scholarly journals Acquiring diminutive allomorphs: taking item-specific characteristics into account

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-593
Author(s):  
Tiffany BOERSMA ◽  
Judith RISPENS ◽  
Fred WEERMAN ◽  
Anne BAKER
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Phonological Complexity

AbstractPhonological characteristics and frequencies of stems and allomorphs have been explored as possible factors causing differences in production accuracies between allomorphic forms. However, previous findings are not consistent and the relative contributions of these factors are unclear. This study investigated target and erroneous productions of the Dutch diminutive, which has five allomorphs with varying type frequencies and of which the selection depends on the phonological characteristics of the stems. Typically developing children (N = 115, 5;1–10;3) were tested on their production of real and nonce diminutives. Linear mixed effects modelling was used to analyse the data taking nonverbal IQ into account. Type frequencies of the allomorphs and differences in phonological characteristics of the stems were found to be related to differences in production accuracies between the allomorphs. However, phonological characteristics of the stems appeared to have a bigger impact, mainly due to the phonological complexity of these characteristics.

scholarly journals Phonological complexity and prosodic structure in assessment of Serbian phonological development

Psihologija ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Savic ◽  
Darinka Andjelkovic ◽  
Nevena Budjevac ◽  
der Van
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Metrical Structure ◽  
Preschool Period ◽  
Two Parameters ◽  
Phonological Complexity

In this research we investigate the relevance of phonological parameters in acquisition of Serbian language. Implementation of British Test of Phonological Screeing (TOPhS, van der Lely and Harris, 1999) has revealed that phonological complexity (syllabic and metrical structure) influences accuracy in non-word repetition task and could be used in assessment of phonological development of typically developing children, as well as of children with Grammatical Specific Language Impairment (G-SLI) (van der Lely and Harris, 1999; Gallon, Harris & van der Lely, 2007). Having in mind phonological properties of Serbian language (Zec, 2000, 2007), we hypothesized that several parameters can be used in assessment of phonological development in Serbian: a. onset (consonants cluster at the beginning of syllable; b. rime (consonant at the end of syllable). c. word of three syllables, and d. placement of stressed syllable in a word. Combination of these parameters gave us a list of 96 pseudo words of different levels of complexity. Participants were 14 adults and 30 children from kindergarten divided into three age groups (3, 4 and 5 years). Task for the participants was to loudly repeat every pseudo-word, and their reproduction was recorded. Transcription of their answers and coding of errors allowed us to analyze impact of different parameters on accuracy of phonological reproduction in children of different ages. The results indicate that the ability for reproduction of Serbian phonological properties develops in early preschool period. The most difficult is cluster of consonants at the beginning of syllable, and consonant at the end of syllable. These two parameters are even more difficult for reproduction in three-syllable words or in words that have more then one parameter marked. Placement of stress in a word is acquired even before 3 years. In other words, the results have shown that investigated features could be good indicators in assessment of early phonological development of typically developing children. Delay in their acquisition could reveal possible developmental difficulties.

Repetition Versus Variability in Verb Learning: Sometimes Less Is More

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Sabrina Horvath ◽  
Sudha Arunachalam
Keyword(s):  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Less Is More ◽  
Late Talkers ◽  
Consistent Condition ◽  
Initial Representation

Purpose This study examined whether 2-year-olds are better able to acquire novel verb meanings when they appear in varying linguistic contexts, including both content nouns and pronouns, as compared to when the contexts are consistent, including only content nouns. Additionally, differences between typically developing toddlers and late talkers were explored. Method Forty-seven English-acquiring 2-year-olds ( n = 14 late talkers, n = 33 typically developing) saw scenes of actors manipulating objects. These actions were labeled with novel verbs. In the varied condition, children heard sentences containing both content nouns and pronouns (e.g., “The girl is ziffing the truck. She is ziffing it!”). In the consistent condition, children heard the verb an equal number of times, but only with content nouns (e.g., “The girl is ziffing the truck. The girl is ziffing the truck!”). At test, children were shown two new scenes and were asked to find the novel verb's referent. Children's eye gaze was analyzed as a measure of learning. Results Mixed-effects regression analyses revealed that children looked more toward the correct scene in the consistent condition than the varied condition. This difference was more pronounced for late talkers than for typically developing children. Conclusion To acquire an initial representation of a new verb's meaning, children, particularly late talkers, benefit more from hearing the verb in consistent linguistic contexts than in varying contexts.

scholarly journals The syntactic and semantic features of two-year-olds’ verb vocabularies: a comparison of typically developing children and late talkers

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina HORVATH ◽  
Leslie RESCORLA ◽  
Sudha ARUNACHALAM
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Retrospective Analysis ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Group Classification ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Late Talkers

AbstractChildren with language disorders have particular difficulty with verbs, but when this difficulty emerges is unknown. We examined syntactic (transitive, intransitive, ditransitive) and semantic (manner, result) features of two-year-olds’ verb vocabularies, contrasting late talkers and typically developing children to look for early differences in verb vocabulary. We conducted a retrospective analysis of parent-reported expressive vocabulary from the Language Development Survey (N = 564, N(LT) = 62) (Rescorla, 1989). Verbs were coded for the presence or absence of each syntactic and semantic feature. Binomial mixed-effects regressions revealed the effect of feature on children's knowledge and whether feature interacted with group classification. Our results revealed mostly similarities between late talkers and typically developing children. All children's vocabularies showed a bias against verbs that occur in ditransitive frames. One feature showed a difference between groups: late talkers showed a bias against manner verbs that typically developing children did not.

Miswriting (Especially Mirror Writing) of the Digits: An Ecological Assessment Using ELFE Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Jean-Paul Fischer ◽  
Xavier Thierry
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
National Cohort ◽  
Smartphone Use ◽  
Second Year ◽  
École Maternelle ◽  
The Right ◽  
Age Of Entry

The French National Cohort of Children Study (Etude Longitudinale Française depuis l'Enfance—ELFE) tested the literacy and numeracy skills of 4- to 5-year-old typically developing children in the second year of école maternelle. Tasks were administered by more than 4,000 teachers at schools across France. One of the study's numeracy tasks required participants to write the number of ducks (up to 5) they had counted. Analyzing the digits written by 14,904 children showed that miswritings were much more common for the digit 3 than for the digit 4. This result is consistent with the right-orienting rule, which young children in Western cultures apply when they do not know a digit's orientation, and which leads them to write, for example, ε instead of 3.The nature and frequency of miswritten digits did not differ significantly between the 466 children presumed to have written with their left hand and the 3,531 children presumed to have written with their right hand. However, a logistic mixed-effects regression showed that two other factors—age of entry to école maternelle and very early smartphone use—had a (modest) influence on the percentage of digits that were miswritten.

How Do Children Organize Their Speech in the First Years of Life? Insight From Ultrasound Imaging

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1355-1368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aude Noiray ◽  
Dzhuma Abakarova ◽  
Elina Rubertus ◽  
Stella Krüger ◽  
Mark Tiede
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Ultrasound Imaging ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
German Children

Purpose This study reports on a cross-sectional investigation of lingual coarticulation in 57 typically developing German children (4 cohorts from 3.5 to 7 years of age) as compared with 12 adults. It examines whether the organization of lingual gestures for intrasyllabic coarticulation differs as a function of age and consonantal context. Method Using the technique of ultrasound imaging, we recorded movement of the tongue articulator during the production of pseudowords, including various vocalic and consonantal contexts. Results Results from linear mixed-effects models show greater lingual coarticulation in all groups of children as compared with adults with a significant decrease from the kindergarten years (at ages 3, 4, and 5 years) to the end of the 1st year into primary school (at age 7 years). Additional differences in coarticulation degree were found across and within age groups as a function of the onset consonant identity (/b/, /d/, and /g/). Conclusions Results support the view that, although coarticulation degree decreases with age, children do not organize consecutive articulatory gestures with a uniform organizational scheme (e.g., segmental or syllabic). Instead, results suggest that coarticulatory organization is sensitive to the underlying articulatory properties of the segments combined.

Nonword Repetition Skills in Gulf Arabic–Speaking Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3700-3713
Author(s):  
Saleh Shaalan
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Gulf Arabic ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Phonological Complexity

Purpose This study examined the performance of Gulf Arabic–speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) on a Gulf Arabic nonword repetition (GA-NWR) test and compared it to their age- and language-matched groups. We also investigated the role of syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity in light of NWR theories. Method A new GA-NWR test was conducted with three groups of Gulf Arabic–speaking children: school-age children with DLD, language-matched controls (LCs), and age-matched controls (ACs). The test consisted of two- and three-syllable words that either had no clusters, medial clusters, final clusters, or medial + final clusters. Results The GA-NWR distinguished between the performance of children with DLD and the LC and AC groups. Results showed significant syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity effects. Differences between the DLD and typically developing groups were seen in two- and three-syllable nonwords; however, when compared on nonwords with no clusters, children with DLD were not significantly different from the LC group. Conclusions The GA-NWR test differentiated between children with DLD and their ACs and LCs. Findings, therefore, support its clinical utility in this variety of Arabic. Results showed that phonological processing factors, such as phonological complexity, may have stronger effects when compared to syllable length effects. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12996812

Age Norms for Auditory-Perceptual Neurophonetic Parameters: A Prerequisite for the Assessment of Childhood Dysarthria

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1071-1082
Author(s):  
Theresa Schölderle ◽  
Elisabet Haas ◽  
Wolfram Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Age Norms ◽  
Elementary School Age ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
Substantial Progress ◽  
Computer Based

Purpose The aim of this study was to collect auditory-perceptual data on established symptom categories of dysarthria from typically developing children between 3 and 9 years of age, for the purpose of creating age norms for dysarthria assessment. Method One hundred forty-four typically developing children (3;0–9;11 [years;months], 72 girls and 72 boys) participated. We used a computer-based game specifically designed for this study to elicit sentence repetitions and spontaneous speech samples. Speech recordings were analyzed using the auditory-perceptual criteria of the Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales, a standardized German assessment tool for dysarthria in adults. The Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales (scales and features) cover clinically relevant dimensions of speech and allow for an evaluation of well-established symptom categories of dysarthria. Results The typically developing children exhibited a number of speech characteristics overlapping with established symptom categories of dysarthria (e.g., breathy voice, frequent inspirations, reduced articulatory precision, decreased articulation rate). Substantial progress was observed between 3 and 9 years of age, but with different developmental trajectories across different dimensions. In several areas (e.g., respiration, voice quality), 9-year-olds still presented with salient developmental speech characteristics, while in other dimensions (e.g., prosodic modulation), features typically associated with dysarthria occurred only exceptionally, even in the 3-year-olds. Conclusions The acquisition of speech motor functions is a prolonged process not yet completed with 9 years. Various developmental influences (e.g., anatomic–physiological changes) shape children's speech specifically. Our findings are a first step toward establishing auditory-perceptual norms for dysarthria in children of kindergarten and elementary school age. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12133380

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