The impact of contextual, conversational, and affective factors on a child's speech intelligibility
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v2i2.293Keywords:
Speech sound disorders, children, articulation therapyAbstract
In this study, we discuss how the intelligibility of a 5-year old with disordered articulation changes with contextual and conversational factors in a speech-therapy setting, and with the client’s affective response to these factors. Using Conversation Analysis and Systemic-Functional Linguistics to obtain detailed analyses of the sequential unfolding of the interaction, we show that the client’s efforts to be intelligible or unintelligible vary with the informativity of the client’s productions as they are enabled by the clinician. Variations in the client’s intelligibility function in the same way as conventional conversational contributions, and can be viewed as insights into the client’s understanding of the ongoing interaction. We conclude that there are cases of disordered articulation for which traditional articulation therapy (motor drills and highly structured speech tasks) are contraindicated. Interactional and conversational context should receive more attention in articulation therapy and research into speech sound disorders.
References
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Baker, E. (2006). Management of speech impairment in children: The journey so far and the road ahead. Advances in Speech–Language Pathology 8 (3): 156?163. doi:10.1080/14417040600701951
Camarata, S. M. (2010). Naturalistic intervention for speech intelligibility and speech accuracy. In A. L. Williams, S. McLeod and R. J. McCauley (eds) Intervention for Speech Sound Disorders in Children, 381?405. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
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Couper-Kuhlen, E. (2007). Situated phonologies: Patterns of phonology in discourse contexts. In M. C. Pennington (ed.) Phonology in Context, 186?218. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Damico, J. S. and Nelson, R. L. (2005). Interpreting problematic behavior: Systematic compensatory adaptations as emergent phenomena in autism. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 19 (5): 405?417. doi:10.1080/02699200400027163
Damico, J. S. and Simmons-Mackie, N. N. (2003). Qualitative research and speech-language pathology: A tutorial for the clinical realm. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 12 (2): 131?143. doi:10.1044/1058-0360(2003/060)
Damico, J. S., Simmons-Mackie, N. N. and Wilson, B. (2006). The negotiation of intelligibility in an aphasic dyad. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 20 (7?8): 599?605. doi: 10.1080/02699200500266653
de Beaugrande, R. and Dressler, W. U. (1981). Introduction to Text Linguistics. London: Longman.
Eggins, S. (2004). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. New York: Continuum International Publishing.
Ferguson, A. and Armstrong, E. (2004). Reflections on speech-language therapists’ talk: implications for clinical practice and education. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 39 (4): 469?477. doi:10.1080/1368282042000226879
Gardner, H. (1997). Are your minimal pairs too neat? The dangers of phonemicisation in phonology therapy. European Journal of Disorders of Communication 32 (2): 167?175. doi:10.1111/j.1460-6984.1997.tb01630.x
Gardner, H. (2006). Training others in the art of therapy for speech sound disorders: an interactional approach. Child Language Teaching and Therapy 22 (1): 27?46. doi:10.1191/0265659006ct296oa
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Janesick, V. L. (1994). The dance of qualitative research design: Metaphor, methodolatry, and meaning. In N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research, 209?219. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kamhi, A. G. (2006). Treatment decisions for children with speech-sound disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 37 (4): 271?279. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2006/031)
Kovarsky, D. and Duchan, J. F. (1997). The interactional dimensions of language therapy. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 28 (3): 297?307.
Leahy, M. M. and Walsh, I. P. (2008). Talk in interaction in the speech-language pathology clinic: Bringing theory to practice through discourse. Topics in Language Disorders 28 (3): 229?241. doi:10.1097/01.TLD.0000333598.53339.5a
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Local, J. (2003b). Variable domains and variable relevance: Interpreting phonetic exponents. Journal of Phonetics 31 (3?4): 321?339. doi:10.1016/S0095-4470(03)00045-7
Local, J., Kelly, J. and Wells, W. H. G. (1986). Towards a phonology of conversation: Turn-taking in Tyneside English. Journal of Linguistics 22 (2): 411?437. doi:10.1017/S0022226700010859
McLeod, S. (2006). An holistic view of a child with unintelligible speech: Insights from the ICF and ICF-CY. Advances in Speech–Language Pathology 8 (3): 293?315. doi: 10.1080/14417040600824944
Rutter, B. (2008). Acoustic Properties of Repair Sequences in Dysarthric Conversational Speech: An Interactional Phonetic Study. Doctoral dissertation, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Miccio, A. W. and Powell, T. W. (2010). Triangulating speech sound generalization. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 24 (4?5): 311?322. doi:10.3109/02699200903537150
Muller, N. (2003). Intelligibility and negotiated meaning in interaction. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 17 (4?5): 317?324. doi:10.1080/0269920031000080028
Powell, T. W. (2008). The use of nonspeech oral motor treatments for developmental speech sound production disorders: Interventions and interactions. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 39 (3): 374?379. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2008/035)
Ripich, D. N. and Panagos, J. M. (1985). Accessing children’s knowledge of sociolinguistic rules for speech therapy lessons. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 50: 335?346.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A. and Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50 (4): 696?735. doi:10.2307/412243
Schegloff, E. A. (1982). Discourse as an interactional achievement: Some uses of ‘uh huh’ and other things that come between sentences. In D. Tannen (ed.), Analyzing Discourse: Text and Talk, 71?93. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (1988). Discourse as an interactional achievement II: An exercise in conversation analysis. In D. Tannen (ed.), Linguistics in Context: Connecting Observation and Understanding, 135?158. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Shriberg, L. D., Lewis, B.A., Tomblin, J. B., McSweeny, J. L., Karlsson, H. B. and Scheer, A. R. (2005). Toward diagnostic and phenotype markers for genetically transmitted speech delay. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 48 (4): 834?852. doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2005/058)
Thompson, G. (2004). Introducing Functional Grammar (2nd edn). London: Arnold.
Simmons-Mackie, N. N. and Damico, J. S. (1999). Social role negotiation in aphasia therapy: Competence, incompetence, and conflict. In D. Kovarsky, J. F. Duchan and M. Maxwell (eds), Constructing Incompetence: Disabling Evaluations in Clinical and Social Interaction, 313?341. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. doi:10.1044/1058-0360(2003/061)
Simmons-Mackie, N. N. and Damico, J. S. (2003). Contributions of qualitative research to the knowledge base of normal communication. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 12 (2): 144?154.
Spencer, E., Packman, A., Onslow, M. and Ferguson, A. (2005). A preliminary investigation of the impact of stuttering on language use. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 19 (3): 191?201. doi:10.1080/02699200410001698625
Wilkinson, R. (2004). Reflecting on talk in speech and language therapy: Some contributions using conversation analysis. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 39 (4): 497?503.
Williams, A. L., McLeod, S. and McCauley, R. (eds) (2010). Intervention for Speech Sound Disorders in Children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Ball, M. J. and Muller, N. (2005). Phonetics for Communication Disorders. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Baker, E. (2006). Management of speech impairment in children: The journey so far and the road ahead. Advances in Speech–Language Pathology 8 (3): 156?163. doi:10.1080/14417040600701951
Camarata, S. M. (2010). Naturalistic intervention for speech intelligibility and speech accuracy. In A. L. Williams, S. McLeod and R. J. McCauley (eds) Intervention for Speech Sound Disorders in Children, 381?405. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Charmaz, K. (2003). Grounded theory. In J. A. Smith (ed.) Qualitative Psychology, 81?110. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Couper-Kuhlen, E. (2007). Situated phonologies: Patterns of phonology in discourse contexts. In M. C. Pennington (ed.) Phonology in Context, 186?218. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Damico, J. S. and Nelson, R. L. (2005). Interpreting problematic behavior: Systematic compensatory adaptations as emergent phenomena in autism. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 19 (5): 405?417. doi:10.1080/02699200400027163
Damico, J. S. and Simmons-Mackie, N. N. (2003). Qualitative research and speech-language pathology: A tutorial for the clinical realm. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 12 (2): 131?143. doi:10.1044/1058-0360(2003/060)
Damico, J. S., Simmons-Mackie, N. N. and Wilson, B. (2006). The negotiation of intelligibility in an aphasic dyad. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 20 (7?8): 599?605. doi: 10.1080/02699200500266653
de Beaugrande, R. and Dressler, W. U. (1981). Introduction to Text Linguistics. London: Longman.
Eggins, S. (2004). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. New York: Continuum International Publishing.
Ferguson, A. and Armstrong, E. (2004). Reflections on speech-language therapists’ talk: implications for clinical practice and education. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 39 (4): 469?477. doi:10.1080/1368282042000226879
Gardner, H. (1997). Are your minimal pairs too neat? The dangers of phonemicisation in phonology therapy. European Journal of Disorders of Communication 32 (2): 167?175. doi:10.1111/j.1460-6984.1997.tb01630.x
Gardner, H. (2006). Training others in the art of therapy for speech sound disorders: an interactional approach. Child Language Teaching and Therapy 22 (1): 27?46. doi:10.1191/0265659006ct296oa
Giles, H., Coupland, J. and Coupland, N. (1991). Accommodation theory: Communication, context, and consequence. In H. Giles, N. Coupland and J. Coupland (eds) Contexts of Accommodation. Developments in Applied Sociolinguistics, 1?68. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Goldman, R. and Fristoe, M. (2000). Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Goodwin, C. and Heritage, J. (1990). Conversation analysis. Annual Review of Anthropology 19: 283?307. doi:10.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.001435
Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (3rd edn). London: Arnold.
Hoffman, P. R., Norris, J. A. and Monjure, J. (1990). Comparison of process targeting and whole language treatments for phonologically delayed preschool children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 21 (2): 102?109.
Howard, S. (2010). Children with speech sound disorders. In J. S. Damico, N. Muller and M. J. Ball (eds) The Handbook of Language and Speech Disorders, 339?361. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Janesick, V. L. (1994). The dance of qualitative research design: Metaphor, methodolatry, and meaning. In N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research, 209?219. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kamhi, A. G. (2006). Treatment decisions for children with speech-sound disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 37 (4): 271?279. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2006/031)
Kovarsky, D. and Duchan, J. F. (1997). The interactional dimensions of language therapy. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 28 (3): 297?307.
Leahy, M. M. and Walsh, I. P. (2008). Talk in interaction in the speech-language pathology clinic: Bringing theory to practice through discourse. Topics in Language Disorders 28 (3): 229?241. doi:10.1097/01.TLD.0000333598.53339.5a
Lincoln, Y. S. and Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Local, J. (2003a). Phonetics and Talk-in-interaction. Position paper for a symposium on phonetics and talk-in-interaction at the International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Barcelona 2003. Retrieved on 31 August 2010 from http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~lang4/icphs.pdf
Local, J. (2003b). Variable domains and variable relevance: Interpreting phonetic exponents. Journal of Phonetics 31 (3?4): 321?339. doi:10.1016/S0095-4470(03)00045-7
Local, J., Kelly, J. and Wells, W. H. G. (1986). Towards a phonology of conversation: Turn-taking in Tyneside English. Journal of Linguistics 22 (2): 411?437. doi:10.1017/S0022226700010859
McLeod, S. (2006). An holistic view of a child with unintelligible speech: Insights from the ICF and ICF-CY. Advances in Speech–Language Pathology 8 (3): 293?315. doi: 10.1080/14417040600824944
Rutter, B. (2008). Acoustic Properties of Repair Sequences in Dysarthric Conversational Speech: An Interactional Phonetic Study. Doctoral dissertation, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Miccio, A. W. and Powell, T. W. (2010). Triangulating speech sound generalization. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 24 (4?5): 311?322. doi:10.3109/02699200903537150
Muller, N. (2003). Intelligibility and negotiated meaning in interaction. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 17 (4?5): 317?324. doi:10.1080/0269920031000080028
Powell, T. W. (2008). The use of nonspeech oral motor treatments for developmental speech sound production disorders: Interventions and interactions. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 39 (3): 374?379. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2008/035)
Ripich, D. N. and Panagos, J. M. (1985). Accessing children’s knowledge of sociolinguistic rules for speech therapy lessons. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 50: 335?346.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A. and Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50 (4): 696?735. doi:10.2307/412243
Schegloff, E. A. (1982). Discourse as an interactional achievement: Some uses of ‘uh huh’ and other things that come between sentences. In D. Tannen (ed.), Analyzing Discourse: Text and Talk, 71?93. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (1988). Discourse as an interactional achievement II: An exercise in conversation analysis. In D. Tannen (ed.), Linguistics in Context: Connecting Observation and Understanding, 135?158. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Shriberg, L. D., Lewis, B.A., Tomblin, J. B., McSweeny, J. L., Karlsson, H. B. and Scheer, A. R. (2005). Toward diagnostic and phenotype markers for genetically transmitted speech delay. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 48 (4): 834?852. doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2005/058)
Thompson, G. (2004). Introducing Functional Grammar (2nd edn). London: Arnold.
Simmons-Mackie, N. N. and Damico, J. S. (1999). Social role negotiation in aphasia therapy: Competence, incompetence, and conflict. In D. Kovarsky, J. F. Duchan and M. Maxwell (eds), Constructing Incompetence: Disabling Evaluations in Clinical and Social Interaction, 313?341. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. doi:10.1044/1058-0360(2003/061)
Simmons-Mackie, N. N. and Damico, J. S. (2003). Contributions of qualitative research to the knowledge base of normal communication. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 12 (2): 144?154.
Spencer, E., Packman, A., Onslow, M. and Ferguson, A. (2005). A preliminary investigation of the impact of stuttering on language use. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 19 (3): 191?201. doi:10.1080/02699200410001698625
Wilkinson, R. (2004). Reflecting on talk in speech and language therapy: Some contributions using conversation analysis. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 39 (4): 497?503.
Williams, A. L., McLeod, S. and McCauley, R. (eds) (2010). Intervention for Speech Sound Disorders in Children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Published
2011-08-29
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Kroll, T. A., & Müller, N. (2011). The impact of contextual, conversational, and affective factors on a child’s speech intelligibility. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders, 2(2), 293-319. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v2i2.293
