INVESTIGATIONS OF VOWEL MISARTICULATIONS IN CHILDREN

拟议的项目将调查元音的性质和意义 中至重度儿童的语音发音错误 音系学障碍。元音发音在#年相对较少研究。 儿童的语音发育和障碍。然而，最近有报道称， 表现为元音发音错误的语音障碍儿童 (没有诊断出运动或感觉障碍)突出了 学习元音的重要性(以及元音与其他成分的相互作用 音系系统)。 本研究的目标是确定相对发病率 正常发音和语音发音的元音发音错误 提供有关元音发音的详细描述 从几个角度(语言、声学和发音)， 确定元音、辅音发音错误之间的关系 发音错误和其他主题特征，并调查 元音发音错误的临床意义。 该项目将分为三个阶段。在第一阶段，数据将 收集了150名语音障碍儿童(从3岁；6岁到6岁；5岁)和 150名正常发育的儿童(从1岁到6岁到6岁；5岁)，使用一种方案 旨在评估各种类型的美式英语辅音和元音 单字发音和连续发音中的语音语境。 这些数据将被语音转录并分析辅音和 元音清单、发音的准确性和一致性以及错误类型。 结果将被用来确定频率分布和共同 每组元音发音错误的模式，并调查 辅音和元音之间的建议关系。在第二阶段，20 语音障碍儿童(在阶段I中被确定为表现出 中度到严重的元音发音错误)将被选作进一步 受控刺激中元音产生的知觉分析 (转录)、声学(共振峰频率、时长)和发音 (舌腭部接触)措施。三个控制组也将 测试，包括(A)无元音的语音障碍儿童 辅音发音准确度匹配的发音错误，(B)正常 发育与年龄相匹配的儿童；和(C)较年轻的正常发育的儿童 辅音发音准确度相匹配的儿童。其他测试 (例如，元音感知、口腔结构/功能、口腔感官感知， 刺激性)将被进行以确定哪些特征，如果有， 区分有元音错误和无元音错误的儿童 错误。第三阶段将直接针对临床(诊断和 预测)元音错误的重要性。首先，第二阶段的受试者将 被纵向跟踪，以确定变化的数量和类型 没有直接干预的元音发音。第二，经验丰富 听者将被要求评估感知的阶段严重程度 二、受试者。最后，实验研究使用了精心控制的 合成刺激将检查元音错误和 辅音错误对清晰度的影响。

The proposed project will investigate the nature and significance of vowel misarticulations in the speech of children with moderate to severe phonological disorders. Vowel production has been relatively unstudied in children's phonological development and disorders. However, recent reports of phonologically disordered children exhibiting vowel misarticulations (without diagnosed motor or sensory deficits) have highlighted the importance of studying vowels (and their interaction with other components of the phonological system). The goals of the present study are to determine the relative incidence of vowel misarticulations among normally developing and phonologically disordered children, to provide detailed descriptions of vowel productions from several perspectives (linguistic, acoustic, and articulatory), to determine the relationship between vowel misarticulations, consonant misarticulations, and other subject characteristics, and to investigate the clinical significance of vowel misarticulations. The project will consist of three phases. In Phase I, data will be collected from 150 phonologically disordered children (from 3;6 to 6;5) and 150 normally developing children (from 1;6 to 6;5), using a protocol designed to assess all American English consonants and vowels in a variety of phonetic contexts in single word productions and continuous speech. These data will be phonetically transcribed and analyzed for consonant and vowel inventories, production accuracy and consistency, and error types. Results will be used to determine the frequency distribution and common patterns of vowel misarticulations in each group, and to investigate proposed relationships between consonants and vowels. In Phase II, 20 phonologically disordered children (identified in Phase I as exhibiting moderate to severe vowel misarticulations) will be selected for further analysis of their vowel productions in controlled stimuli using perceptual (transcription), acoustic (formant frequency, duration) and articulatory (linguapalatal contact) measures. Three control groups will also be tested, including (a) phonologically disordered children without vowel misarticulations matched for consonant production accuracy, (b) normally developing children matched for age, and (c) younger normally developing children matched for consonant production accuracy. Additional testing (e.g., vowel perception, oral structure/function, oral sensory perception, stimulability) will be conducted to determine what characteristics, if any, differentiate children with vowel errors from children without vowel errors. Phase III will directly address the clinical (diagnostic and prognostic) importance of vowel errors. First, subjects from Phase II will be followed longitudinally to determine the amount and type of change in vowel production without direct intervention. Second, experienced listeners will be asked to estimate perceived degree of severity of Phase II subjects. Finally, experimental studies using carefully controlled synthetic stimuli will examine the relative effect of vowel errors and consonant errors on intelligibility.