1999 Volume 40 Issue 4 Pages 357-363
This study investigated the difference in acquisition of speech sounds between children with cleft palate who exhibit palatalized articulation as a type of misarticulation and those who exhibit normal speech, with a focus on phonological processes. A single word articulation test was periodically administered throughout the speech acquisition period (2-5 years) to 20 children with cleft palate accompanied by palatalized articulation. The same test was also administered to a control group of 20 children with cleft palate who acquired normal speech without speech remediation.Both speech samples were analyzed based on 14 phonological processes. Results indicated that (1) in the experimental group the number of articulation errors was higher and the frequency of the processes was lower than in the control group ; (2) the children in the experimental group exhibited backing more frequently and palatalization less frequently than children in the control group. These results suggest that in postoperative speech follow-up, children who exhibit backing and produce many error sounds which are not categorized in phonological processes are at high risk of developing palatalized articulation.
