Word Lexicality and Phonological Change

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 Word Lexicality and Phonological Change

Alycia E. Cummings and Jessica A. Barlow (2011) examine a key feature of speech
sound disorders (SSDs), which typically impact children's language and communication. This
study compared the effectiveness of two SSD treatment methods: one using high-frequency real
words (RWs) and the other low-frequency non-words (NWs).
Four children with developmental SSDs were studied using a multiple baseline approach.
Targeting the sound /ɹ/ was chosen as the treatment objective because to its prevalence in SSDs
and its ability to cause significant phonological alterations. Two children got NW therapy and
two received RW treatment. These groups were further separated into NW (Children 1 and 2)
and RW (Children 3 and 4). Over many therapy sessions, physicians examined each child's goal
sound production accuracy. Baseline sessions, imitation phases, spontaneous production phases,
and the 2-week post-treatment AEP probe monitored development.
Study results showed noteworthy variations between NW and RW treatments. Child 1
progressed consistently throughout NW therapy. He progressively improved his capacity to make
the treatment sound, /ɹ/, attaining 72% accuracy during spontaneous creation. Child 2, likewise
in the NW therapy group, had little sound production accuracy improvement.
However, RW-treated Children 3 and 4 learned differently. Child 3 improved production
accuracy throughout therapy, especially spontaneously. His products were 4%–32% accurate.
Child 4 maintained 0% accuracy for the target sound /ɹ/ throughout the therapy, indicating no
substantial improvements in production accuracy. These findings show that NW therapy was
more beneficial for Children 1 and 3, but RW treatment did not help Children 2 and 4,
suggesting that NW treatment may be better.
Treatment generalization is crucial because it shows how therapy affects a child's
internalized phonological grammar and intelligibility. Child 1 in the NW treatment group was the
only one to generalize the treated sound to untreated words during the 2-week post-treatment
AEP probe. Child 3 in the RW therapy group generalized. Child 4 in the RW group did not
generalize broadly. This shows that NW therapy was more effective at generalizing, especially
for Child 1. Successful speech treatment depends on the child's capacity to generalize treated
sounds, which affects their communication abilities.
This research has major implications for speech sound problem therapy. NWs reduce
sound substitutes and variability in treated and untreated sounds, which is a major benefit. This
suggests that NW therapy may help children construct phonemic categories for treated and
untreated sounds and stabilize phonological representations. Also, these results contradict the
top-down assumptions of the two-representation word processing paradigm. Lexical processing
should dominate sound learning, says this model. The findings implies that NW-facilitated
bottom-up processing may be more successful in changing sound in children with speech sound
problems. NWs were unknown, thus youngsters could concentrate on speech sounds without
lexical processing.
The research has limitations despite its useful results. The sample was small—four
children. Participants were also restricted on age. These results would be more generalizable
with a larger and more varied participant pool. The research focused primarily on the sound /ɹ/,
which may not completely reflect the complexity of other speech sounds. To test these findings'
generalizability, future study should examine more speech sounds.
This study highlights the necessity to study speech sound problem therapy materials. The
effects of NWs and RWs on a bigger and more diversified participant group across speech
sounds must be compared. Understanding how age, stimulability, and focused sound affect
treatment results may be helpful. Speech-language pathologists and researchers may improve
SSD intervention options for children by performing more extensive studies.
In conclusion, Cummings and Barlow (2011) improve our knowledge and treatment of
speech sound problems. The research compares NWs with RWs to show that NWs may lower
cognitive stress and enhance SSD treatment results for children.
Keywords: Speech sound disorders, phonological treatment, real words, non-words,
generalization, error consistency index.
Word count: 608 words
 References

Cummings, A. E., & Barlow, J. A. (2011). A comparison of word lexicality in the treatment of

speech sound disorders. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 25(4), 265–286.

https://doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2010.528822