Listener agreement on articulation errors of four- and five-year-old children

This study reported differences in agreement among four experienced listeners who analyzed the articulation skills of 97 four- and five-year-old children. Mean agreement percentages based on the identification of only misarticulated sounds were contrasted with mean percentages of agreement for decisions made on both correct and incorrect articulations of each sound for the entire population. In addition, the weighted average of the modal category of agreement for the specification of error type for misarticulated responses was determined for each sound tested over all subjects. Differences in agreement for evaluations of all responses, for error responses only, and for specification of error types were calculated and reported by place and manner of articulation, voicing characteristics, and syllabic function. Place and manner of articulation revealed differences of agreement, whereas voicing and syllabic function contributed little to agreement or disagreement.