Polysyllable productions in preschool children with speech sound disorders: Error categories and the Framework of Polysyllable Maturity

摘要

Purpose: Children with speech sound disorders (SSD) find polysyllables difficult; however,\udroutine sampling and measurement of speech accuracy are insufficient to describe\udpolysyllable accuracy and maturity. This study had two aims: (1) compare two speech\udproduction tasks and, (2) describe polysyllable errors within the Framework of Polysyllable\udMaturity. Method: Ninety-three preschool children with SSD from the Sound Start Study\ud(4;0-5;5 years) completed the Polysyllable Preschool Test (POP; Baker, 2013) and the\udDiagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP-Phonology; Dodd et al., 2002).\udResult: Vowel accuracy was significantly different between the POP and the DEAPPhonology.\udPolysyllables were analysed using the seven Word-level Analysis of\udPolysyllables (WAP) error categories: (1) substitution of consonants or vowels (97.8% of\udchildren demonstrated common use), (2) deletion of syllables, consonants or vowels (65.6%),\ud(3) distortion of consonants or vowels (0.0%), (4) addition of consonants or vowels (0.0%),\ud(5) alteration of phonotactics (77.4%), (6) alteration of timing (63.4%), and (7) assimilation\udor alteration of sequence (0.0%). The Framework of Polysyllable Maturity described five\udlevels of maturity based on children’s errors. Conclusions: Polysyllable productions of\udpreschool children with SSD can be analysed and categorised using the WAP, and interpreted\udusing the Framework of Polysyllable Maturity.