Kuwaiti Arabic: acquisition of singleton consonants.

Background: Arabic, a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic variety, has a rich consonant inventory. Previous studies on Arabic phonological acquisition have focused primarily on dialects in Jordan and Egypt. Because Arabic varies considerably across regions, information is also needed for other dialects.

Phonological assessment and analysis tools for Tagalog: Preliminary development.

Information and assessment tools concerning Tagalog phonological development are minimally available. The current study thus sets out to develop elicitation and analysis tools for Tagalog. A picture elicitation task was designed with a warm-up, screener and two extension lists, one with more complex and one with simpler words.

A Case Study on Vocal Loudness With a Young Adult With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Delay.

Purpose: This clinical focus article describes an exploratory case study addressing reduction of vocal loudness in a young adult with a history of autism spectrum disorder and developmental delay. The need for a short-term pullout individual intervention arose from his participation in the Advancing Language and Literacy group, a program that provides support for enhancement of speech, language, and literacy skills for young adults with developmental disabilities.

Method: The participant attended individual treatment sessions weekly for 9 sessions, all of which were digitally audio-recorded.

Evaluation of multisyllabic word production in Canadian English- or French-speaking children within a non-linear phonological framework.

Currently, there is no theoretically justified, evidence-based metric for evaluating segmental and prosodic components of multisyllabic words (MSWs). A pilot study evaluated a MSW metric embedded in non-linear phonological- and language-processing frameworks. Six MSWs were analyzed in 10 Canadian English-speaking 5-year-olds with typically developing speech, and eight French-speaking children, ages 3-4 years, with protracted phonological development (PPD).

Fricative acquisition in English- and Icelandic-speaking preschoolers with protracted phonological development.

Few studies have directly compared fricative development across languages. The current study examined voiceless fricative production in Icelandic- versus English-speaking preschoolers with protracted phonological development (PPD). Expected were: a low fricative match (with age effect), highest match levels for /f/ and non-word-initial fricatives, developmentally early mismatch (error) patterns including deletion, multiple feature category mismatches or stops, and developmentally later patterns affecting only one feature category.

Word structures of Granada Spanish-speaking preschoolers with typical versus protracted phonological development.

Background: Research on children's word structure development is limited. Yet, phonological intervention aims to accelerate the acquisition of both speech-sounds and word structure, such as word length, stress or shapes in CV sequences. Until normative studies and meta-analyses provide in-depth information on this topic, smaller investigations can provide initial benchmarks for clinical purposes.

A multi-modal approach to intervention for one adolescent's frontal lisp.

An adolescent with a persistent frontal lisp participated in a two-part 11-session intervention case study. The first phase used ultrasound imagery and acoustic, phonetic and voice education to provide information about articulatory setting (AS) and general awareness of the speech production process. The second phase used traditional articulation therapy, online visual-acoustic biofeedback and fluency strategies to target the frontal lisp directly (specifically /s/, /z/, /ʃ/ and /ʧ/).

Speech assessment of Chinese-English bilingual children: accent versus developmental level.

The study aimed to evaluate the phonological profiles of Chinese-English bilingual children in primary grades relative to those of English monolinguals, and to compare these profiles with speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') ratings of children's speech in terms of accent or developmental level. Participants were 29 Chinese-English bilinguals and 25 English-monolingual children. Speech samples were collected using the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-2, either a Cantonese or Mandarin phonology test, and three sentences in a delayed repetition task.

Phonological awareness skills in the two languages of Mandarin-English bilingual children.

A number of studies have shown that bilingual children have an advantage when performing on phonological awareness tasks, particularly in their stronger language. Little research has been done to date, examining the effects of bilingualism on both languages of bilingual children. In this study Mandarin-English bilingual children's performance on phonological awareness tests was compared with that of Mandarin monolingual children and English monolingual children.

Phonological development of Kuwaiti Arabic: preliminary data.

An overview of Kuwaiti Arabic is presented, with very preliminary data from two typically developing brothers (ages 2;4 and 5;2) and a 6-year-old with a severe sensorineural hearing impairment. The siblings show early mastery of many aspects of the complex Arabic phonological system, with universally expected later mastery of coronal fricatives and /r/. The 6-year-old shows patterns typical of children with hearing impairments, e.

First Nations English dialects in Canada: implications for speech-language pathology.

The current study reports preliminary information gathered about First Nations English dialects in Canada and considers implications for speech-language pathology practice. Information was gathered from literature searches and forums of First Nations and non-First Nations speech-language pathologists, developmentalists, and linguists. The exploratory findings suggest that First Nations English dialects are shaped both by transference of features from the ancestral languages and by cultural patterns of communication.

Ultrasound as visual feedback in speech habilitation: exploring consultative use in rural British Columbia, Canada.

Ultrasound has shown promise as a visual feedback tool in speech therapy. Rural clients, however, often have minimal access to new technologies. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate consultative treatment using ultrasound in rural communities.

Case study using ultrasound to treat /r/.

Background: Ultrasound has shown promise as visual feedback in remediation of /r/.

Aims: To compare treatment for /r/ with and without ultrasound.

Methods & Procedures: A Canadian English-speaking adolescent participated in a case study with a no treatment baseline, alternating treatment blocks with and without ultrasound and a final no treatment period.