ERIC Number: EJ1290621
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1368-2822
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Clinical Experience and Categorical Perception of Children's Speech
Meyer, Marie K.; Munson, Benjamin
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, v56 n2 p374-388 Mar-Apr 2021
Background: Accurate and detailed records of children's speech are a critical component of competent service delivery in speech-language pathology/speech and language therapy (SLP/SLT). Previous research has shown that during speech-sound acquisition, children gradually learn to produce sounds in adult-like manners. Continuous rating scales are a way to track this gradual learning. Aims: To examine whether clinical experience affects the ability and willingness to rate children's speech production using continuous rating scales. Methods & Procedures: An online survey was administered to 81 US-based SLPs/SLTs, binned into more- and less-experienced groups, and 20 non-SLPs/SLTs. The survey included a speech-sound rating task in which participants rated the production of place of articulation in children's productions of word-initial /[voiceless dental fricative]/, /s/, /[esh - voiceless palato-alveolar fricative]/, /d/, /g/, /t/ and /k/ on a nine-point equally appearing interval scale. We examined the extent to which these were accurate (i.e., the extent to which they matched laboratory measures of production characteristics) and the extent to which the ratings were gradual (i.e., they used the entire rating scales, rather than just the endpoints). Main Contribution: There were no consistent differences between non-SLPs/SLTs, less-experienced SLPs/SLTs and more-experienced SLPs/SLTs in a measure of the accuracy of responses. More consistent differences were found in the extent to which listeners used the endpoints of the scale: greater experience was associated with greater use of the endpoint values. Conclusions & Implications: More-experienced SLPs/SLTs are less likely to use the entire range of continuous rating scales to rate children's speech accuracy than less-experienced SLPs/SLTs or clinically untrained listeners. Implications for service delivery are discussed.
Descriptors: Child Language, Speech Language Pathology, Speech Therapy, Language Acquisition, Auditory Perception, Rating Scales, Speech Impairments, Speech Acts, Clinical Experience
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A