lecture 1: intro and articulation

Question 1

which anatomical structure is the prelinguistic stage largely assisted by?

Answer 1

the jaw

Question 2

T or F: 0-2 month olds produce mostly voluntary sounds

Answer 2

false – mostly involuntary (reflexive)

Question 3

when do infant cries become differentiated (i.e., discomfort/hunger)?

Answer 3

by end of 2 months

Question 4

what kind of sounds do 2-4 month olds produce? (3)

Answer 4

1. cooing: comfort vocalizations
2. quasi-resonant nuclei (vocoids and contoids)
3. posterior/back sounds (/k, g, h) + middle/back vowels

Question 5

what is vocal play? at what age do we typically see it?

Answer 5

• vocal play: prolonged sounds, variations in volume/pitch, increase in lip and tongue control etc
• age 4-6 months

Question 6

what is reduplicated vs non-reduplicated babbling? at what age does it typically occur?

Answer 6

• reduplicated: same CV or VC syllables repeated (baba)
• non-reduplicated: variations in C and V across syllables (batƏ)
• age 6-10 months

Question 7

which places of articulation are most prevalent in babbling? (2)

Answer 7

• labial
• alveolar

Question 8

what is jargon? at what age does it typically occur?

Answer 8

• jargon: language specific strings of babbling modulated by intonation, rhythm and pausing. accompanied by gestures and eye-contact.
• age 10+ months

Question 9

what would you target first in therapy: prosody or words? why?

Answer 9

• prosody (e.g., nursery rhymes)
• frame first (prosody), content second (words)

Question 10

where is the larynx located (relative to adults) in infants?

Answer 10

high

Question 11

T or F (according to current thinking): babbling varies with linguistic environment and provides sensory-motor practice for later speech- language development

Answer 11

true

Question 12

1. vocoids > contoids = ___ language growth.
2. greater babble complexity = ___ language growth.

Answer 12

1. less
2. greater

Question 13

how does caregiver utterance length change as children learn new words? what is this known as?

Answer 13

• caregiver utterance length decreases before and increases after every new word learnt
• known as scaffolding

Question 14

why is using the jaw to support the tongue impractical?

Answer 14

cannot speak fast when relying on jaw since it is the slowest articulator

Question 15

what’s the key diff bw articulation and motor control tests?

Answer 15

• articulation: is the sound pronounced?
• motor: is the sound produced with the correct movements?

Question 16

describe the type of synergy (differentiation) for each age:
1. 1-1.5 years
2. 1.5-2 years
3. 2.5 years
4. 3 years
5. 3-4 years

Answer 16

1. jaw
2. oral - larynx
3. upper and lower lip + lower lip and jaw
4. tongue - jaw
5. within tongue

Question 17

at what age do voiced-voiceless contrasts emerge?

Answer 17

20-23 months

Question 18

most vowels and diphthongs with the exception of rhotics are produced with 85% accuracy from age ___ onwards

Answer 18

2

Question 19

T or F: vowel errors such as distortions beyond age 3 years are typical

Answer 19

false – indicate serious speech motor control issues in jaw/lip/tongue

Question 20

in therapy, why should you put the target in initial position?

Answer 20

because the brain perceives the initial sound as most prominent

Question 21

when looking at graphs about speech sound acquisition (e.g., slide 6), what does the left vs right end of the bar represent?

Answer 21

• left end: age at which 50% of subjects correctly produced the sound
• right end: age at which 90% of subjects correctly produced the sound

Question 22

list the main sounds that are acquired at the following ages (McLeod and Crowe 2018)
1. 2-3 years
2. 4 years
3. 5 years
4. 6 years

Answer 22

1. bilabial/alveolar/velar stops, nasals, /w/, /h/, /f/
2. /j/, /l/, some fricatives (/s, v, z, sh/), some affricates (/ch/)
3. /r/, /zh/, /th/ voiced
4. /th/ voiceless

Question 23

what are the 3 airstreams we have?

Answer 23

1. oral
2. nasal
3. voiced/voiceless

Question 24

T or F: you should base your therapy on the child’s age

Answer 24

false – base therapy on their abilities

Question 25

under all categories sounds made with ___ are mastered first, then ___.

Answer 25

• lips
• tongue

Question 26

list the types of speech sounds in the order they are typically acquired (7)

Answer 26

1. vowels
2. nasals
3. stops (lips first, tongue second)
4. glides
5. fricatives (/f/ earlier though)
6. liquids
7. affricates

Question 27

what kind of CC combinations are acquired earliest?

Answer 27

stop-glides earlier than stop-laterals/rhotics