Is children's speech development changing? Preliminary evidence from Australian English-speaking 3-year-olds

Acquisition of the feature [+spread glottis] in Icelandic

The feature [+spread glottis] ([+s.g.]) denotes that a speech sound is produced with a wide glottal aperture with audible voiceless airflow. Icelandic is unusual in the degree to which [+spread glottis] is involved in the phonology: in /h/, pre-aspirated and post-aspirated stops, voiceless fricatives and voiceless sonorants. The ubiquitousness of the feature could potentially affect the rate and process of its acquisition. This paper investigates the development of [+s.g.] in Icelandic, both in general and in a range of contexts, in a cross-sectional study of 433 typically developing Icelandic-speaking children aged two to seven years. As a feature, [+s.g.] is acquired early in Icelandic, although specific sound classes lag behind due to other output constraints. Children reach mastery of [+s.g.] by age three except in word-initial post-aspirated stops and voiceless nasals. Findings are interpreted in light of the literature on the feature and its development.

Preschool children's consistency of word production

Consistency of word production contributes to carers' ability to understand children's speech. Reports of the proportion of words produced consistently by typically developing preschool children, however, vary widely from 17% to 87%. This paper examines the quantitative (consistency count) and qualitative (e.g. phonemic analysis) characteristics of word consistency in 96 children aged 36-60 months. Children named 15 pictures twice, in separate trials, in the same assessment session. The mean consistency of the production for the whole group was 82%. Older children were more consistent than younger children. Girls were more consistent than boys. Words produced correctly in one trial and in error in another may indicate resolving error patterns. Words produced in error in two different ways provided useful evidence about the nature of inconsistent word production in typically developing children. The clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.