Research on Greek adjunct cluster acquisition has mainly examined 2-member clusters (/sC/), with limited attention to developmental patterns in 3-member clusters (/sCC/). This study investigates Greek /spɾ, stɾ, skl/, comparing them with related 2-member clusters (/st, sp, sk, pɾ, tɾ, kl/) to disentangle developmental paths. Data were collected from 161 monolingual Greek children aged 2;0-6;0 using the PAel picture-naming task targeting word-initial clusters. Results reveal cluster-specific distributions across four overlapping stages (Ø, C, CC, CCC), shaped by markedness, sonority, and Greek phonotactics. Entropy analyses show high variability until age 4;0, followed by increasing stability. /spɾ/ achieves earlier 3-member production; /stɾ/ develops more gradually with greater variability; /skl/ emerges later but progresses rapidly. Comparisons indicate unique developmental paths of /sCC/ acquisition rather than a simple extension of /sC/ mastery. These findings refine theoretical models, provide clinical benchmarks for identifying delay, and highlight entropy as a sensitive measure of phonological stabilisation.
Persian verbs are classified into simple and compound (complex) verbs (CVs). Simple verbs contain one word; CVs comprise more than one word, including nominal and verbal components. This study investigates how people with aphasia (PWA) and non-brain-damaged (NBD) adults produce complex verbs, the types of errors they make and what the effect is of lemma representation and the compound status of the verbs. Forty-five participants, including 11 fluent PWA, 9 non-fluent PWA, and 25 NBDs, completed action naming and connected speech tasks. The findings revealed that CV retrieval was impaired in PWA; although they showed knowledge ('lemma') of the compound structure, they failed to retrieve the phonological form ('lexeme'). We therefore assume a two lemma representation for CVs except for idiomatic CVs, and CVs with a heavier verbal component which are represented as one lemma.
The long-term implications of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) beyond childhood are relatively unknown. This research tracks production performance of a non-native vowel contrast following morning and evening training in adolescents and young adults with and without long-standing CAS. 82 participants aged 12-21 years trained in production of Danish vowels [y] and [ø] in either the morning or evening and completed post-training and 12-hour retention probes. Aligned with previous work, we found that for those with typical speech profiles (TP), offline changes were modulated by time of day of training: whereas evening trainees subtly improved, morning-trained participants declined in accuracy over the 12-hour post-training interval. For those with long-standing CAS, those trained in the morning out-performed evening-trained learners across time. Together, these findings suggest a different trajectory of speech-motor learning and consolidation in adolescents and young adults with a history of CAS.
This study examined whether spirometrically measured forced vital capacity (FVC) is associated with one-breath endurance in typically developing children and adolescents, and whether this association differs by task. A total of 971 participants aged 8-17 years completed sustained /a/ and repeated /ka/ to exhaustion after maximal inspiration. FVC was measured concurrently by spirometry. A unified long-format regression model showed that endurance was longer for sustained /a/ than for repeated /ka/, and that age and FVC significantly predicted performance in both tasks. However, the FVC - endurance association was stronger for sustained /a/ than for repeated /ka/, whereas age effects were larger for repeated /ka/. No adjusted sex difference was observed for sustained /a/, whereas females showed longer repeated /ka/ endurance despite smaller FVC. Age- and sex-stratified values and capacity-adjusted residual flags support task-specific interpretation of one-breath endurance and may improve clinical interpretation of paediatric speech-breathing function. By separating respiratory capacity from task-specific endurance, this approach may help clinicians distinguish predominantly capacity-limited from coordination-limited patterns of reduced speech-breathing endurance.
The Directions Into Velocities of Articulators (DIVA) model provides a comprehensive neurocomputational framework for understanding speech production and speech motor disorders. This theoretical model describes three main control processes: feedforward control, auditory feedback control, and somatosensory feedback control. By mapping these processes to specific brain regions and neural circuits, DIVA offers insights into the mechanistic basis of various speech disorders and provides a foundation for developing targeted therapeutic interventions. This paper reviews the DIVA model's architecture, its applications to understanding communication disorders, and its potential for guiding clinical practice and technology development.
This study examined whether intelligibility judgements differ among experienced speech-language pathologists (SLPs), naïve listeners, and an automated speech recognition system when presented with identical speech stimuli. A total of 87 participants (48 SLPs, 38 naïve listeners, and one automated system) completed a closed-set word identification task and provided continuous intelligibility ratings for a narrative passage. Speech stimuli consisted of synthesised productions incorporating developmental phonological error patterns. Accuracy scores increased from the automated system (M = 56.00%) to naïve listeners (M = 56.32%, SD = 8.6) to SLPs (M = 61.08%, SD = 7.9). Group differences were statistically significant, χ2 (2) = 6.17, p = 0.046, with post hoc analyses indicating differences between SLPs and naïve listeners. Intelligibility ratings also differed across groups, χ2 (2) = 10.11, p = 0.006, with higher ratings observed for SLPs compared to naïve listeners. Findings suggest that listener experience influences intelligibility judgements, with experienced SLPs demonstrating greater accuracy and higher intelligibility ratings than naïve listeners. Performance of naïve listeners was comparable to that of the automated system, with no statistically significant differences observed between these groups. These results highlight the role of listener experience in interpreting disordered speech and have implications for both clinical assessment and the use of automated recognition systems.
We developed an auditory tool capable of distinguishing those who perceive spectral components of speech from those who rely primarily on time-intensity cues. Three-word lists with distinct syllabic patterns were developed and analysed for acoustic properties. Each word was paired with a corresponding picture card. The tool was tested in children aged 5-18 years with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss, divided into hearing aid (HA; 60 ears) and cochlear implant (CI; 11 ears) users. Fifteen children with normal hearing were also included. Among HA users, 37% demonstrated some capacity to identify words using spectral cues, whereas 53% relied primarily on time-intensity cues. Children with normal hearing and CI users primarily identified words based on spectral cues. One participant who transitioned from HA to CI showed improved use of spectral cues. Thus, this auditory tool can differentiate children who perceive speech through spectral cues versus time-intensity cues.
Disfluency in spontaneous speech has been reported to be a potential marker for cognitive impairment. However, consistent working definitions are lacking, and it remains unknown whether disfluency measures operate similarly across languages. This study investigates how cognitive status shapes disfluency in Chinese and English, aiming to delineate both language-general patterns and cross-linguistic differences. A total of 100 speech samples elicited via the Cookie Theft task (50 Chinese, 50 English) were selected from the MCGD corpus (Chinese) and DementiaBank (English), equally stratified into cognitively normal and impaired groups based on MMSE scores. Following manual annotation, speech samples were analysed using ten disfluency measures across three dimensions: temporal, pausal, and repetition-repair. Results showed that six measures were sensitive to cognitive status across both language groups, and language did not significantly moderate the effect of cognitive impairment on disfluency. Temporal measures declined consistently with cognitive impairment across both languages, with cognitively impaired individuals showing significantly reduced speech rate, phonation-time ratio, and mean length of runs. Pausal measures generally increased with cognitive impairment, with cognitively impaired individuals showing significantly longer silent pauses and more frequent filled pauses. For repetition-repair measures, repetitions increased with cognitive impairment in both languages but showed a higher baseline frequency in Chinese than in English, whereas repairs displayed less consistent patterns across the two language groups. Collectively, these findings support the value of disfluency measures as cross-linguistically relevant markers of cognitive impairment, while underscoring the importance of language-sensitive interpretation for specific disfluency types.
This research study examined the cognitive-pragmatic aspects of verbal communication abilities in Iraqi children with Down syndrome by utilising the Children's Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2). Forty-four children aged 8-12 years were evaluated using the Arabic version of the CCC-2, which was completed by a parent, legal guardian, or teacher familiar with the child's daily communication. A mixed-method design was used to analyse the data. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, and correlation, while the qualitative caregiver data were interpreted using the Cognitive-Pragmatic Component Model (CPCM), informed by Relevance Theory, Theory of Mind, and Executive Function. The findings showed difficulties across all subscales, with structural language domains, particularly speech and syntax, more impaired than the pragmatic subscales. A strong correlation was identified between the Use of Context and Social Relations, highlighting the close relationship between social interaction and contextual understanding. The findings indicated the effect of linguistic and cultural factors on communication, besides the lack of early interventions for Iraqi children with Down syndrome. These findings underscore the need for culturally grounded interventions with a pragmatic focus for Arabic-speaking children with Down syndrome.
The accurate assessment of oral-nasal balance disorders in children with cleft lip and palate is a perennial problem in Speech-Language Pathology. Nasalance scores obtained with a nasometer can contribute to the diagnosis of oral-nasal balance disorders. The present study investigated how consistent such classifications are over time. Twenty-seven children with cleft lip and palate were recorded six times with a nasometer headset over the course of an orthodontic palatal expansion treatment. Nasalance scores were considered hypernasal when they were higher than 30% for a non-nasal sentence and hyponasal when they were below 50% for a nasal sentence. Based on the nasalance scores, normal nasalance was found in 42.6%, hyponasality in 34.0%, and hypernasality in 23.5% of 162 sound recordings. Only 7/ 27 (25.9%) of the children had the same nasalance-based classification over the six sessions. The others demonstrated variability that straddled two adjacent categories in 15/ 27 (55.6%) of cases and all three categories in 5/ 27 (18.5%) of cases. While clinicians may wish to assign a permanent oral-nasal balance classification to their patients, the study demonstrated that a subset may show unexpected variability over time. More research is needed to establish whether it would be beneficial in some cases to explore this potential for variability before long-term decisions about a patient's clinical management are made.
This study focuses on an acoustic event in European Portuguese (EP) complex onsets that occurs between stop and rhotic consonants. Although complex onsets are typically considered a late-acquired structure in EP, findings on their developmental sequence remain inconsistent. The present work aims to characterise this acoustic event and discuss implications for the phonological acquisition of complex onsets in EP. Acoustic data were collected from 10 adult EP speakers producing trisyllabic paroxytones with a medial rhotic in complex onset position. First and second formant frequencies and duration were analysed. Results showed that the nuclear vowel significantly influenced both the duration and formant frequency values of the event, which tended to occupy a centralised position in the vowel space. These findings provide empirical support for the existence and relevance of the acoustic event, offering new insights into the processing of complex onsets in EP, highlighting its relevance for clinical phonetics.
Direct electrical stimulation (DES) during awake brain surgery offers a unique opportunity to explore the neural basis of language. Although evidence from existing studies has shown increased involvement of the non-dominant (right) hemisphere in second language processing (particularly in late bilinguals) evidence from DES studies remains limited. We report the case of a 36-year-old right-handed late bilingual female (L1: Bulgarian; L2: Greek), who underwent awake craniotomy to treat an arteriovenous malformation beneath the right middle frontal gyrus (rMFG). Preoperative assessments revealed no clinically significant cognitive or linguistic deficits. During intraoperative mapping, DES on rMFG elicited anomias and phonemic paraphasias in L2, but not in L1, a finding consistent with reports in the literature regarding the role of rMFG in the episodic memory and the mental lexicon. Although coming from a single case, our findings provide direct evidence for the role of the rMFG in supporting second language processing in late bilinguals.
This study compared single-modality and audiovisual (crossmodally congruent and incongruent) speech perception in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children with and without Speech Sound Disorders (SSD). Thirty-six children (17 with and 19 without SSD; average age = 6;7) participated in an adapted syllable identification test. The auditory and visual stimuli consisted of monosyllabic consonant-vowel utterances involving [p,b,t,d,k,g,f,v,s,z,ʃ,ʒ,m,n,ɲ,l,ʎ,ɾ,χ,w], produced in the context of [a] vowel. The stimuli were presented in different modality conditions: auditory-only (AO), visual-only (VO), audio-visual congruent (AV+), and audio-visual incongruent (AV-). As expected, children with SSD showed lower perceptual accuracy than TD children across all modalities (AO, VO, and AV+), indicating that their difficulties are not restricted to the visual domain. The prediction that SSD children would show reduced audiovisual integration was not confirmed. No differences were observed between groups in terms of visual gain from congruent audiovisual stimuli or susceptibility to the McGurk illusion, although both groups exhibited the effect. Exploratory analyses revealed that age accounts for part of the group differences, particularly in the VO condition, while differences in AO and AV+ remained partially independent of age. Within the SSD group, PCC-R showed no significant multivariate effect, although univariate results indicated positive associations with AO and AV+, but not VO. Although SSD children show reduced accuracy in speech perception across sensory modalities, audiovisual speech integration appears preserved. The variability observed within the SSD group suggests a complex and heterogeneous developmental profile that cannot be fully explained by age or severity, underscoring the need for integrated and individualised intervention approaches.
Clinical phonetics and phonology are essential components of speech and language therapy education, yet many incoming students struggle with early phonetic concepts, particularly the shift from orthographic to sound-based thinking. These difficulties reflect phonetics as a threshold concept requiring repeated and varied practice to achieve accurate sound-to-symbol mapping and analytical skills. More recently, teaching in this area has drawn on innovative approaches to support such practice, with increasing attention to game-based and playful learning. Contributing to this emerging field, this paper presents a set of playful, low-cost learning activities designed to support first-year students in developing core phonetic and phonological knowledge. Grounded in principles of playful learning, the activities create an open, low-stakes environment that encourages exploration, collaboration and productive failure. Examples include black-out poetry tasks that reinforce the distinction between letters and sounds and IPA-adapted word games such as word searches and IPA Scrabble. These playful, interactive approaches enhance engagement, support peer learning and offer adaptable tools for early phonetics teaching across a range of educational contexts.
This study examined graduate student confidence, knowledge retention, and perceptions of a craniofacial disorders course delivered using team-based learning (TBL). Seventeen graduate students from a single class participated. Confidence was measured by survey pre-course, post-course, and 6 months later. Knowledge was assessed through exam scores, and retention was evaluated 7 months later using Cranio Q oral questions. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted. Confidence increased from pre-course to post-course and remained elevated at 6 months. Confidence was weakly correlated with exam scores. Exam scores did not differ by Cranio Q performance, although higher exam scores tended to be associated with better Cranio Q outcomes. Qualitative findings reflected positive student perceptions of the course and instructional approach. Participation in a TBL-based craniofacial course was associated with sustained self-reported confidence and positive perceptions. Relationships between exam performance and longer-term retention were weak, likely reflecting the limited variability and the small sample size.
This study is designed to analyse the degree to which young deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children produce complex syntax in spoken English across different language sampling contexts. Forty-six DHH children aged 3 to 8 years completed narrative, conversation, and play language samples with an examiner. We coded the transcribed language samples for two precursors to complex syntax and 12 types of complex syntax. These 14 types formed six categories. For overall complex syntax production, participants produced complex syntax more densely at the utterance level in the conversation context than the play context. The complex syntax category analyses revealed differences in the proportion of multiple complex syntax categories in the conversation context relative to the narrative and play contexts. Complex syntax production varied systematically across sampling contexts. Therefore, sampling context should be considered when eliciting and interpreting complex syntax production in DHH children.
This study examined the narrative retelling abilities of Greek-speaking school-aged children (ages 9-11) with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) using the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN). Addressing a gap in the literature, the study investigated group differences in macrostructural and microstructural narrative measurements and their diagnostic accuracy. Fifty children participated (25 DLD, 25 neurotypical), matched for age (mean = 10 years old). Analyses included correlations, MANOVA, Generalized Linear Mixed-effects Models (GLMM) and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC). Although the overall MANOVA did not show a significant multivariate effect, children with DLD scored significantly lower on Story Structure, Mean Length of Utterance (MLU), Subordinate Clauses, and Complement Clauses. GLMM analysis indicated that Story Structure and Complement Clauses significantly predicted group membership, while ROC analyses confirmed that Sentence Repetition is the most accurate diagnostic measurement with high sensitivity and specificity. These findings suggest that narrative retelling provides valuable insights into the syntactic and discourse organisation in DLD, complementing the diagnostic measurements of structured language tasks.
This study aimed to validate the Prueba de Fonología del Español (PFE) for Chilean Spanish and to identify a reduced subset of words suitable for phonological screening based on the Whole Word Match (WWM) measure. The sample comprised 152 monolingual children aged 3;0-6;11, including 72 typically developing (TD) and 80 with protracted phonological development (PPD). All participants completed the 100-word PFE and the Test para Evaluar Procesos Fonológicos de Simplificación - Revisado (TEPROSIF-R). WWM scores were computed for each production to quantify word-level accuracy. The results confirmed the concurrent validity of the PFE through significant correlations with TEPROSIF-R outcomes and revealed differentiation between TD and PPD groups across all ages. A subset of 26 words demonstrated high discriminant potential (r > .90) and reflected a balanced representation of Chilean Spanish phonological structure, stress, and segmental diversity. These findings establish the PFE as a valid phonological assessment for Chilean Spanish and support the use of a whole-word scoring approach for phonological screening in clinical and cross-linguistic contexts.
Anomia is a common symptom in aphasia following stroke and refers to difficulties retrieving content words, such as nouns and verbs. The word classes may be affected to different extents following a brain lesion, but verbs are generally considered more difficult to process and to name. Picture naming tests are often used to evaluate anomia, but verb naming tests have only been developed more recently in many languages, including Swedish. It is important that these tests are valid and reliable. In the present study, the validity of two Swedish naming tests targeting nouns and verbs respectively was investigated. Results from 19 speakers with aphasia were compared to results from 19 matched controls. The relationship between naming results and aphasia severity, age and educational level was also examined. Both naming tests showed good validity and reliability and can be used to evaluate moderate-severe anomia following stroke in clinical and research settings. The tests may not be sensitive enough to detect mild anomia. In line with previous research indicating a decline in naming ability during normal ageing, the results suggest that lower action naming scores may be anticipated in healthy elderly individuals.
