Browsing by Subject "speech development"
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Item Stop consonant voicing in young children's speech: Evidence from a cross-sectional study(2016-05) Ganser, EmilyThere are intuitive reasons to believe that speech-sound acquisition and language acquisition should be related in development. Surprisingly, only recently has research begun to parse just how the two might be related. This study investigated possible correlations between speech-sound acquisition and language acquisition, as part of a large-scale, longitudinal study of the relationship between different types of phonological development and vocabulary growth in the preschool years. Productions of voiced and voiceless stop-initial words were recorded from 96 children aged 28-39 months. Voice Onset Time (VOT, in ms) for each token context was calculated. A mixed-model logistic regression was calculated which predicted whether the sound was intended to be voiced or voiceless based on its VOT. This model estimated the slopes of the logistic function for each child. This slope was referred to as Robustness of Contrast (based on Holliday, Reidy, Beckman, and Edwards, 2015), defined as being the degree of categorical differentiation between the production of two speech sounds or classes of sounds, in this case, voiced and voiceless stops. Results showed a wide range of slopes for individual children, suggesting that slope-derived Robustness of Contrast could be a viable means of measuring a child’s acquisition of the voicing contrast. Robustness of Contrast was then compared to traditional measures of speech and language skills to investigate whether there was any correlation between the production of stop voicing and broader measures of speech and language development. The Robustness of Contrast measure was found to correlate with all individual measures of speech and language, suggesting that it might indeed be predictive of later language skills.Item The Utilization of Filler Words in Relation to Age and Gender(2024-04-17) Ruschy, Sarah AFiller words play a pivotal role in human communication. This review explores the multifaceted nature of these words through analyzing the early development of filler words as well as their correlation with age and gender. Filler words consist of two subcategories; filled pauses and discourse markers. Examples include ‘um’, ‘uh’, ‘I mean’, ‘like’, and ‘you know’. These words can have distinct and important functions in conversation, contrary to the common association of filler words with disfluency in speech or anxiety. Research suggests that the social factors of age and gender greatly influence filler word usage, as younger females tend to utilize these words and sounds more frequently than any other social group. While societal norms may predispose women to exhibit more accommodating speech patterns with the use of filler words, deeper analysis reveals more complex explanations. These explanations for younger people as well as women using these words more frequently than others include, but are not limited to, the natural maturity of speech with age, heightened awareness of semantic meanings, and a more sophisticated use of the English language. Research gaps in comparing the use of filler words across different languages and with non-native speakers as well as filler words in different conversational settings is advancing. By unpacking the complexities of age and gender in relation to language, this review contributes to a deeper understanding of language dynamics and societal norms. With the recognition of these linguistic patterns in certain societal groups, we can create more inclusive communication between people and better understand human interaction as a whole.