Comparison of tactile awareness in children during the production of isolated syllables of English.

To assess whether lingual-tactile feedback is developmental 60 normally developing children formed two groups of 30. Group 1 were in Grades 1 and 2 (M age=6.6 yr.) and Group 2 in Grades 5 and 6 (M age=10.7 yr.). All children passed a speech, language, and hearing screening. They were asked to imitate the production of a syllable, then describe the location of the tongue during that production. Following this request, subjects were given four multiple-choice questions to answer regarding (a) tongue height (high to low), (b) tongue position (front to back), (c) contact with the teeth, and (d) contact with other structures within the oral cavity. Seven English phonemes (t, k, sh, r, l, and th) were presented in a consonant vowel (CF) syllable with the central carat vowel (pronounced "uh"). Children were aided by a two-dimensional line drawing of the oral cavity. Mean scores for each syllable ranged from .8 to 2.0 (on a scale of 4.0). Total mean scores of 28 possible for older children (M= 11.0) was significantly better (t58=-2.2, p<.05) than that for the younger group (M=9.6). A significant r58 of .30 (p< .05) was found between age and total syllables correct. The children described tongue location during the production of isolated syllables. Older children performed the task better, indicating that lingual-tactile awareness is maturational. These findings parallel the 1967 results of McDonald and Aungst who found that identification of oral forms improved across age through about 15 years.