1. Phonological Development
Ages and Stages

2. Discussion Outline Normal Developmental Stages Developmental Norms
segmental norms vs phonological processes
Theories of Phonological Acquisition
Cognitive Model of Phonological Acquisition
Components of Early Phonological Development
Differences in Assessing Early vs Later Phonological Abilities

3. Discussion Outline (continued)
Types of Analyses
Independent + Relational
Profile of Typical 2 year old
Who are Late Talkers?
Profiles of “Late Talkers”
Rescorla & Ratner
Williams & Elbert
Develop a Protocol for Late Talkers

4. 4 Stages of Development 1. Prelinguistic (0 - 1 year)
reflexive vocalizations
cooing
vocal play
babbling
variegated babbling

5. 2. First Words (1 - 1.6) Whole-word strategy Unanalyzed “wholes”
Progressive idioms

6. 3. Phonemic Development (1.6 - 4)
Rule-governed strategy
50 word vocabulary

7. 4. Stabilization
Acquisition of later sounds

8. Developmental Norms Segmental acquisition studies
Phonological process norms

9. Theories of Phonological Acquisition
Universalist-Linguistic
Unfolding of abilities (linear progression)
passive learner
universal order of acq (all children develop in same way)
Cognitive
non-linear development
acti ve learner
individual differences

10. Theories of Phonological Acquisition
Universalist-Linguistic
learning to pronounce is lower level skill-> developmental sequence
related to/constrained by anatomical/physio characteristics of human auditory/artic tracts
phonemes and individual sounds are the units of acquisition
Cognitive
acquisition of phono is cognitive process in the way child:
a. forms categories
b. recognizes patterns
c. forms rules
processes of acquis
selectivity
creativity
hypothesis formation

11. Summary of Cognitive Model of Phonological Acquisition
Process of Acquisition
whole-word acquisition (unanalyzed)
recognizes similarities b/w classes of sounds and constructs rules for relating similar sounds and formulate rules
develops a rule and applies it to other related items
Evidence
progressive idioms
experimentation
hypothesis formation

12. Summary of Cognitive Model of Phonological Acquisition
Process of Acquisition
Child’s categories not necessarily same as adult’s
Recognizes new and relevant information
Creates new rules
Evidence
Overgeneralization/ Regression
Changes Hypotheses
Hypothesis Formation

13. 3 Components of Early Phonological Development (Stoel-Gammon, 1991)
General Patterns of Development
at 24 mo, generally have expressive vocab of ~ 300 words
~ 50% of what they say is understood by strangers
by 3 yrs, 75% intelligibile with vocal of ~ 1000 wds and MLU of 3.1

14. 3 Components (continued)
Individual Differences
Lot of variation among 2 year olds, but certain commonalities:
final inventory never greater than initial inventory
tendency for stops, nasals, glides before frics, liquids, affrics
front consonants appear before back consonants

15. 3 Components (continued)
Atypical Development / RED FLAGS
numerous vowel errors
frequent initial consonant deletion
substitution of glottal stop of [h] for various consonants
deletion of final consonants at 3 years

16. Differences in Assessing Early vs Later Linguistic Behaviors (Stoel-Gammon, 1991)
Given the tremendous individual variation in early development (babbling ->first words->word combinations), MUST use broad evaluations rather than focus on indidividual phonemes
Normal development at this age can’t be determined by comparing child’s performance with set of norms like those used for older children

17. Stoel-Gammon (1991) Continued
Must include size and nature of phonetic inventory, correct productions, error types, and overall intelligibility (INDEPENDENT + RELATIONAL ANALYSES)
ALSO:
age of onset of meaningful speech
lexicon size

18. Two Types of Analyses Used in Assessing Younger Children
Independent Analysis
focuses on the sound types and syllable structures produced by the child independent of the adult target
phonetic inventory (by WI/WF positions)
syllable structure
Relational Analysis
compares child’s pronunciation of word with adult form and identifies what is correct/ incorrect in relation to adult target
PCC
error patterns (phonological processes)

19. Profile of Typical 2 Year Old (Stoel-Gammon, 1987)
Syllable Structure
Simple structure
CV, CVC, CVCV, CVCVC
Few or no clusters
only WF

20. Profile (continued) Phonetic Inventory Word-Initial Inventory
9-10 different sounds
stops, nasals, frics, glides
Word-Final Inventory
5-6 different sounds
primarily stops with some nasals, frics, liquids

21. Profile (continued) Accuracy about 70% accuracy
this suggests that children kept their vocabulary IN their phonology

22. Who are “Late Talkers”?
At 24 months, child has < 50 word vocabulary; AND/OR
phonetic inventory with only 4-5 consonants and limited variety of vowels

23. Phonetic Profiles of Toddlers with SLI-E (Rescorla & Ratner, 1996)
Variables that distinguished SLI-E children from TD children at months included:
vocalization rate
SLI-E vocalized less
potentially perpetuate exp lang delay by losing opportunities for vocal practice
size of consonant inventory
SLI-E had restricted inventories (b,d, nasals, glides, h)
syllable shape preferences
SLI-E used V and CV shapes primarily

24. Rescorla & Ratner Conclusions
Results suggest that non-grammatical (I.e., phonetic) factors contribute to the development of expressive language deficits in toddlers
Suggest a bidirectional association between child vocalization and maternal interaction
limited phonetic capacity interacts with caregivers’ interactions in a way that further reduces opportunities for exp lang learning and practice

25. A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Phonological Development in Late Talkers (Williams & Elbert, 2003)
Independent Analyses
Phonetic Inventory (WI/WF)
Syllable Structure
Preferences (frequency of occurrence) TOKEN
Complexity (clusters)
Diversity (# different syllable structures) TYPE

26. Williams & Elbert (continued)
Relational Analyses
PCC
Sound Variability (stability of sound system)
# diff cons attempted/# diff cons produced
no variability = 1.0
one-to-many correspondence (phoneme collapse) = > 1.0
many-to-one correspondence (free variation) = < 1.0
Error Patterns
MLU and Lexicon Size

27. Phonological Delay Vs Phonological Deviance (Williams & Elbert, 2001)
Larger inventories
13-15 WI; 8-11 WF (at 32 months)
Greater syll diversity
9.2 different syllables at mo
More complex syll
5.4 complex syllables at months
Deviance
Limited inventories
6-9 WI; 1-5 WF (at 32 months)
Limited syll diversity
7.5 different syllables at mo
Simple syll structures
1.1 complex syllables at months

28. Phonological Delay Vs Phonological Deviance (Williams & Elbert, 2001)
Higher PCC (.56) at months
Lower variability (1.2) at months
Typical errors
Fast rate of resolution
Deviance
Lower PCC (.34) at months
Greater variability (1.74) at months
Atypical errors
Slow or no resolution

29. Conclusions (Williams & Elbert, 2003)
Quantitative aspects of phonological and language skills (inventory size, lexicon size, MLU) were NOT diagnostic markers for identifying DELAYED vs DEVIANT
Instead, qualitative differences (greater variability and unusual sound errors) were identified markers of long-term delay
However, the extent of the delay was greater for the kids who did not catch up

30. Develop a Protocol for Assessing Early Linguistic Behaviors of Late Talkers
How would you elicit the sample?
How would you analyze the sample?
Complete Analysis on Nicholas
Go beyond analysis to synthesis/summary -> what is significant?
Diagnosis
Normal Vs Delayed Vs Deviant?
Compare results to Stoel-Gammon
a. Profile of typical 2 year old
b. Red flags
Compare results to Williams & Elbert’s Red Flags