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A noncontrastive model for assessment of phonology.

Harry N Seymour1

  • 1Department of Communication Disorders, University of Massachusetts, Amhers 01003, USA. hseymour@comdis.umass.edu

Seminars in Speech and Language
|April 17, 2004
PubMed
Summary

This study introduces a dialect-sensitive phonological assessment for children aged 4-9. It uses a single format to accurately identify speech sound disorders across diverse dialects, including African American English.

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Area of Science:

  • Speech-Language Pathology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistic Phonology

Background:

  • Traditional phonological assessments may not accurately reflect the speech sound development of children from diverse linguistic backgrounds.
  • African American English (AAE) has unique phonotactic rules that require specific considerations in assessment design.
  • Existing assessments may misidentify typically developing children with non-Mainstream American English (non-MAE) dialects as phonologically impaired.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a dialect-sensitive phonological assessment using a contrastive/noncontrastive model.
  • To create a single scoring and test format applicable to children regardless of dialect.
  • To identify stimulus items that are sensitive to developmental changes in phonology for children aged 4-9 years.

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Main Methods:

  • Utilized extensive field research to select stimulus items.
  • Developed items that adhere to the phonotactics of African American English (AAE).
  • Focused on consonant clusters of varying phonological difficulty to differentiate developmental levels.

Main Results:

  • The developed assessment respects AAE phonotactics, avoiding final consonants or clusters as targets.
  • Stimulus items effectively discriminate between typically developing and phonologically impaired children across dialect groups (MAE and non-MAE).
  • Consonant clusters proved to be key indicators of phonological development and impairment.

Conclusions:

  • The contrastive/noncontrastive model provides a framework for dialect-sensitive phonological assessment.
  • A single, adaptable assessment format can improve diagnostic accuracy for diverse populations.
  • Findings have implications for improved diagnosis and targeted remediation of speech sound disorders.