ERIC Number: EJ1293983
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Feb
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: N/A
Associations between Speech Perception, Vocabulary, and Phonological Awareness Skill in School-Aged Children with Speech Sound Disorders
Benway, Nina R.; Garcia, Kelly; Hitchcock, Elaine; McAllister, Tara; Leece, Megan C.; Wang, Qiu; Preston, Jonathan L.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v64 n2 p452-463 Feb 2021
Purpose: Prior studies report conflicting descriptions of the relationships between phonological awareness (PA), vocabulary, and speech perception in preschoolers with speech disorders. This study sought to determine the nature of these relationships in a sample of school-aged children with residual speech sound errors affecting /[voiced alveolar approximant]/. Method: Participants included 110 children aged 7;0-17;4 (years;months) with residual errors impacting /[voiced alveolar approximant]/. Data on perceptual acuity and perceptual bias in an /[voiced alveolar approximant]/ identification task, receptive vocabulary, and PA were obtained. A theoretically and empirically motivated path model was constructed with vocabulary mediating the relationship between two measures of speech perception and PA. Model parameters were determined through maximum likelihood estimation with standard errors that were robust to nonnormality. Monte Carlo simulation was used to examine achieved power at the current sample size. Results: The saturated path model explained 19% of the variance in PA. The direct path between age-adjusted perceptual acuity and PA was significant, as was the direct path between vocabulary and PA. Contrary to our hypothesis, there was no evidence in the current sample that vocabulary skill mediated the relationship between speech perception and PA. Each individual path was adequately powered at the current sample size. Conclusions: The overall model provided evidence for a continued relationship between speech perception, measured by perceptual acuity of the sound in error, and PA in school-aged children with residual speech errors. Thus, measures of speech perception remain relevant to the assessment of school-aged children and adolescents in this population.
Descriptors: Correlation, Auditory Discrimination, Vocabulary Development, Receptive Language, Phonological Awareness, Speech Impairments, Children, Adolescents, Articulation (Speech), Speech Tests, Intelligence Tests
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (DHHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York (Syracuse); New York (New York); New Jersey; Connecticut (New Haven)
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test
Grant or Contract Numbers: R03DC013152; R15DC016426; R01DC013668; R01DC017476