Background: Accurate nonword repetition (NWR) is contingent on many underlying skills, including encoding, memory and motor planning and programming. Though vowel errors are frequently associated with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), several recent studies have found that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) produce high rates of…

Background: Speech development requires intact and adequately functioning oral anatomy and cognitive 'speech processing' skills. There is evidence that speech input processing skills are associated with speech output problems in children not born with a cleft. Children born with cleft palate ± lip (CP±L) are at high risk of developing disordered…

Background: Despite the ability of cochlear implants (CIs) to provide children with access to speech, there is considerable variability in spoken language outcomes. Research aimed at identifying factors influencing speech production accuracy is needed. Aims: To characterize the consonant production accuracy of children with cochlear implants…

Recent research has stated that early oral language acquisition difficulties are related to reading and writing difficulties. Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) experience difficulties with several dimensions of language. In this study we focus on the specific difficulties of children with DLD in spelling. We examine the impact of…

Background: The conversational speech of most children can be understood by people outside the family by the time they reach 4 years. However, for some children, speech sound disorders (SSDs) persist into their early school years, and beyond, despite adequate hearing, oromotor function, and language learning opportunities. One explanation for…

Introduction: Spelling difficulty is a common symptom of aphasia and can entail editing difficulties. Previous research has shown that extensive editing is related to a lower production rate in text writing for persons with aphasia, yet editing difficulty is not commonly examined. It is not known if editing difficulty is related to reading and…

Background: Imprecise articulation has a negative impact on speech intelligibility. Therefore, treatment of articulation is clinically relevant in patients with dysarthria. In order to be effective and according to the principles of motor learning, articulation therapy needs to be intensive, well organized, with adequate feedback and requires…

Background: Knowledge of the discourse performance of non-brain-damaged individuals is critical not only for its differentiation from disordered expression but also for more accurate models of ageing and communication. The effect of ageing and cognitive skills on the cohesive adequacy of discourse has, until now, presented a confusing and…

Background: Acquired apraxia of speech (AOS) involves speech-production deficits on both the segmental and suprasegmental levels. Recent research has identified a non-linear interaction between the metrical structure of bisyllabic words and word-production accuracy in German speakers with AOS, with trochaic words (strong-weak stress) being…

Background: Stress production is important for effective communication, but this skill is frequently impaired in people with motor speech disorders. The literature reports successful treatment of these deficits in this population, thus highlighting the therapeutic potential of this area. However, no specific guidance is currently available to…

Background: Word-retrieval difficulties are commonly experienced by people with aphasia (PwA) and also by typically ageing persons. Differentiation between true naming impairments and naming difficulties found in healthy persons may, therefore, be challenging. Aims: To investigate the extent to which the Maltese adaptation of the Boston Naming…

Background: Two ubiquitous findings from the literature are that (1) children with specific language impairments (SLI) repeat nonwords less accurately than peers with typical language development (TLD), and (2) all children repeat nonwords with frequent phonotactic patterns more accurately than low-probability nonwords. Many studies have examined…

Background: Every language has certain specific idiosyncrasies in its writing system. Cross-linguistic analyses of alexias and agraphias are fundamental to understand commonalities and differences in the brain organization of written language. Few reports of alexias and agraphias in the Spanish language are currently available. Aims: To analyse…

Background: Speech-sound development in preschoolers with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) as a group is delayed/disordered, and obstruents comprise the most vulnerable sound class. Aims: To evaluate the development of obstruent correctness (PCC-obs) and error types (cleft speech characteristics (CSCs) and developmental speech…

Background: Alzheimer's disease is characterized by macrolinguistic changes. This decline is often analyzed with quantitative scales. Aims: To analyze discourse production in early Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to identify qualitative markers of macrolinguistic decline. Methods & Procedures: We analyzed macrolinguistic features of a clinical…