theoretical constructs in fluency development.pdf / kunnampallil gejo

Theoretical constructs

in fluency development KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO

JOHN,MASLP

KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN, MASLP

INTRODUCTION:

Fluency refers to the effortless production of

long continuous utterance at a rapid rate, be it

the first or second language.

- Stark Weather (1980)


Initially, the speech of children lacks fluency.

When demand from the society fluency

It with in age i.e. as the child matures his fluency improves. If the child is capable of meeting the demands of the society, the speech becomes fluent.


The growing ability to talk more easily stems from several capacities:

• Increasing control over articulatory movement

• Co-ordinate the articulatory movement

• Rhythm

The increased demands for fluency come from many sources, both internal and external.


One of the growing demands for fluency is

language development in terms of:

• Syntactic ability

• Semantic

• Phonology

• Pragmatics


DEVELOPMENT OF FLUENCY

The development of fluency entails periods of

disfluency.

Starkweather (1987) describes this in terms

of continuity, rate, rhythm and effort of

speech production and there is a research

focus on the acoustic phonetic properties

(Dalton & Hardcastle 1989).


Yairi (1981) describes how the amount and frequency of disfluency decreases in the pre-school years.

Between approximately 18 m and 4 years “normal” disfluencies (known as normal-non-fluency (NNF) can increase markedly and cause parents’ anxiety.


This disfluency is temporary but is often very

difficult to differentiate from early stuttering

leading to controversies about management.


Nelson (1985) proposes that a reason for NNF

may be that between the ages of 2 and 4,

children are learning new words and linking

them together in sentences.

They are also learning to ask questions

requiring different word order.


1) Development of Speech Continuity:

Continuity is a factor affecting fluency.

Kowal & Sabin(1975) studied 168 normal children from KG to 12th grade.

The most common dysfluencies were,

• Pauses

• Repetitions

• false start

• parenthetical remarks


Frequency of dysfluencies - no change from

KG to 12th grade children.

false starts, repetitions & pauses steadily

from KG to 12th grade.

There was a sudden in false starts at 4th

grade. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN, MASLP

It was speculated that, at this age as children

were formally trained in terms of grammatical

knowledge, they might be over conscious of

their speech and would try to apply their

grammatical knowledge. Hence, a number of

false starts would occur.


Parenthetical remarks increased steadily from

KG to 12th standard. This was believed to

give continuity to their speech.

There was no developmental trend seen in

terms of dysfluencies.


The repetitions and false starts which are

immature dysfluencies were commonly seen

in younger age.

Later they are substituted by parenthetical

remarks which are sophisticated dysfluencies.


Dejoy & Gregory (1975) studied children

between 3½ - 5½yrs of age.

They reported that repetitions of words,

phrase, part word, incomplete phrases &

dysrhythmic phonation were more commonly

seen in 3½yr old than 5½yr old.


Yairi (1981) studied 33 normal children of 24-

33mths .

He found that part word & small word

repetition are most commonly seen in young

children.

Revisions & incomplete phonations did not

show any developmental trend 2-4yrs. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN, MASLP

Repetitions, tense phrase, dysrhythmic

phonation decline steadily from 2-4yrs.

Interjections & repetitions of words & phrases

decline steadily with increase in age.


Yairi (1981) studied children from 29 mths to 33

mths to 37 mths. Discontinuities declined from

6.5% to 5.1% o 4.1%.

Kowal and Sabin found that KG and first grade

children’s speech is approximately 2% more

discontinuous than that of high school children.


Wexler and Mysak (1982) studied 2yr old

children.

They found that there was a tendency of

producing more continuous speech of 2yr old

as compared to 4-6yr old.

They found that revisions do not decline or

slightly decline from 2 – 6 yrs. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN, MASLP

Repetitions, tense pause and dysrhythmic

phonation declined steadily from 2 – 4 yrs

(though not noticed at 4-6yrs)

Interjections and repetitions of words and

phrases decline steadily with increase in

age.


2) Development of Rate:

Rapid rate is an aspect for fluency .

Many researchers have studied rate by the

following ways,

# measuring duration of pauses

# measuring syllables per second

# measuring duration of segment (length of

utterances)

From the studies, it has been reported that,

there is a clear cut trend in development.


Duration of pauses:

Kowal & Sabin (1975) reported that

development of rate shows there is a dramatic

development of fluency.

rapid change in terms of duration of pauses

from KG – 2nd grade children.


males have longer unfilled pauses as

compared to females & duration of pauses

decrease with increase in age.


Syllables per second :

Kowal & Sabin (1975) reported that there is a

short increment in terms of syllables per

second from KG – 2nd grade children.

leveled at 4th grade.

A steep increase is seen between 4th & 8th

grades.

From 8th grade onwards, not much increase is

seen.


Therefore, rate of speech in terms of syllables/sec

shows a steady increase in school age children.

Black & Walker (1950) reported an adult speaker is

able to speak at an average of 5-6 syllables/sec.

Armster (1984) reported that, rate of speech show a

clear cut developmental trend in pre-school children.


Duration of Segment/Utterance :

Speaking slowly & precisely is one of the

characters of children speech.

The speech of an adult is faster & has many

overlapping co-articulatory movements.

Studies have shown that, duration of segment

increase with increase in age.


With increase in age, there is a decrease in

duration of individual sounds, so fluency of

speech increases.

Duration of /s/ in word initial position is brief

in 7yr old as compared to 5yr old children.

Duration of /p/ when surrounded by

/i/decreases with increase in age. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN, MASLP

Duration of sound is shorter in longer utterances/words, unstressed words & sounds in initial position.

Smith (1984) reported that 2-4yrs is the critical period for duration of segment development.

So there is rapid change taking place in terms of duration of segment/ utterances.


Kari J. Lokken 1989 elicited conversational

samples from 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old normal-

speaking children.

Speech rates were measured per age group

No statistically significant differences in

speaking rate were observed across the three

age groups. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN, MASLP

3) Development of Ease of Speech:

Effortless speech is an influential factor in maintaining fluency.

The effort may be mental or physical:

- the amount of time an individual takes in planning an utterance reflects in the amount of mental effort required in fluent speech.

- the amount of time taken in executing an utterance reflects on the amount of physical/muscular effort required for fluent speech production. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN, MASLP

In younger children, rate is slower indicating

that the amount of time spent in executing an

utterance is more .therefore, physical effort is

more.

In adults, rate of speech is faster because time

spent in executing an utterance is less & so,

physical effort is less. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN, MASLP

Presence of pauses & repetitions indicates the

amount of time spent in planning & therefore,

mental effort taken with increase in age, there

is a decrease in mental & physical effort.

Co-ordination: articulators & the 3 systems

are important for production of fluent speech.


Researchers have shown that, DDK rate

increases in age & continues till 18-20yrs.

Fast rate of repetition shows steady increase

from 6-19yrs.

Variability seen in terms of speech production

usually decreases with increase in age.


Researchers have shown that, good speech

motor control capacity like adults is acquired

from 8-12yrs.

They also found that as the nervous system

develops till adolescent speech motor

development also takes place till that time.


4) Development of rhythm:

Young children are unable to imitate

sentences lacking normal rhythm.

At the end of 2 word stages of development,

children typically do not produce syllable

sequences with stress contrast, substituting

stressed for unstressed syllables.

The first words of babies are arrhythmic


Speech rhythm must be based on the pattern

with which stressed and unstressed syllables

occur

Beyond the 2 word stage, there is gradual

development of the ability to produce

unstressed syllables.


By the time they reach 4 word utterances,

most children are using the right no: of

syllables and have a clear understanding of

speech rhythm, even though their

phonological processes are still in the process

of development.


Since stuttering occurs exclusively on stressed

syllables, its important to understand the

distinction between stressed and unstressed

syllable develops.

Also it is typically at this same point in

development that some children begin to

produce long part word repetitions


Rhythm seems to be directly related to fluency in 3 differences:

unstressing increases rate

the structure of rhythm make it easier to produce speech faster

rhythm is related to gesture which is related to fluency


The sense of rhythm develops and makes it

easier for a child to anticipate the movement

of speech production.

one of the growing demands is the child's

development of language skills.

Increased syntactic, semantic, phonologic &

pragmatic knowledge contributes to this

demand for fluency.


As the children’s syntax develops, their

sentences become longer & structurally more

complex.

Because, the length of utterance is correlated

with the rate of speech, the children must deal

with a demand to increase the speed with

which the vocal tract parts move.


As the child’s knowledge of the rules of

phonology increases they become interested

in using longer words & phrases and more

difficult combination of sounds to express

intentions.

Child’s pragmatic knowledge also grows and

this also places a demand on the fluency of

speech.


The speech of young children is characterized

by a spout of anxiety at 2 or 3yrs of age, their

speech is a verbalization of their current

thought or activity.

With increased maturity speech becomes

more controlled and directed to more specific

purposes.


Growth in pragmatics seems to diminish the

spout anxiety of children’s speech.

It is not only the rules of language but also the

people whom the child communicates place

demands on them. These people include

parents, sibling etc.


Children have a tendency to use speech &

language that is similar to that used by those

they are talking to- when parents talk to their

children using sophisticated language,

syntactically complex and with an advanced

vocabulary, the children try to use the same

form.


Some children do not develop the capacity for

fluent speech as rapidly as others, and at times

the demand for fluency made by their

environments are too much for them to

handle.

When this is the case, fluent speech breaks

down.


These frequent episodes are likely to cause

the children to try harder- to get words out

faster particularly words that have been

produced discontinuously to struggle with

them, forcing and pushing with increased air

pressure and to tense the speech musculature

so that is stiff, slow moving, un co-ordinated

and tremulous.


This is likely to slow the rate at which such children produce information.

During the period of development of speech behavior, child learns how to talk semi automatically.

When the patterns of struggle tension and emotional reaction have become habitual and semi-automatic, stuttering has developed


INDIAN STUDIES RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT

OF FLUENCY:

Naga Poornima (1990) studied Kannada

speaking normal children between the age

range of 3-4yrs.

Story telling & picture description were used.

Dysfluencies noticed were pauses, repetitions,

false starts & parenthetical remarks. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN, MASLP

Unfilled pauses, false starts were observed

maximally during picture description.

Number of unfilled pauses decreased between

3-3.8yrs, but sudden increase was seen from

3.8-3.10yrs after which there was a decline

between 3.10-4yrs.


No developmental trends were observed.

Repetitions increased from 3-3.4yrs but

decreased from 3.6-4yrs.


False starts were seen more in the picture

description tests in the word initial position.

Parenthetical remarks were seen more in

story-telling tasks. Frequency increased from

3-3.4yrs, decreased from 3.4-3.8yrs and again

increased from 3.8-4yrs.


Indu (1990) :

Studied Kannada speaking children between

4-5yrs of age.

Connected speech was used.


Pauses, repetitions & parenthetical remarks

were most commonly seen in content words

than in function words. They were seen more

in the initial position


Yamini (1990) :

Studied Kannada speaking normal children of

5-6yrs.

She used 6 sets of picture cartoons


Common dysfluencies observed are :

# filled & unfilled pauses

# audible inspirations

# parenthetical remarks

# false starts

# repetitions


These dysfluencies occurred more before

nouns than other grammatical categories and

is observed more in initial position.


Rajendraswamy (1991):

Studied Kannada speaking normal children

between the age range 6-7yrs.

6 sets of panchatantra stories were used.

He found that increase in % age of dysfluency

was present from 6-6.6yrs.


Common dysfluencies observed were :

* filled pauses

* false starts

* repetitions

* parenthetical remarks


Less common dysfluencies were :

* audible inspirations

* broken words

* unfilled pauses


More dysfluencies seen on/ before nouns,

verbs, conjunctions & interjections.

Less commonly seen on/before prepositions

& adverbs.

Dysfluencies were reported to be mainly in

initial position.


Sharma (1991) :

Studied dysfluencies in Hindi speaking

normal children between 6-7yrs.

Percentage of dysfluencies decreased from 6-

6.4yrs.

Maximally occurring dysfluency was unfilled


Filled pauses were seen maximally between

6.6-6.8yrs.

Parenthetical remarks were seen between 6.6-

6.8yrs

Prolongations were less commonly seen.


No definite pattern was seen in the occurrence

of dysfluencies.

Dysfluencies were present mainly in the

initial position.


Savitri and Anjana (2007)

Studied 20 children (10 boys & 10 girls) of 5-

6 yrs

Used pictures, cartoons, pic containing

panchatantra stories


Result: sound rept mutisyllable word

repetitions - predominant

Least – broken words & prolongations

dys : Boys > girls


JOURNAL ARTICLES

Pellowski MW, Conture EG 2002 studied speech

disfluency and stuttering behaviors in 3- and 4-year-old

children.

Measures of speech disfluency appreciably differentiate

CWS from CWNS and that 4-year-old CWS exhibit

changes in non re-iterative forms of stuttering as a function

of time since stuttering onset.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Pellowski%20MW%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Conture%20EG%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

Boey RA, Wuyts FL, Van de Heyning PH, De Bodt

MS, Heylen L. 2007

Compared the characteristics of stuttering-like

disfluencies in a group of native Dutch-speaking

children who stutter with a group of normally fluent

children.

Findings indicate that stuttering-like disfluencies

exhibited by children who stutter are significantly

more frequent, longer in duration and involve more

physical tension when compared to those of

normally fluent children.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Boey%20RA%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Wuyts%20FL%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Van%20de%20Heyning%20PH%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22De%20Bodt%20MS%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22De%20Bodt%20MS%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Heylen%20L%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

Karin B. Wexler 1982

studied developmental Disfluency in 2-, 4-, and 6-

Year-Old Boys in Neutral and Stress Situations .

2-yr-olds higher

disfluency frequencies

for word repetitions and

phrase repetitions

higher frequency of

dysrhythmic phonations

Neutral stress


2-yr-olds

higher frequency of

average oscillation

higher frequency of

dysrhythmic phonations

stress situation


Carlo EJ, Watson JB 2003

examined the disfluent speech of 32 normally

fluent monolingual, Spanish-speaking

children of 3.5 – 5.5 yrs

Revisions, interjections, and single-syllable

word repetitions - most frequently observed

speech disfluencies

Broken words, blocks, and repetitions of more

than one syllable - least frequent.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Carlo%20EJ%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Watson%20JB%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

Kenneth J. Logan 2003

examined language and fluency characteristics of single

utterance (SU) and multiple-utterance (MU)

conversational turns produced by 15 preschoolers

who stutter and 15 age- and sex-matched

preschoolers who do not stutter.


Results indicated that the children’s utterances from

MU-turns typically served assertive functions and

were significantly longer and more linguistically

complex than their utterances from SU-turns.

Neither group showed a significant difference in

disfluency rate for length-matched utterances from

MU- and SU-turns.


theoretical constructs in fluency development.pdf / kunnampallil gejo

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