Speech rate in children with and without phonological disorder

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Child development
• Linguistics

Background:

• Phonological disorders (PD) can affect various aspects of speech production.
• Speech rate is a crucial component of fluent and intelligible communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare speech rate performance in children with and without phonological disorders.
• To investigate the influence of different speech rate tests and sentence structures on performance.

Main Methods:

• 20 children with PD and 20 typically developing children (ages 4-10) participated.
• Speech rate was measured (duration, syllables/sec, phonemes/sec) using standard and self-imitation tests.
• Tests included short and long sentences, some derived from the child's own speech.

Main Results:

• Children with PD showed significantly lower speech rates across most measures compared to controls.
• A standard imitation test revealed the most significant differences between groups.
• Sentence length and type influenced speech rate for both groups, with longer sentences impacting performance.

Conclusions:

• Children with PD demonstrate reduced speech rates, potentially due to underlying language or motor deficits.
• Sentence length appears to modulate speech rate, suggesting some capacity for control.
• Speech rate assessment, particularly with standard imitation tasks, can differentiate children with and without phonological disorders.