The Development of Distinct Speaking Styles in Preschool Children

Autor/inn/en	Redford, Melissa A.; Gildersleeve-Neumann, Christina E.
Titel	The Development of Distinct Speaking Styles in Preschool Children
Quelle	In: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52 (2009) 6, S.1434-1448 (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1092-4388
DOI	10.1044/1092-4388(2009/07-0223)
Schlagwörter	Speech Communication; Vowels; Preschool Children; Language Acquisition; Individual Differences; Age Differences; Articulation (Speech); Time Factors (Learning); Observation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Individueller Unterschied; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Beobachtung
Abstract	Purpose: To examine when and how socially conditioned distinct speaking styles emerge in typically developing preschool children's speech. Method: Thirty preschool children, ages 3, 4, and 5 years old, produced target monosyllabic words with monophthongal vowels in different social-functional contexts designed to elicit clear and casual speaking styles. Thirty adult listeners were used to assess whether and at what age style differences were perceptible. Children's speech was acoustically analyzed to evaluate how style-dependent differences were produced. Results: The ratings indicated that listeners could not discern style differences in 3-year-olds' speech but could hear distinct styles in 4-year-olds' and especially in 5-year-olds' speech. The acoustic measurements were consistent with these results: Style-dependent differences in 4- and 5-year-olds' words included shorter vowel durations and lower fundamental frequency in clear compared with casual speech words. Five-year-olds' clear speech words also had more final stop releases and initial sibilants with higher spectral energy than did their casual speech words. Formant frequency measures showed no style-dependent differences in vowel production at any age nor any differences in initial stop voice onset times. Conclusion: Overall, the findings suggest that distinct styles develop slowly and that early style-dependent differences in children's speech are unlike those observed in adult clear and casual speech. Children may not develop adultlike styles until they have acquired expert articulatory control and the ability to highlight the internal structure of an articulatory plan for a listener. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Tel: 800-638-8255; Fax: 301-571-0457; e-mail: subscribe@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.asha.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10