Speech Production in Phonological Impairment

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed project is to explore factors that influence speech production in children with phonological impairments (PhI) in light of contemporary models of phonological and lexical representation and processing. These models posit that representations of whole words and representations of phonological units exist in parallel, and are linked. This project examines the extent to which lexical representation and processing (lexical skills), phonological representation and processing (phonological skills), and the linking between them (linking skills) are compromised in children with PhI aged 4 to 7, and whether deficits in these skill areas predict the consistency of phonological error patterns in spontaneous and elicited speech. Previous research has found that lexical skills are related to speech production in adults and typically developing children, contrary to predictions of traditional models of phonology. However, previous research has not indicated whether deficits in lexical skills underlie the failure of children with PhI to acquire speech sounds normally. This project will compare the performance of children with PhI to that of age-matched typically developing peers on a series of tasks (delayed naming, real word and nonword repetition, and phonologically primed repetition) designed to differentially assess lexical, phonological, and linking skills, and will examine whether performance on these tasks predicts the consistency of phonological errors in spontaneous and elicited speech. Results will have two implications. First, they will increase our understanding of the levels of representation that are impaired in children with PhI. Second, they will indicate the extent to which lexical skills should be assessed and treated clinically in children with PhI. The long-term goal of this research is to understand the locus of phonological impairment in children. In particular, this research seeks to determine whether deficient lexical acquisition and processing is implicated in phonological impairment in children, and whether direct remediation of deficient lexical skills can improve long-term outcomes for children with PhI.