Pragmatic function and level of linguistic stress in five speech delayed children (four to six years old) were studied as they relate to variability in phonological performance. Results indicated that both type of pragmatic function and level of linguistic stress were associated with reduction in the occurrence of natural phonological processes.…

This study investigated the effect on repetition performance of one previously uncontrolled characteristic of multisyllabic nonsense words: the lexical status (word or nonword) of their stressed syllables. Eleven normally achieving boys (ages 9-12) repeated nonsense words with lexical stressed syllables more accurately than nonsense words with…

The study was designed to assess the effects of on-off voice adjustments on the frequency of stuttering in 15 child stutterers in the third through the seventh grades who were asked to read two passages, one which contained a normal distribution of voiced and voiceless sounds; the other contained nearly all voiced sounds. (Author)

Comparison of the formant frequencies of 15 adult stutterers' fluent and disfluent vowels and of stutterers' and nonstutterers' fluent vowels indicated that differences (between stutterers and nonstutterers) could be accounted for by differences in vocal tract dimensions. No differences were found between frequencies of fluent and disfluent vowels…

This study examined the influence of metrical patterns (syllable stress and serial position) of words on the production accuracy of 20 children (ages 22 months to 28 months). Among results were that one-fourth of the initial unstressed syllables were omitted and that consonant omissions, though few, tended to occur in the initial position.…

Five-year-old articulation-disordered children, some classified as substituters and some as syllable reducers, were compared with normal child and adult controls in their production of voicing contrasts. In every comparison the substituters' performances resembled that of the normal controls, as did the syllable reducers' use of voice onset time…

The use of cues to voicing perception of initial stop consonants in multiple spoken syllables was studied for moderately/severely hearing impaired (N=43) and normal-hearing listeners (N=12). Results confirmed that voice onset time was a strong voicing cue for both hearing impaired and normal hearing listeners. (Author/DB)

Results of a comparative study of speech-like vocalizations of a deaf infant and 11 hearing infants indicated that from eight to 13 months, the deaf subject differed strikingly from hearing infants of comparable age. The topography of the deaf infant's vocalizations resembled that of four- to six-month-old hearing infants. (Author/CL)

Speech timing of nine phonologically disordered and nine normally developing preschoolers was investigated for the voicing contrasts of word-initial and word-final stop consonants. Results were interpreted to mean that some phonologically disordered children may have less mature speech timing control. (Author/CL)

Seven English- and seven Spanish-learning two-year-olds were tested for speech skills in a real speech context. Results showed that both groups of children found identification of native contrasts much easier than identification of nonnative contrasts. (Author/CL)

Analysis of the liquid, fricative, and affricate sounds in the phonological system of a misarticulating four year old found that the child's perception of certain sounds was superior to his productions, whereas for other sounds productive skill was superior to perceptual performance. A two-lexicon model of underlying representation best accounted…

This study analyzed a conversational speech sample from 10 preschool children stuttering for a year or less and age- and sex-matched nonstuttering children. Analysis indicated no significant between-group differences for either the duration of acoustically measured sound/syllable repetitions and sound prolongations or the number of repeated units…

The study examined the sensitivity of young children (3-7 years old) and adults to the acoustic variations resulting from a speaker's coarticulation (or coproduction) of phonetic segments. Results indicated perceptual sensitivity to certain coarticulatory effects present as early as three years of age. (Author/DB)

The study found that 8 language-impaired 3-year-old children were less likely than 10 normally developing children to apply unusual sound changes to words with the potential for homonymy, suggesting they are limited in their ability to capitalize on the phonetic regularities of language. (Author/DB)

This study investigated whether phonological working memory was associated with spoken language development in 38 preschool children. Significant differences were found, with children who had good phonological memory abilities producing language that was more grammatically complex, contained a richer array of words, and included longer utterances…