Phonological Awareness and Production: Changes During Intervention.

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Childhood Communication Disorders
• Phonological Intervention

Background:

• Children with severe phonological impairment often struggle with accurate speech sound production.
• Understanding the relationship between phonological feature awareness and production is key for effective intervention.
• Previous research highlights the complexity of targeting phonological processes in young children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine changes in feature awareness and production during phonological intervention in preschool children.
• To investigate the relationship between feature awareness and production performance.
• To inform intervention planning for children with severe phonological impairment.

Main Methods:

• A multiple-probe design was used to assess four preschool-aged children with severe phonological impairment.
• Intervention focused on attention to features of three error patterns and practice of productions.
• Awareness skills and production performance were assessed repeatedly throughout the intervention.

Main Results:

• Changes in feature awareness and production performance did not consistently parallel each other.
• Some children showed greater gains in awareness than production, while others showed the reverse.
• The degree and rate of change varied between awareness and production skills.

Conclusions:

• Feature awareness and production are distinct but related components of phonological development.
• Intervention strategies should consider and address both feature awareness and production skills.
• Tailoring intervention based on individual changes in awareness and production may enhance treatment outcomes.