Phonological process analysis from spontaneous speech: the influence of sample size

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Linguistics
• Child Language Acquisition

Background:

• Phonological process analysis is a key technique for assessing unintelligible speech in children and adults.
• Spontaneous speech sampling is recommended for phonological process analysis, but sample size parameters require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the influence of varying spontaneous speech sample sizes on phonological process analysis.
• To establish optimal sample size for reliable phonological process assessment.

Main Methods:

• Collecting spontaneous speech samples of varying word counts (e.g., 50 and 100 words).
• Conducting phonological process analyses on collected speech samples.
• Comparing the descriptive information obtained from different sample sizes.

Main Results:

• Phonological process analyses from 50-word samples yielded descriptive information comparable to 100-word samples.
• Smaller sample sizes appear sufficient for representative phonological process analysis.

Conclusions:

• A 50-word spontaneous speech sample size is adequate for descriptive phonological process analysis.
• Further research is needed to explore other variables impacting spontaneous speech analysis results.