Speech & Language Therapy, School of Psychological Sciences and Health, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2012 Sep-Oct;47(5):534-41. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-6984.2012.00163.x. Epub 2012 May 28.
Children's speech sound development is assessed by comparing speech production with the typical development of speech sounds based on a child's age and developmental profile. One widely used method of sampling is to elicit a single-word sample along with connected speech. Words produced spontaneously rather than imitated may give a more accurate indication of a child's speech development. A published word complexity measure can be used to score later-developing speech sounds and more complex word patterns. There is a need for a screening word list that is quick to administer and reliably differentiates children with typically developing speech from children with patterns of delayed/disordered speech.
To identify a short word list based on word complexity that could be spontaneously named by most typically developing children aged 3;00-5;05 years.
METHODS & PROCEDURES: One hundred and five children aged between 3;00 and 5;05 years from three local authority nursery schools took part in the study. Items from a published speech assessment were modified and extended to include a range of phonemic targets in different word positions in 78 monosyllabic and polysyllabic words. The 78 words were ranked both by phonemic/phonetic complexity as measured by word complexity and by ease of spontaneous production.
OUTCOME & RESULTS: The ten most complex words (hereafter Triage 10) were named spontaneously by more than 90% of the children. There was no significant difference between the complexity measures for five identified age groups when the data were examined in 6-month groups. A qualitative analysis revealed eight children with profiles of phonological delay or disorder. When these children were considered separately, there was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.005) between the mean word complexity measure of the group compared with the mean for the remaining children in all other age groups. The Triage 10 words reliably differentiated children with typically developing speech from those with delayed or disordered speech patterns.
CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The Triage 10 words can be used as a screening tool for triage and general assessment and have the potential to monitor progress during intervention. Further testing is being undertaken to establish reliability with children referred to speech and language therapy services.
儿童的言语声音发展通过将言语产生与基于儿童年龄和发展概况的言语声音的典型发展进行比较来评估。一种广泛使用的抽样方法是引出一个单词样本以及连续言语。自发产生的单词而不是模仿的单词可能更准确地反映儿童的言语发展。已发表的单词复杂度测量可用于对后期发展的语音和更复杂的单词模式进行评分。需要有一种快速实施且能够可靠地区分具有典型言语发展的儿童和具有延迟/障碍言语模式的儿童的筛查词列表。
确定一个基于单词复杂度的简短词列表，该词列表可以由大多数 3 岁零 5 个月至 5 岁零 5 个月的典型发育儿童自发命名。
来自三个地方当局幼儿园的 105 名年龄在 3 岁零至 5 岁零 5 个月之间的儿童参加了这项研究。从已发表的言语评估中修改和扩展了项目，包括 78 个单音节和多音节单词中不同单词位置的一系列音位目标。这 78 个单词根据音位/音系复杂性（通过单词复杂性进行衡量）和自发产生的容易程度进行了排名。
十个最复杂的单词（以下简称“分诊 10”）被 90%以上的儿童自发命名。当按 6 个月的组检查数据时，在五个确定的年龄组中，没有发现复杂性测量之间存在显著差异。定性分析显示有 8 名儿童存在语音延迟或障碍的特征。当分别考虑这些儿童时，与所有其他年龄组中其余儿童的平均值相比，该组的平均单词复杂度测量值存在统计学上的显著差异（p<0.005）。分诊 10 个单词可靠地区分了具有典型言语发展的儿童和具有延迟或障碍言语模式的儿童。
分诊 10 个单词可用作分诊和一般评估的筛查工具，并有可能在干预期间监测进展。正在进行进一步的测试，以与转介到言语和语言治疗服务的儿童建立可靠性。
