Approaches to Assessment
Assessment Approaches
• Analysis of Phonetic Inventories
– Consonant Inventory
– Vowel Inventory
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Stress Patterns
Syllable Sequence/Structure Analysis
Consonant Cluster Production
Distinctive Feature Analysis
Place and Manner Analysis
Phonological Process Analysis
Contextual Testing
Analysis of Phonetic Inventories
• Performed with children in Stage 2 and
early Stage 3 See Bliele page 32 for table
• Describes ability to pronounce
– Distinctive features
– Sounds
– Syllables
– Stress patterns
• Does not specify if person speaks
correctly
Table II.1
Consonant Inventories/Production Analysis
• Performed on children Stages 2 to 4
• Attached to age norms
• Norms exist for consonant inventories of
unintelligible and intelligible speech (page 34)
Table 5.1 and 5.2
• For analysis of intelligible speech, a consonant
is established when it occurs in at least two
different words.
• For analysis of unintelligible speech, a
consonant is established when it occurs in at
list three different words.
Table 5.1
Table 5.2
Consonant Inventory
• The developmental level of a client’s
consonant inventory is that most closely
approximating the number and type of
client’s established consonants. (see
page 106 Bliele, tables 11.1 and 11.2)
• Categories for acquisition of consonants
and consonant clusters
–
–
–
–
–
–
Categories
Mastered
Acquired
Emerging
Rare
Absent
Percentage
75-100
50-74
10-49
1-10
0
Chances (5) Chances (10)
4/5-5/5
8/10-10/10 words
3/5
5/10-7/10
2/5
1/10 – 4/10
0/5
1/10
0/5
0/10
Bliele (pg 106)
Table 11.1
Table 11.2
Most frequently misarticulated sounds
/s, z, , , , , t, d, v, r, w/
Vowel Inventory
Pollock (1991) recommends vowels and
dipththongs to be assessed:
Non-rhotic
/I, I, ei, , ae, u, , ou, , , , aI, au, i)
Rhotic
(vowel = shwar)
/, I ,  ,  ,   /
Stress Patterns
• Beat of words
– Primary stress is indicated by placing a line
above the vowel or beginning of syllable
• peٰrmit or ٰpermit
• permiٰt or perٰmit
• Only include an aspect of a child’s
phonetic inventory if it occurs in two or
more words
Syllable Sequence/Structure Analysis
• Analyze syllable sequences in words.
– Describe words in terms of
• Syllable boundaries
• Sequences of consonants and vowels
– Use period to indicate syllable boundaries
• CCV.CV.CV
• Syllable Structure
– Describe two levels of syllable structure
• Syllable level
• Consonant and vowel level
S
C V
Consonant Cluster Production
• Performed with clients Stages 2-4
• Categories for acquisition of
consonants and consonant clusters
– Categories
Percentage
(10)
– Mastered
75-100
10/10 words
– Acquired
50-74
7/10
– Emerging
10-49
4/10
– Rare
1-10
– Absent
0
Chances (5)
Chances
4/5-5/5
8/10-
3/5
5/10-
2/5
1/10 –
0/5
1/10
0/5
0/10
Bliele (pg 106)
Distinctive Feature for Consonants
• Sounds are categorized into classes
• Natural classes are groups of sounds in a language
that share the same features
– Articulatory
– Acoustic
– Auditory
or
• Each sound is analyzed in terms of constituent
features. These features and not the phonemes are
the smallest and most basic unit of phonological
analysis
• Features are theoretical constructs
• System aims at providing a limited set of universal
features that is adequate for describing the
phonological constrasts of all languages in the world
Distinctive Feature Approaches
• Speech sample should satisfy the
following criteria
– Describe patterns used by the speaker
– Identify the ways in which these patterns
differ from those used by normal speakers
– Determine the implications of these
disordered patterns for effective
communication
– Provide a basis for assessing changes during
treatment
Distinctive Feature Approaches
• DF theory groups sounds into classes
according to the common features which
define them
• Singh and Polen (1972) features are more
related to speech production – See table 4.5
–
–
–
–
–
–
Front/Back
Nonlabial/labial
Nonsonorant/sonorant
Nonnasal/nasal
Nonsibilant/sibilant
Voiceless/voiced
Table Singh and Polen (1972)
Distinctive Feature Analysis Chart
Distinctive Feature Approaches
• You can use
– Tests and subtests
• Traditional phonetic description can be
used in much the same manner
– Manner and place tables
Place and Manner Analysis
Traditional Chart
Place and Manner Analysis
Distinctive Feature for Vowels
• See Bliele, 1.2 pg.4 and Bankson, 1.1
pg.13
Place
Height
Phonological Process Analysis
• Simplifies groups of sounds and
eliminate sound contrasts
• Processes
– Natural
– Idiosyncratic
Phonological Process Analysis
• Methods developed
– Procedures for the analysis of children’s
language (Ingram, 1976)
– Phonological analysis: A multifaceted
approach (Lund and Duchan (1978, 1983)
– Natural process analysis (Shriberg and
Kwiatkowski (1980)
– Assessment of phonological processes
(Hodson, 1980)
Contextual Testing
• Purposes
– Influence of surrounding phones
– Consistency of misarticulations
• Deep Test of Articulation (McDonald)
– Objected to three position testing because
• Word and speech appear in sequence of syllables
• Sounds do not appear in initial, medial and final positions but as
releasers and arrestors in syllables
• Too small a sample
Contextual Testing - McDonald
– Types of consonant connections
• Simple = CV, VC, CVC
• Double =
– Between two vowels (VCV)
– Across word boundaries
– Perform both arresting and releasing functions in a
sequential manner
• Compound = consonant cluster
• Abutting = two adjacent consonants are components of
two different syllables
• Finally, stimulability may be a better
predictor for therapy
A procedure for completing phonological
analysis and error pattern analysis
Newman, et. al. Assessment and Remediation
of Articulatory and Phonological Disorders.
Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill
Transcribe
• Transcribe the sample phonetically as a
list of words
• You can group according to their initial
and final consonants
Example
Analyze
• Analyze the syllable structures
• A list of the different word structures of
in the sample should be made
• Write the syllable structure next to the
word
Example
Analyze
• Analyze substitutions and distortions
• Syllable initial and syllable final
• Errors should try to be coded as
substitutions instead of distortions
whenever possible
• In these cases try to use narrow
transcription
Example
List
• Phonemes used correctly
• Phonemes used correctly
somewhere/anywhere in the sample
(note word position), in some context
• Phonemes appearing in the sample as
substitutions, but never used correctly
• Phonemes that were not represented in
the sample words
Summaries
Summary Word Structures
•
•
•
•
•
V
CV
CVCV
CVCVCV
VVCV
Summary of Substitutions, Omissions,
Distortions
Example
•
Phonemic Repertoire
1.
2.
3.
4.
Used correctly all the time: w, h
Used correctly in some context: p, b, m, w, t, d, n, h
Appearing; not used correctly: none
Not represented in sample words: 
Examine
• Examine the substituting and omission
columns for phonological processes
• Scan the omission column for final
consonant deletion, number of times it
does and does not occur and phonemes
for which it applies
• Scan the substitutions for stopping,
fronting of palatals and/or velars,
gliding or liquid simplification, cluster
reduction, assimilation, voicing or
devoicing and other processes
Examine (continued)
• Notation should be made of which
phonemes are affected
Distinctive Feature Analysis Chart
Traditional Description of Consonants
Chart
Correct Sounds and Substitutions Chart
Example
• Processes
1.Final consonant deletion – all phonemes
2. Stopping
3. Liquid simplification
4. Vocalization
5. Cluster reduction
6. Fronting
Contrastive Analysis
• Used for
– Dialect speakers
– Second language learners
• McGregor, Williams, Hearst and Johnson
(1997)
Contrastive Analysis Process
• Become familiar with the linguistic variety
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–
–
–
Literature
Compare speech with other members of family
Collect local norms
Interviews
• Collect data for contrastive analysis
• Identify true errors
– List all nonstandard patterns
– Evaluate if patterns consistent with D1/L1
– If patterns are inconsistent they are true errors
• Some inconsistent errors may indicate the person is in
process of acquiring
– Interpret the results
• Use other information to verify your judgments, to
validate