Barbara Handford Bernhardt

Handbook of phonological development : from the perspective of constraint-based nonlinear phonology

Introduction. Worldviews for Phonology. Phonological Representations and Processes. Constraints. Segmental Development. Prosodic Development. Sequences of Elements. Theory and Application: Not Just for the Clinician. Acquisition of Adult Alternations. Discussion and Conclusions. Appendix A: International Phonetic Association (1989) Symbols Used in This book. Appendix B: The Features Used in This Book. Appendix C: List of the Constraints of Optimality Theory. Appendix D: Practical Guidelines for Using Constraints. References. Index.

Speech, language and literacy skills 3 years later: a follow-up study of early phonological and metaphonological intervention

BACKGROUNDnThree years before the present study, 19 preschool children participated in a phonological and metaphonological intervention programme. The phonological intervention programme was based on non-linear phonological analyses. The metaphonological intervention programme included both rhyming and alliteration tasks and was directly targeted during the last section of the programme. All children made significant gains in phonology, and many in metaphonology. However, the literature notes a tendency for children with history of early speech or language impairments to have difficulty acquiring literacy skills or to show residual speech impairment. The participants of the 1998 study were therefore considered at risk for continuing speech impairment and/or academic performance.nnnAIMSnThe primary objectives were to document the childrens later speech, language and literacy skills, and to determine potential relationships between previous and concurrent child factors.nnnMETHODS & PROCEDURESnTwelve children from the original cohort (aged 6;1-8;5) received a comprehensive battery of speech, language, cognitive and academic tasks 3 years after the original study. Data were evaluated both concurrently and in terms of the childrens preschool performance.nnnOUTCOMES & RESULTSnFive of the children had residual phonological impairment. Only two children showed below average reading (decoding and comprehension), although five also showed below average spelling performance. Children with limitations in verbal memory, language production and metaphonology at the follow-up point were more likely to show delays in literacy. Language production skills at the follow-up point were most strongly correlated with literacy development. In terms of the early study, the strongest predictor for literacy development was performance on metaphonology tasks at the end of the early intervention study. The strongest predictor for ongoing speech impairment was phonological skill at the end of the early study.nnnCONCLUSIONSnResults suggest that early phonological and metaphonological intervention can promote normalization of speech development and normal acquisition of literacy skills for at least some children with a history of severe phonological impairment. In the earlier study, the component structure of words (onsets, rhymes, codas) was emphasized through both metaphonological and non-linear phonological intervention. Risk for literacy and ongoing speech impairment can be reduced through early intervention that draws attention to the structure of words.

Metaphonological skills of children with phonological disorders before and after phonological and metaphonological intervention

This study investigated the relationships between the phonological and metaphonological skills of 19 children aged 3-5 years with moderate to severe phonological disorders, and the effects of intervention on the childrens awareness skills. Seven tasks were used which required children to produce alliterations and rhymes, to segment sentences, disyllabic and monosyllabic words, and to change the names of objects. Childrens metaphonological skills were tested (a) before intervention, (b) following phonological intervention and (c) following phonological plus metaphonological intervention. Evaluation of childrens segmental and syllable/wordshape profiles before intervention indicated that children with larger phonetic inventories and better word and syllable shapes tended to have higher metaphonology task scores. Individual variation, however, suggested that childrens overall phonological profiles rather than particular characteristics of their speech were more important for good metaphonological task performance. Childrens phonological awareness skills were also related to their morphosyntactic production skills. Intervention outcomes indicated that both phonological and metaphonological intervention may result in a significant increase in childrens metaphonological task performance. It was further observed that children with more moderate phonological disorders and good morphosyntactic production skills tended to improve on the metaphonological tasks after phonological intervention alone. Children with more severe phonological and morphosyntactic disorders tended to increase their task performance only after phonological plus metaphonological intervention.

General and nonlinear phonological intervention perspectives for a child with a resistant phonological impairment

This paper describes an intervention plan for a child with a resistant phonological impairment. The plan first addresses factors and intervention strategies associated with the phonological impairment: a history of otitis media, attention deficit, learning difficulties, language delay, oral-motor dysfunction and environmental factors. A phonological intervention plan is then proposed that is based on a nonlinear phonological analysis and supported by the Computerized Articulation and Phonology Evaluation System program. Nonlinear analysis identifies the childs strengths and needs at all levels of the phonological hierarchy from the phrase to the individual manner, place and laryngeal features. Immediate target selection balances structural and segmental (feature) needs, and the context of intervention suggested by associated factors.