Year: 2009
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: There has been limited investigation into the nature of specific language \nimpairment (SLI) in adolescence, and even less investigation into speech \nproduction in SLI, particularly beyond the preschool years. Phonological output \nis crucial to oral expressive language, one of the characteristic areas of deficit in \nSLI. It was hypothesized that adolescents with SLI present with residual speech \nerrors. Accordingly, this study investigated the presence, nature and cause of \nspeech deficits in adolescents with persistent SLI. \nAdolescents aged 13.0-14.0 years with persistent SLI (n=31) were \ncompared to typically developing (TD) peers (n=31) on an Oral Motor Evaluation \n(OME) and a Speech Assessment Battery (SAB), consisting of: Multisyllabic \nWord Repetition, Nonsense Word Repetition, Phrase Repetition, Sentence \nRepetition and Tongue Twisters. Tasks were analysed in terms of accuracy and \nthe amount of effort required, to determine efficiency and automaticity of \nphonological output. All participants completed a battery of memory tasks and \nthe language abilities of the SLI group were evaluated. Caregivers completed \nquestionnaires investigating risk factors. \nResults indicated that adolescents with persistent SLI produced a higher \nnumber of inconsistent and context-dependent deviant speech behaviours than TD \npeers, involving syllable structure changes (phoneme additions/omissions), \nphoneme substitutions, fluency errors and repetitions/revisions. Participants with \nSLI also had a higher incidence of neuromotor deficits. Persistent SLI appears to \nrelate to a multifactorial etiology, involving both genetic and early history factors. \nThere was high comorbidity of attention deficits, with implications for resource \nallocation. \nResults were interpreted within a functional capacity viewpoint. Speech \ndeficits are thought to contribute to a threshold effect, where even subtle deficits \nin one area can compromise processing in another area. Speech production in this \npopulation appears to be more resource-demanding than in TD peers, which may \naffect concurrent performance on linguistic and memory tasks. This hypothesis is \nsupported by the high correlation between speech tasks and expressive syntax for \nSLI participants. The high incidence of speech deficits in adolescents with SLI \nii \nhas implications for research and clinical practice with individuals of all ages with \nSLI.
Author: Jean Henrica Bowker
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2233397681