Speech and Neuromodulation Laboratory, Unit of Human Communication, Learning and Development, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Clin Linguist Phon. 2024 Dec;38(12):1099-1115. doi: 10.1080/02699206.2024.2305645. Epub 2024 Jan 25.
Stuttering is characterised by disruptions in speech fluency that normally emerges between the ages of 2 to 5 when children start to formulate sentences. Current stuttering identification in children is largely based on speech disfluency criteria (>3% stuttering-like disfluencies, SLDs) developed for monolingual English-speaking children. Research in a Western language context shows that application of the criteria for monolingual to bilingual children may result in false positive diagnosis of stuttering. The applicability of these criteria to children speaking languages typologically distinct from English remains unclear. This preliminary study focused on bilingual Cantonese-English-speaking children, aiming to explore the manifestations of the speech disfluencies in Cantonese (a syllable-timed language) and English (a stress-timed language) while accounting for language dominance/proficiency and speaking task. Nineteen typically fluent Cantonese-English bilingual preschoolers were recruited for this study and their speech samples were collected across different speaking tasks (i.e. conversation and narration), and languages (i.e. Cantonese and English). The types and frequency of speech disfluencies were compared across both languages and the speaking tasks. The results showed that between 21-68% of children showed higher than 3% SLDs across different languages and speaking tasks. Linear mixed-effect analysis revealed that the prevalence of SLDs is higher in English (less dominant language) than Cantonese (more dominant language), and the prevalence is also higher in narration than conversation. These findings suggest the need for tailored stuttering identification criteria for bilingual children speaking diverse languages and emphasise the importance of considering language dominance/proficiency and speaking task when assessing stuttering in bilingual populations.
口吃的特征是言语流畅性中断，这种情况通常发生在 2 至 5 岁之间，此时儿童开始形成句子。目前，儿童口吃的识别主要基于为以英语为母语的单语儿童制定的言语不流畅标准（>3%的口吃样不流畅，SLD）。西方语言环境下的研究表明，将这些标准应用于双语儿童可能会导致对口吃的误诊。这些标准对与英语在类型上有区别的语言的儿童的适用性尚不清楚。本初步研究关注的是粤语-英语双语儿童，旨在探索粤语（音节计时语言）和英语（重音计时语言）中的言语不流畅表现，同时考虑语言优势/熟练度和说话任务。本研究招募了 19 名典型流利的粤语-英语双语学龄前儿童，并在不同的说话任务（即对话和叙述）和语言（即粤语和英语）中收集了他们的言语样本。比较了两种语言和两种说话任务中的言语不流畅的类型和频率。结果表明，在不同的语言和说话任务中，有 21-68%的儿童出现了高于 3%的 SLD。线性混合效应分析显示，在英语（弱势语言）中 SLD 的发生率高于粤语（强势语言），在叙述中高于对话。这些发现表明，需要为说多种语言的双语儿童制定特定的口吃识别标准，并强调在评估双语人群的口吃时，需要考虑语言优势/熟练度和说话任务。
