Psychometric Characteristics of Single-Word Tests of Children's Speech Sound Production

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Flipsen ◽  
Diane A. Ogiela
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Test Construction ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Psychometric Characteristics ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Selection Decisions ◽  
Children's Speech

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.

Stimulus Characteristics of Single-Word Tests of Children's Speech Sound Production

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby Macrae
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
American English ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Significance Testing ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Standard American English ◽  
Word Position ◽  
Final Cluster ◽  
Children's Speech

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.

A Review of 30 Speech Assessments in 19 Languages Other Than English

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 708-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharynne McLeod ◽  
Sarah Verdon
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Criterion Referenced ◽  
Children's Speech

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.

scholarly journals Speech Sound Production in 2-Year-Olds Who Are Hard of Hearing

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie E. Ambrose ◽  
Lauren M. Unflat Berry ◽  
Elizabeth A. Walker ◽  
Melody Harrison ◽  
Jacob Oleson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Linguistic Variables ◽  
Vowel Production ◽  
Severe Hearing Loss ◽  
Children's Speech

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.

Initial voicing contrast acquisition in normal and phonologically disordered children

1991 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann A. Tyler ◽  
John H. Saxman
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Voicing Contrast ◽  
Children's Speech

ABSTRACTSpeech sound production changes that occurred during acquisition of the initial voicing contrast induced through treatment in phonologically disordered children were compared to those that occurred during normal acquisition of the contrast. Target stop productions from three normally developing children and six phonologically disordered children were analyzed acoustically along the temporal measure of VOT. The phonologically disordered subjects displayed different patterns of voicing contrast acquisition, none of which replicated the normally developing children's pattern. The phonologically disordered children's patterns of acquisition were characterized by larger and more variable VOT values in comparison to those of the normally developing children. Different patterns of voicing contrast acquisition observed in VOTs are discussed with regard to the nature of linguistic change and the source of breakdown in children's speech sound errors.

scholarly journals Developing and Examining the Psychometrics of Single-word Quick Repetition Test for Speech Sound Production in Persian-speaking Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-474
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Haresabadi ◽  
◽  
Leila Ghasisin ◽  
Antonio Schindler ◽  
Hamid Heidarian Miri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Speech Impairment ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Descriptive Data ◽  
Significant Difference

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.

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

2018 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 61-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akram Ahmadi ◽  
Abbas Ebadi ◽  
Mohammad Kamali ◽  
Talieh Zarifian ◽  
Mehdi Dastjerdi Kazemi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Word Test ◽  
Children Development

scholarly journals Maternal Cultural Orientation and Speech Sound Production in Spanish/English Dual Language Preschoolers

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Simona Montanari ◽  
Robert Mayr ◽  
Kaveri Subrahmanyam
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Education ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Cultural Orientation ◽  
Language Outcomes ◽  
Mexican Culture ◽  
The Status ◽  
Children's Speech

Empirical work has shown that maternal education is related to children’s language outcomes, especially in the societal language, among Spanish-English bilingual children growing up in the U.S. However, no study thus far has assessed the links between maternal cultural orientation and children’s speech sound production. This paper explores whether mothers’ orientation to American (acculturation) and Mexican culture (enculturation) and overall linear acculturation are related to children’s accuracy of production of consonants, of different sound classes, and of phonemes shared and unshared between languages in both English and Spanish at age 4;6 (4 years and 6 months). The results reveal a link between maternal acculturation and children’s segmental accuracy in English, but no relation was found between mothers’ enculturation and children’s speech sound production in Spanish. We interpreted the results in English as suggesting that more American-oriented mothers may have been using more English with their children, boosting their English production abilities and promoting English speech sound development. At the same time, we speculate that the results in Spanish were possibly due to the high and homogeneous levels of Mexican orientation among mothers, to language input differences attributable to distinct cultural practices, or to the status of Spanish as a minority language.

Comprehensive Assessment of Speech Sound Production in Preschool Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby Macrae
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Pattern Analysis ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Speech Sound Disorder ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Depth Analysis

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.

Five Reasons Why Nonspeech Oral Motor Exercises (NSOME) Do Not Work

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 109-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory L. Lof ◽  
Maggie Watson
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Motor Speech ◽  
Therapeutic Technique ◽  
Oral Motor ◽  
Oral Motor Exercises ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Production Problems

Abstract Nonspeech oral motor exercises (NSOME) are used often by speech-language pathologists to help children improve their speech sound productions. However, the phonology, articulation, and motor speech development and disorders literature does not support their use. This article presents five reasons (four theoretical, one empirical) why NSOME are not an appropriate therapeutic technique for treating children's speech sound production problems.

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