Phonological Analysis of Child Speech Relational Analysis

Model of Speech Disorders A speech disorder can be phonetic (articulatory), phonemic (phonologic), or both The broader term “speech disorder” encompasses all of these

Nature of Assessment Phonological analysis includes the identification, description, and classification of sound differences in a child’s speech that signal meaning differences 3 key concepts in phonological analysis (Grunwell, 1997): System Structure Stability

System Includes a set (or inventory) of different sounds produced by the child Adequate sound systems are symmetrical Sounds are contrastive in place, voice, and manner and function to signal differences in meaning Sounds function contrastively in all word positions (I, M, F)

Structure Refers to the rules and organization of the sound system Specifies the distribution and combination of sounds in a language Example: [  ] cannot occur # ___ [pl, bl, kl, gl] are permissable clusters, but not *[tl, dl]

Stability Refers to the predictability of the speaker’s systemic and structural patterns (or organization) of their sound system The inventory of sounds (SYSTEM) and the rules that govern the distribution and combination of sounds (STRUCTURE) provide the organization and therefore predictability of a “phonology”

Relational Analysis Child’s speech compared to adult speech in a one-to-one comparison Differences between the two productions can be described in terms of SODA, phonological processes, PVM error patterns Only describes error sounds, therefore, often called an ERROR ANALYSIS

Independent Analysis Child’s speech is described as a unique, independent, self-contained sound system NO comparisons made between child:adult systems Describes what the child DOES rather than what the child does NOT do (as in error/relational analysis)

Issues in Completing a Phonological Analysis of Child Speech Type and length of sample Sound inventory ~ pattern test Elicited single word ~ conversational 50 words ~ > 300 words Phonetic transcription Must complete whole-word transcription Severity of disorder Mild-moderate: relational analysis of sound inventory or pattern test may be sufficient Severe-profound: independent + relational analyses with larger samples ( words)

Two Frameworks for Phonological Analysis Relational Analysis SODA Distinctive feature analysis Phonological process analysis PVM analysis Independent + Relational Analyses PPK Systemic phonological analysis of child speech (SPACS)

Phonological Process Analysis Number of commercial tests available Dunn (1982): APP identified most patterns Non-standardized phonological process analyses Dunn (1982): non-standardized analysis was better than APP

List of Common Phonological Processes Common to many commercial tests, but not tied to any one published test Listed according to syllable structure (deletion) processes and sound simplification (substitution and assimilation) processes

Considerations in completing non- standardized phonological process analysis Choose the process that BEST describes error pattern Ex: [  o] for [so] could be either BACKING or PALATALIZATION; PAL provides more precise description of what child is doing than broader label of BA In general, each process only changes one aspect of PLACE, VOICE, or MANNER Process ordering (Edwards, 1992)

Process Ordering Sequential application of processes when one sound error involves more than one phonological process (PDI) “unraveling” of child’s error productions relative to adult target Example: /f  /adult target s  apicalization t  stopping d  prevocalic voicing [d  ]child’s pronunciation

Steps in completing a non-standardized phonological process analysis Complete whole-word transcription of speech Transcribe target word according to AT Apply appropriate phonological processes in sequential manner until all aspects of sound change are accounted Summarize results (Summary Sheet) Select appropriate tx goals

Summary Sheet Organize/summarize results Frequency of occurrence of each process Process limitation/application Developmental information on processes

Select tx targets 3 perspectives Intelligibility perspective most frequently occurring process(es) Developmental perspective Select earliest process(es) that should have been suppressed Combination

Advantages/Disadvantages of Phonological Process Analysis Advantage Describes error patterns Terms are “user friendly” Disadvantage Time needed to complete analysis Selection of tx targets from summary sheet

Place-Voice-Manner Analysis Describes error patterns in terms of 3 broad categories of consonant production (P-V-M) Similar to phonological process analysis Analysis is completed on PVM Analysis Form

Steps in completing a PVM analysis Complete whole-word transcriptions Use black/red markers to color code Mark each consonant with appropriate color in appropriate box on PVM form List phonetic inventory Summarize error patterns according to PVM Select tx targets

Advantages/Disadvantages of PVM Analysis Advantages Relatively simple and quick to complete Visual representation of error patterns Selection of treatment targets is easier Form useful to communicate with parents and others Form useful to compare pre/post test results Disadvantage does not identify assimilation errors