick repetition test, including reliability (inter-rater and test-retest reliability) and validity (construct, discriminant, convergent, clinical and concurrent validity) were examined. Moreover, the descriptive data for children without SSD were reported. Results: The obtained test-retest and inter-rater reliability data were satisfactory with Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC): >0.7. There was a positive correlation between the results of the quick repetition test and phonetic test, indicating the scale’s acceptable convergence validity. Using inflated beta-binomial regression, statistically significant improvement in test score was found with age (discriminant validity). Comparing the correct responses of the control and case groups (clinical validity) revealed a significant difference in responses between the study groups. Results of Bland–Altman plot suggested an acceptable agreement between quick repetition test and phonetic test (construct validity). Discussion: The Persian quick repetition test is a valid and reliable instrument facilitating the screening of speech sound abilities in 3-8-year-olds. Moreover, this test’s conciseness makes it easily applicable in clinical practice and epidemiologic investigations. Establishing descriptive data from a large sample facilitated comparing children’s speech ability to the speech development standards.


2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby Macrae

Purpose This clinical focus article provides readers with a description of the stimulus characteristics of 12 popular tests of speech sound production. Method Using significance testing and descriptive analyses, stimulus items were compared in terms of the number of opportunities for production of all consonant singletons, clusters, and rhotic and nonrhotic vowels of Standard American English; phonetic/phonological and structural complexity; and the presence of bound morphemes. Results The tests varied widely in terms of the number of opportunities for production of consonant singletons, clusters, and rhotic and nonrhotic vowels. Most of the tests included only 1 opportunity, scored or unscored, to produce a majority of the consonant singletons in each word position. Only 3 of the tests included stimulus items with 3-element clusters. The majority contained limited opportunities to produce 3- or 4-syllable stimulus items. The tests provided sufficient opportunities for production of most vowels, although most did not score vowels. The tests differed significantly in the complexity of their stimulus items. Most, however, contained a negligible number of items that, with the addition of a bound morpheme, resulted in a word-final cluster. Conclusion Most of the tests elicit an inadequate sample with which to conduct a comprehensive phonological analysis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby Macrae

This paper describes a comprehensive speech sound assessment for preschool children suspected of having a speech sound disorder (SSD). Recommended components include standardized single-word testing, additional single-word testing, connected speech sampling, phonological analyses, stimulability testing, and inconsistency testing. While data collection and some cursory analyses take place during the evaluation session, allowing the speech-language pathologist (SLP) to share key information with the parents/caregivers, much of the in-depth analysis takes place later. Since most preschool children's SSDs are phonological in nature, a phonological approach to analysis, target selection, and treatment is required. Two examples of phonological analyses, a place-voice-manner (PVM) analysis and an error pattern analysis, are discussed. Both allow the SLP to identify patterns of difficulty in the child's speech with regards to the place, voicing, and/or manner characteristics of target consonants. Phonological analyses can be performed using the child's single-word and connected speech samples. This information, along with the results from the stimulability and inconsistency testing, will allow the SLP to gain a complete picture of the child's speech sound abilities and difficulties, determine prognosis for change, and identify treatment targets.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 708-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharynne McLeod ◽  
Sarah Verdon

Purpose In this study, the authors aimed to evaluate instruments designed to assess children's speech production in languages other than English. Method Ninety-eight speech assessments in languages other than English were identified: 62 were commercially published, 17 published within journal articles, and 19 informal assessments. A review was undertaken of 30 commercially published assessments that could be obtained. Results The 30 instruments assessed 19 languages: Cantonese, Danish, Finnish, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Maltese-English, Norwegian, Pakistani-heritage languages (Mirpuri, Punjabi, Urdu), Portuguese, Putonghua (Mandarin), Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. The majority (70.0%) assessed speech sound production in monolingual speakers, 20.0% assessed one language of bilingual speakers, and 10.0% assessed both languages of bilingual speakers. All used single-word picture elicitation. Approximately half (53.3%) were norm-referenced, and the number of children in the normative samples ranged between 145 and 2,568. The remaining assessments were criterion-referenced (50.0%) (one fitted both categories). The assessments with English manuals met many of the psychometric criteria for operationalization; however, only 2 provided sensitivity and specificity data. Conclusions Despite the varying countries of origin, there were many similarities between speech assessments in languages other than English. Few were designed for use with multilingual children, so validation is required for use in English-speaking contexts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3714-3726
Author(s):  
Sherine R. Tambyraja ◽  
Kelly Farquharson ◽  
Laura Justice

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which school-age children with speech sound disorder (SSD) exhibit concomitant reading difficulties and examine the extent to which phonological processing and speech production abilities are associated with increased likelihood of reading risks. Method Data were obtained from 120 kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade children who were in receipt of school-based speech therapy services. Children were categorized as being “at risk” for reading difficulties if standardized scores on a word decoding measure were 1 SD or more from the mean. The selected predictors of reading risk included children's rapid automatized naming ability, phonological awareness (PA), and accuracy of speech sound production. Results Descriptive results indicated that just over 25% of children receiving school-based speech therapy for an SSD exhibited concomitant deficits in word decoding and that those exhibiting risk at the beginning of the school year were likely to continue to be at risk at the end of the school year. Results from a hierarchical logistic regression suggested that, after accounting for children's age, general language abilities, and socioeconomic status, both PA and speech sound production abilities were significantly associated with the likelihood of being classified as at risk. Conclusions School-age children with SSD are at increased risk for reading difficulties that are likely to persist throughout an academic year. The severity of phonological deficits, reflected by PA and speech output, may be important indicators of subsequent reading problems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39
Author(s):  
Krystal L. Werfel ◽  
Marren C. Brooks ◽  
Lisa Fitton

Although speech–language pathologists increasingly make use of tablets in clinical practice, little research to date has evaluated the effectiveness or efficiency of tablet use for targeting speech sound goals. The twofold purpose of this study was to compare (a) the effectiveness and (b) the efficiency of speech sound intervention using tablets versus flashcards. Four kindergarten students with at least two similar speech sound errors participated in this adapted alternating treatments single subject design study that explored the functional relation between speech sound intervention that differed by modality of delivery (tablet vs. flashcards) and increased speech sound skill in elementary school children with speech sound errors. Flashcards and tablets were both effective single-word speech sound intervention modalities; however, for three of the four participants, flashcards were more efficient than tablets.


2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (7) ◽  
pp. 721-737
Author(s):  
H Teffahi ◽  
B Guerin ◽  
A Djeradi

Knowledge of vocal tract area functions is important for the understanding of phenomena occurring during speech production. We present here a new measurement method based on the external excitation of the vocal tract with a known pseudo-random sequence, where the area function is obtained by a linear prediction analysis applied to the cross-correlation between the sequence and the signal measured at the lips. The advantages of this method over methods based on sweep-tones or white noise excitation are (1) a much shorter measurement time (about 100 ms) and (2) the possibility of speech sound production during the measurement. This method has been checked against classical methods through systematic comparisons on a small corpus of vowels. Moreover, it has been verified that simultaneous speech sound production does not perturb significantly the measurements. This method should thus be a very helpful tool for the investigation of the acoustic properties of the vocal tract in various cases for vowels.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie E. Ambrose ◽  
Lauren M. Unflat Berry ◽  
Elizabeth A. Walker ◽  
Melody Harrison ◽  
Jacob Oleson ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of the study was to (a) compare the speech sound production abilities of 2-year-old children who are hard of hearing (HH) to children with normal hearing (NH), (b) identify sources of risk for individual children who are HH, and (c) determine whether speech sound production skills at age 2 were predictive of speech sound production skills at age 3. Method Seventy children with bilateral, mild-to-severe hearing loss who use hearing aids and 37 age- and socioeconomic status–matched children with NH participated. Children's speech sound production abilities were assessed at 2 and 3 years of age. Results At age 2, the HH group demonstrated vowel production abilities on par with their NH peers but weaker consonant production abilities. Within the HH group, better outcomes were associated with hearing aid fittings by 6 months of age, hearing loss of less than 45 dB HL, stronger vocabulary scores, and being female. Positive relationships existed between children's speech sound production abilities at 2 and 3 years of age. Conclusion Assessment of early speech sound production abilities in combination with demographic, audiologic, and linguistic variables may be useful in identifying HH children who are at risk for delays in speech sound production.


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