Relationship between phonemic and lingual awareness

The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to assess the relationship between knowledge of speech sounds (phonemes) and lingual awareness in normal adult speakers of English. The study also examined subjects' descriptions of lingual contact. 36 subjects (M age=19.6, SD=.71) who were enrolled in an undergraduate phonetics class participated. All passed a speech and hearing screening and reported having received no prior speech therapy or classes in articulation, phonetics, or speech science. During the first class meeting, the subjects were given two tests. The measure of phonemic awareness consisted of (a) judging which two (out of three) printed words began (or ended) with the same phoneme, (b) counting, substituting, reversing phonemes in words, and (c) indicating primary stress in two-syllable words. The lingual awareness test consisted of subjects imitating a syllable, then responding to a multiple-choice question regarding (a) tongue position (front to back), (b) tongue height (high to low), (c) contact with the teeth, and (d) contact with other oral cavity structures. Subjects were requested to imitate the syllable prior to answering each question, e.g., "Say tuh. Did you feel your tongue in the front, middle, or back of your mouth?" Seven English phonemes (t, k, s, sh, r, l, and voiceless th) were presented in a consonant-vowel syllable with the central vowel "uh." Subjects were aided by a line drawing of the oral cavity. A significant correlation of .53 was found between the two tests, suggesting that individuals who possess greater awareness of speech sounds tend to exhibit heightened lingual awareness. Sound-symbol knowledge was the best predictor of lingual awareness. Subjects had the most difficulty describing lingual contact for phonemes that are often troublesome for children to articulate (sh, r, l, and s).