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Chronological Age And Grammatical Development As Determinants Of The Proportions Of Disfluencies On Lexical And Function Words In Preschool Children

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Chronological Age And Grammatical Development As Determinants Of The Proportions Of Disfluencies On Lexical And Function Words In Preschool Children

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Content CHRONOLOGICAL AGE AND GRAMMATICAL DEVELOPMENT AS
DETERMINANTS OP THE PROPORTIONS OP DISFLUENCIES
ON LEXICAL AND "FUNCTION" W ORDS
IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
fey
J u l i e O 'B rie n Gardner
A D i s s e r t a t i o n P re s e n te d to th e
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In P a r t i a l F u lf illm e n t of th e
Requirements f o r th e Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(Communicative D iso rd e rs)
June 1972
INFORMATION TO USERS
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University Microfilms
300 North Z e sb Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106
A Xerox Education C om pany
72-26,015
GARDNER, J u l i e O 'B r ie n , 1 9 3 5 -
CHRONOLOGICAL AGE A N D GRAMMATICAL DEVELOPMENT
AS DETERMINANTS OF THE PROPORTIONS OF DISFLUENCIES
O N LEXICAL A ND "FUNCTION" W ORDS IN PRESCHOOL
CHILDREN. [P a g e 5 0 , " N o rth w e s te rn S y n ta x S c re e n
in g T e s t R e c o rd F o rm ", n o t m ic ro film e d a t r e q u e s t
o f a u th o r . A v a ila b le f o r c o n s u l t a t i o n a t
U n i v e r s i ty o f S o u th e rn C a l i f o r n i a L ib ra r y !] .
U n i v e r s i ty o f S o u th e rn C a l i f o r n i a , Ph.D., 1972
Speech P a th o lo g y
University Microfilms, A X E R O X Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED
UNIVERSITY O F SO U TH ER N CALIFORNIA
T H E GRADUATE SC H O O L
U N IV ER SITY PA RK
LOS A N G E L E S, C A L IF O R N IA 9 0 0 0 7
This dissertation, written by
................J u l i e _ _ 0 1Br_ien__Gar dner.................
under the direction of hDissertati on Com
mittee, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by The Gradu
ate School, in partial fulfillment of require
ments of the degree of
D O C T O R OF P H IL O S O P H Y
Date......... Jun e.. .1972
P LEA SE NOTE:
Some pages may have
indistinct print.
Filmed as received.
University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company
TABLE OP CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES
C hapter
I . THE PROBLEM .........................................................................
I n tr o d u c tio n
Statem ent of th e Problem
Im portance of th e Study
I I . REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............................................
Loci o f D is flu e n c ie s
L in g u i s t i c F a c to rs i n Loci
of D is f lu e n c ie s
Methodology
Grammatical Development and
Measurement
I I I . METHODS AND PROCEDURES .................................................
Overview of Design
S u b je c ts
M a te r ia ls and Apparatus
Procedure
E v a lu a tio n
S t a t i s t i c a l Comparisons
IV. RESULTS ...................................................................................
Grammatical F u n ctio n and Age
Grammatical Development and
Grammatical F u nction
Judge R e l i a b i l i t y
V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND DISCUSSION . . . .
Summary
C onelusions
D isc u ssio n
REFERENCES
Page
APPENDICES.................................................................................................. 45
APPENDIX A. Consent L e t t e r * .............................................. 47
APPENDIX B. N orth w estern Syntax Screening T est
Record F o r m ...................................................... 50
APPENDIX C. I n s t r u c t i o n s to P a re n ts .......................... 52
APPENDIX D. C r i t e r i a f o r D efining Moments
of D i s f l u e n c y ................................................. 54
APPENDIX E. D e f in itio n s of Grammatical
C a te g o rie s . , . . .............................. 57
APPENDIX F. A d d itio n a l Data Recorded
During E v a lu a tio n ........................................ 59
APPENDIX G. Judge R e l i a b i l i t y Scores ..................... 64
APPENDIX H. Raw Scores and P ro p o rtio n s . . . . 66
i i i
LIST OF TABLES
Table
1. Z Values f o r D iffe re n c e s Between P ro p o rtio n s
of L e x ic a l and F u n ctio n Words D is flu e n t
by Age Groups ................................................................
2. P e rce n tag e s of N o n s tu tte r in g C hild ren C la s
s i f i e d as D is flu e n t on L ex ica l Words . .
3. 50th P e r c e n t i l e Norm Scores on NSST, and
50th P e r c e n t i l e S u b ject Scores on
NSST by Age Group ......................................................
4. Z Values f o r D iffe re n c e s Between P ro p o rtio n s
of L e x ic a l and F un ctio n Words D is flu e n t
by P e rce n t on D isflu e n c y ...................................
5. Types of D is f lu e n c ie s ..................................................
6. P e rce n tag e of D is f lu e n t S y lla b le s by
Age and L is te n e r ......................................................
7. Word Length ...........................................................................
8. Sentence P o s itio n . . . .............................................
9. I n i t i a l Phoneme .................................................................
10. P e rce n tag e s of D is f lu e n t Words fo r
P a r ts of Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i 11. Judge R e l i a b i l i t y Scores ........................................
12. Raw Scores ..........................................................................
i 13. Gramm atical F unctio n and Age—
L e x ic a l Words ................................................................
; 14. Grammatical F u n c tio n and Age—
F u n c tio n Words ........................................................... .
, 15. Grammatical Development and Grammatical
F u n c tio n —L e x ic a l Words ....................................... .
16. Grammatical Development and Grammatical
F u n c tio n —F u n ctio n Words .......................................
17. Grammatical Development and Age ......................... ,
iv
Page
25
28
32
34
59
60
61 ;
61
61
62 :
64 1
|
66 I
i
j
67 |
I
68 |
6 9 !
70
71
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
I n tr o d u c tio n
R e search ers have i n v e s t i g a t e d many v a r i a b le s i n
t h e i r study o f th e l o c i of d i s f l u e n c i e s i n th e speech of
a d u lt s t u t t e r e r s . Among th e v a r i a b le s i d e n t i f i e d a re word
lengthy i n i t i a l phoneme, gram m atical f u n c tio n , sen ten ce
p o s i t i o n (Brown, 1937* 19^5)* word f a m i l i a r i t y (Hejna,
1963; Wingate, 1 9 6 7); in fo rm a tio n v a lu e (Soderberg, 1 9 6 7);
;and s p e c i f i c ty p e of d is f lu e n c y (McClay & Osgood, 1959*' !
Soderberg, 1 9 6 7). S im ila r v a r i a b l e s have been r e p o r te d i n
;th e d i s f l u e n c i e s of n o n s t u t t e r i n g a d u lts (Silverm an & W il-
l i a n s , 1967; Chaney, 1 9 6 9) an& s t u t t e r i n g and n o n s t u t t e r i n g ;
elem entary sch ool c h ild r e n (W illiam s, Silverm an, & Kools, j
{ 1 9 6 9 ) . j
' 1
! 1
| R eports of v a r i a b l e s in f lu e n c in g th e l o c i of d i s - |
■ !
jflu e n c ie s i n p re s c h o o l c h il d r e n have focused p r im a r ily on |
j f
|the gram m atical f a c t o r . F u n c tio n words ( a r t i c l e s , pronouns,!
^conjunctions, p r e p o s i t i o n s , a u x i l i a r i e s , i n t e r r o g a t i v e s , !
and noun d e te rm in e rs ) were found to be more o f te n d i s f l u e n t !
i n th e speech o f s t u t t e r i n g p re s c h o o l c h ild r e n (B lo o d ste in j
& Gantwerk, 1 9 6 7)* w h ile l e x i c a l words (nouns, v e rb s , a d
v e rb s, and a d je c t i v e s ) were found to be more o f te n d i s f lu e n t
among s t u t t e r i n g and. n o n s t u t te r i n g a d u lts and elem entary
sch ool c h ild r e n .
S tu d ie s of th e gram m atical f a c t o r have e i t h e r i n
v e s t ig a te d one age group (fo u r y e a r o ld s i n th e case of
S ilverm an, 1971)j o r r e p o rte d cum ulative f in d in g s f o r th e
p re s c h o o l age range, w ith no "breakdowns of age groupings
(B lo o d ste in & Gantwerk, 1967). The in f lu e n c e of th e gram
m a tic a l f a c t o r in l o c i of d is f lu e n c y during th e p re sc h o o l
y e ars has been d i f f i c u l t to i d e n t i f y by reason of uncon- •
t r o l l e d or confounding v a r i a b l e s .
Statem ent of th e Problem
The g e n e r a l purpose of t h i s stu d y was t o d e sc rib e
th e p r o p o r tio n s of l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n word d i s f l u e n c ie s
to t o t a l l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n words found in speech samples
of p re s c h o o l c h ild r e n w ith r e s p e c t to c h ro n o lo g ic a l age
and gram m atical development. T his stu d y was s p e c i f i c a l l y
designed to answer th e fo llo w in g q u e s tio n s :
1. What i s th e r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h ro n o lo g ic a l
age and th e p ro p o rtio n of l e x i c a l and f u n c tio n
words d i s f l u e n t i n speech samples of p resch o o l
c h ild re n ?
2. What i s th e r e l a t i o n s h i p between gram m atical
development and th e p r o p o r tio n of l e x i c a l and
fu n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t in speech samples of
p re sc h o o l c h ild re n ?
The n u l l hypo theses g e n e ra te d from th e s e two ques
t io n s were:
1. There w i l l he no s i g n i f i c a n t ( p > 0 .0 5 ) r e l a t i o n
ship between c h ro n o lo g ic a l age and th e p ro p o rtio n
of l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l
l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n words i n speech samples of
p re s c h o o l c h ild r e n .
2. There w i l l be no s i g n i f i c a n t ( p > 0 . 0 5 ) r e l a t i o n
ship between gram m atical development and th e
p ro p o rtio n of l e x i c a l and f u n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t
to t o t a l l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n words in speech
samples of p resch o o l c h ild r e n .
Im portance of th e Study
The r e s u l t s of t h i s stu d y cou ld : ( l ) c l a r i f y th e
; r o l e o f gram m atical f u n c tio n i n l o c i of d i s f l u e n c ie s i n
; th e speech of p re sc h o o l c h ild r e n , (2) determ ine th e r e - j
| l a t i o n s h i p between gram m atical development and l e x i c a l and !
j
fu n c tio n word d i s f l u e n c i e s , and (3) e v a lu a te th e use of j
!
r a d io te le m e tr y w ith p re sc h o o l c h ild r e n i n communicative
d is o r d e r s r e s e a r c h . !
CHAPTER I I
REVIEW OP THE LITERATURE
The i n t e n t of t h i s survey i s t o review c r i t i c a l l y
th e l i t e r a t u r e p e r t i n e n t to th e fo llo w in g a r e a s : ( l ) lo c i
of d i s f l u e n c i e s j (2) l i n g u i s t i c f a c t o r s in l o c i of d i s
f l u e n c ie s , (3) methodology in th e study of l o c i o f d i s f l u
e n c ie s , and (4) gram m atical development and measurement.
Loci of D is flu e n c ie s
Adult S t u t t e r e r s
S tu d ie s r e l a t e d to th e o r i g i n a l work of Brown
(1937.- 1945}> and review ed by T aylor ( 1 9 6 6) in d ic a t e d th a t
: d i s f l u e n c i e s were not d i s t r i b u t e d a t random in th e speech
: of a d u lt s t u t t e r e r s . D is flu e n c ie s tended to occur on
I words which began w ith consonant sounds o th e r th a n / t / ,
\ / h / , /w /, and /ff/ ( i n i t i a l phoneme); were nouns, v e rb s ,
J adverbs, or a d je c t i v e s (gram m atical f u n c tio n ) ; were th e
f i r s t , second, o r t h i r d word of a se n ten c e (se n ten c e p o s i -
| t i o n ) ; or were f i v e l e t t e r s o r more i n le n g th (word
l e n g t h ) .
Adult N o n s tu tte r e r s
Silverm an and W illiams ( 1 9 6 7) compared th e l o c i
of d i s f l u e n c i e s of tw e n ty -fo u r young a d u lt males w ith th e
4
5
r e s u l t s of Brown's (19^5) stu d y . They found th e d i s f l u
e n c ie s of a d u lts In t h e i r stu d y s i m il a r to t h e d i s f l u e n c i e s
of Brown's a d u lt s t u t t e r e r s . However,, i n c o n tr a s t to th e
f in d in g s of Brown, th e y concluded t h a t n o n s t u t t e r e r s were
no more d i s f l u e n t on th e f i r s t t h r e e words of a sen ten ce
th a n th e y were on any of th e o th e r words i n th e se n te n c e .
U t i l i z i n g young a d u lt fem ale n o n s t u t t e r e r s , Chaney
( 1 9 6 9) r e p l i c a t e d th e Silverm an and W illiam s stu d y .
Chaney su ppo rted t h e i r fin d in g s , in t h a t th e l o c i of d i s
f l u e n c ie s of normal speakers were s i m il a r to th e l o c i of
d i s f l u e n c i e s of s t u t t e r e r s w ith th e ex ce p tio n of se n ten c e
p o s i t i o n .
Elem entary School S t u t t e r e r s |
: and N o n s tu tte r e r s
W illiam s, Silverm an, and Kools ( 1969) s tu d ie d th e
i lo c i of d i s f l u e n c i e s of s e v e n ty - s ix s t u t t e r e r s and sev -
| e n ty - s ix n o n s t u t t e r e r s , f i v e th ro u g h t h i r t e e n y e a rs of !
! I
i age. S t u t t e r i n g c h ild r e n were found to be s i g n i f i c a n t l y j
I j
j (0.05) d i s f l u e n t on th r e e v a r i a b l e s : gram m atical f u n c tio n , j
word lengthy and senten ce p o s i t io n . N o n s tu tte r in g c h i l
dren were found to be s i g n i f i c a n t l y (0.05) d i s f l u e n t on j
j
gram m atical f u n c tio n and word le n g th only, which was con- j
s i s t e n t w ith th e fin d in g s of Silverm an and W illiam s con- I
c e rn in g a d u lt sp e ak e rs. j
To determ ine i f c h ro n o lo g ic a l age a f f e c t e d th e
manner i n which th e s e young s t u t t e r e r s and n o n s t u t t e r e r s
6
tended to be d i s f l u e n t on words p o ss e s sin g any of th e fo u r
a t t r i b u t e s , W illiam s, Silverm an, and Kools ( 1 9 6 9) d iv id e d
th e c h ild r e n i n t o t h r e e subgroups: k in d e r g a r te n and f i r s t
grade; second and t h i r d g ra d e s; and f o u r th , f i f t h , and
s i x t h g ra d e s. No s i g n i f i c a n t d if f e r e n c e s were found b e
tween th e t h r e e age groups of s t u t t e r e r s on any of th e
fo u r word a t t r i b u t e s . Sentence p o s i t io n was th e only a t
t r i b u t e t h a t su g gested a developm ental tr e n d . A h ig h e r
p e rc e n ta g e of k in d e r g a r te n and f i r s t grade c h il d r e n were
c l a s s i f i e d as d i s f l u e n t on th e f i r s t words of s e n te n c e s .
This i s c o n s i s t e n t w ith B lo o d s t e i n 's ( i 9 6 0) fin d in g s t h a t
young s t u t t e r e r s a re d i s f l u e n t more f r e q u e n tly a t th e be
g in n in g s of se n ten c es than a re o ld e r s t u t t e r e r s .
Among th e th r e e subgroups of n o n s t u t t e r i n g c h i l -
: dren , gram m atical f u n c tio n was th e only a t t r i b u t e found to
I d i f f e r e n t i a t e th e groups s i g n i f i c a n t l y . A low p e rc e n ta g e
I
j of second and t h i r d grade c h ild r e n were c l a s s i f i e d as
i
I d i s f l u e n t on nouns, v e rb s , a d j e c t i v e s , and a d v erb s. The
I
| a u th o rs a t t r i b u t e d t h i s d i f f e r e n c e to a prob ab le sampling
j
! e r r o r r a t h e r th a n t o a developm ental tr e n d .
P re sc h o o l N o n s tu tte r e r s
Silverm an (1971) re a n a ly z e d d a ta from a 1970
study concerning d is f lu e n c y p a t t e r n s of te n fo u r y e a r old
boys. She found th e c h ild r e n tended to be more d i s f l u e n t
on m onosyllabic words, th e f i r s t words of u t t e r a n c e s , and
on c e r ta in fu n c tio n words than was expected by chance.
No s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e was found f o r th e i n i t i a l phoneme
f a c t o r . .__ _______
L in g u i s t i c F a c to rs in Loci of D is f lu e n c ie s
Grammatical F unction
A d u l t s . I t has been dem onstrated (Brown, 1937;
Hahn, 1942; H ejna, 1955) t h a t a d u lt s t u t t e r e r s ' frequ ency
of d is f lu e n c y i n c r e a s e s i n th e fo llo w in g o rd e r: c o n ju n c
t i o n s , a r t i c l e s , pronouns, p r e p o s i ti o n s , ad v erb s, v e rb s,
a d j e c t i v e s , and nouns. S im ila r p a t t e r n s have been found
f o r a d u lt n o n s t u t t e r e r s (B lankenship, 1964). S e v e ra l i n
v e s t i g a t o r s , however, have q u e stio n e d th e s e f in d in g s on
gram m atical f u n c tio n on th e grounds t h a t i n te r v e n in g v a r i - ;
a b le s confounded t h e i r r e s u l t s .
T ay lo r ( 1 9 6 6) h y p o th e siz e d t h a t l e s s d is f lu e n c y 1
occurs on f u n c tio n words because th e s e words ten d to begin j
w ith vowels r a t h e r th a n c o n so n an ts. F u r th e r, he su g g e ste d j
j
t h a t i n i t i a l consonants in l e x i c a l words c a r r y more i n - j
1
form atio n (a re h a rd e r to p r e d i c t ) and in v o lv e g r e a t e r !
1
a r t i c u l a t o r y com plex ity th a n do vowels, and c o n se q u e n tly ;
a re a s s o c ia te d w ith more d is f lu e n c y .
i
Wingate ( 1 9 6 7) s t a t e d t h a t fu n c tio n words a re
u s u a l l y s h o r t e r th a n l e x i c a l words, th e re b y e x p la in in g
gram m atical f u n c tio n i n term s of word le n g th .
A stu d y by Soderberg ( 1 9 6 7) d id not sup port
Brown's (1937) c o n te n tio n t h a t l e x i c a l words were more
f r e q u e n t ly d i s f l u e n t than f u n c tio n words. He stated., how
ever j t h a t a b ia s in g a r t i f a c t o f c la u s e p o s i t io n may have
confounded h i s f in d in g s .
C h ild r e n . B lo o d ste in ( i 9 6 0) examined th e case
re c o rd s of 4 l8 s t u t t e r e r s , aged two th ro u g h s i x te e n y e a rs ,
and su ggested th a t i n th e e a r l i e s t phase of th e d is o r d e r
th e re may be a tendency f o r d i s f l u e n c i e s to occur on p ro
nouns, c o n ju n c tio n s , and p r e p o s i ti o n s .
B lo o d ste in and Gantwerk ( 1967) s tu d ie d th e speech
of t h i r t e e n young s t u t t e r e r s , two to s ix y e a rs of age, and :
concluded t h a t th e l o c i of d i s f l u e n c i e s were m arkedly
d i f f e r e n t from th o se r e p o r te d f o r o ld e r s t u t t e r e r s . They
found d i s f l u e n c i e s o c cu rred on c o n ju n c tio n s and pronouns ;
s i g n i f i c a n t l y (0.05) more o fte n than would be expected by
chance, w hile d i s f l u e n c i e s on nouns and i n t e r j e c t i o n s f e l l j
i
s i g n i f i c a n t l y (0.05) below chance e x p e c ta tio n s .
In c o n tr a s t to th e fin d in g s of B lo o d ste in , e l e
m entary sch ool s t u t t e r i n g and n o n s t u t te r i n g c h il d r e n have
1
i
been r e p o rte d to have gram m atical fu n c tio n d is f lu e n c y p a t - ]
t e r n s s i m il a r to a d u lt s t u t t e r e r s and n o n s t u t t e r e r s (W il- I
liam s, Silverm an, & K ools, 1 9 6 9)• j
Silverm an ( 1971) analyzed speech samples o f te n
n o n s t u t te r i n g fou r y e a r old boys fo r l o c i of d i s f l u e n c i e s .
She found th e hoys tended to be more d is f lu e n t on c e r ta in
fu n c tio n words than was expected by chance.
Word F a m i l i a r i t y
A d u l t s . In a comparison of s t u t t e r i n g frequency
to freq uency of word usage, Hejna ( 1 9 6 3) matched tw e n ty -
f i v e commonly used nouns and tw e n ty -f iv e uncommonly used
nouns f o r le n g th and i n i t i a l s y l l a b l e . He based h i s ch o ice
of words on th e T horndike-Lorge (1944) and B e ll Telephone
L ab o rato ry word l i s t s . He found s i g n i f i c a n t l y l e s s i n
sta n c e s of d i s f l u e n c y on th e more commonly used nouns
among h is a d u lt s t u t t e r e r s .
Wingate ( 1 9 6 7) a ls o u t i l i z e d th e Thorndike-Lorge
(1944) word l i s t s when he matched two word l i s t s f o r f r e -
:quency of occu rren ce in a stu d y of word le n g th . He found
s i g n i f i c a n t l y (0.01) more d i s f l u e n c i e s o c cu rred on uncom- j
mon r a t h e r th a n on common one s y l l a b l e words. He d id not
f in d th e same r e l a t i o n s h i p between common and uncommon two
|s y l l a b l e words. He concluded word le n g th was a prim ary {
: |
j v a r i a b l e . j
' ■ t I
F a m ilia r and u n f a m ilia r words were i d e n t i f i e d by j
th e s u b je c t in a stu d y of word f a m i l i a r i t y and frequency j
o f d i s f l u e n c i e s by Lewis ( 1968). She c o n tr o l le d th e v a r i - i
I
a b le s of word le n g th , i n i t i a l phoneme, phoneme blend,
se n ten c e p o s i t i o n , se n ten c e le n g th , gram m atical fu n c tio n ,
and th e number of s y l l a b l e s . Lewis found w ith a s in g le
a d u lt s t u t t e r e r t h a t u n f a m ilia r words were more f r e q u e n tly
d i s f l u e n t th a n were th e f a m i l i a r words.
C h ild re n . Egland (1955) i n v e s ti g a t e d th e n a tu re
and frequen cy of d i s f l u e n c y types., and th e s i t u a t i o n s i n
which speed r e a c t i o n s o c cu rred in th e speech o f s t u t t e r i n g
and n o n s t u t te r i n g p re s c h o o l c h ild r e n . Twenty-nine c h ild r e n
were in v o lv ed i n f i v e d i f f e r e n t speaking s i t u a t i o n s w ith
p u p p ets: d is c u s s in g p i c t u r e s , r e c i t i n g n u rse ry rhymes,
answ ering p e rs o n a l q u e s t io n s , and r e s t a t i n g answ ers; a sk
ing q u e s tio n s j r e p e a tin g d i f f i c u l t p o ly s y lla b ic words, and
v e r b a l ly su p p o rtin g a puppet t h a t was a tta c k e d by a n o th e r
puppet. Egland found t h a t th e p e rc en ta g e of r e p e t i t i o n s
o c c u rrin g i n r e p e a tin g p o ly s y lla b ic words was s i g n i f i
c a n t ly (no p r o b a b i l i t y f i g u r e i n d ic a te d ) g r e a t e r th a n f o r
any of th e o t h e r s i t u a t i o n s f o r th e n o n s t u t te r i n g s u b j e c t s .
R e p e titio n s were r e p o r te d to account f o r two p e rc e n t of
th e t o t a l words spoken by n o n s t u t t e r e r s , w hile r e p e t i t i o n s i
i
a s s o c ia te d w ith p o l y s y l la b i c words accounted f o r e ig h te e n
p e rc e n t of th e t o t a l p o ly s y lla b ic words spoken. According
to Egland, th e saying of u n f a m ilia r p o ly s y lla b ic words by
s t u t t e r i n g s u b je c ts in v o lv e d a r e l a t i v e l y high frequ en cy
o f r e p e t i t i o n s , but a g a in , no s t a t i s t i c a l outcome was r e - ;
p o rte d . The a u th o r a ls o f a i l e d to s t a t e the c r i t e r i a f o r
h i s s e l e c ti o n of p o ly s y l la b i c words, nor did he I n d i c a te
11
c o n tr o l f o r o th e r v a r i a b le s such as gram m atical fu n c tio n
and se n ten c e p o s i t io n .
In fo rm a tio n Value
Soderberg ( 1967) has concluded t h a t frequen cy of
d is f lu e n c y in c r e a s e s w ith th e amount of in fo rm a tio n value
( a b i l i t y to p r e d ic t a word). Ten s t u t t e r e r s , ran g in g i n
age from n in e to f o r t y - f o u r y e a rs , read a l 4 l word passage
composed from th e f i r s t 1000 most fre q u e n t words according
to Thorndike and Lorge (1944). His f in d in g s in d ic a te d
t h a t c y c le s of d i s f l u e n c i e s occur on th e f i r s t , t h i r d , and
seventh words of s e n te n c e s , which ten d to c a r r y more i n
form atio n v a lu e .
Lanyon ( 1 9 6 9) i n v e s t i g a t e d th e n o n flu en c y -in fo rm a- :
t i o n r e l a t i o n s h i p i n th e spontaneous speech and re a d in g of :
s t u t t e r e r s and n o n s t u t t e r e r s . He found a d i r e c t r e l a t i o n - :
1 sh ip between nonflu en cy and word le n g th i n h i s s t u t t e r i n g !
I s u b j e c t s , and concluded t h a t in fo rm a tio n value was not a j
i !
! i
iprim ary v a r i a b l e . The same r e l a t i o n s h i p s were found in
!th e rea d in g of th e n o n s t u t t e r e r s , but not i n t h e i r spon
taneo us speech. Lanyon i d e n t i f i e d word le n g th only as '
s h o r t, medium, and long.
In o rd e r to t e s t Lanyon’s c o n c lu s io n s , Soderberg
( 1971) re a n a ly z e d h i s o r i g i n a l d a ta a f t e r e lim in a tin g wordsj
o f f i v e l e t t e r s o r more. He concluded th a t in fo rm a tio n
12
has an independent e f f e c t on d i s f l u e n c i e s of s t u t t e r e r s
when word le n g th i s h e ld c o n s ta n t.
Loci of S p e c ific Types of D is f lu e n c ie s
A d u lts . In S o d e rb e rg 1s 1967 stud y of s t u t t e r e r s *
more r e p e t i t i o n s occu rred on f u n c tio n and low in fo rm a tio n
words. P ro lo n g a tio n s tended to in v o lv e l e x i c a l and high
in fo rm a tio n words. The r e p e t i t i o n s of n o n s t u t t e r e r s in
th e stu d y of McClay and Osgood (1959) were a s s o c i a t e d w ith
f u n c tio n words.
C h ild r e n . In a study of th e r e p e t i t i o n s and p ro
lo n g a tio n s i n th e speech of s t u t t e r i n g and n o n s t u t te r i n g
ch ild ren * Egland (1955) s tu d ie d tw e n ty - s ix n o n s t u t t e r e r s
aged f i v e to s ix and th r e e s t u t t e r e r s aged t h r e e to fo u r.
:He found th e m a jo rity of th e r e p e t i t i o n s and p ro lo n g a tio n s
I i n b oth groups tended to occur on th e i n i t i a l p a r t s of S
; f
!words* one word sentences* and on th e f i r s t words of s t a t e -
i
jments. E ighty p e rc en t of sound or s y l l a b l e r e p e t i t i o n s
; o c cu rred a t th e b egin nin gs of words f o r th e n o n s tu tte r e r s * j
! i
I n in e ty -o n e p e rc e n t f o r s t u t t e r e r s . I
Methodology j
Branscom* Hughes* and Oxtoby (1955) s tu d ie d th e I
nonfluency o f p re sc h o o l n o n s t u t te r i n g c h ild r e n aged two
y e a rs to f i v e y e a r s . The speech samples of th e s e c h ild r e n
were re c o rd e d in a f r e e p la y s itu a t i o n * o r in a s t r u c tu r e d
s i t u a t i o n where th e examiner e l i c i t e d speech by u sin g p i c
t u r e s j games, r o l e p la y in g , t a l k i n g on a to y te le p h o n e ,
d re s s in g a d o l l , and assem bling a p u z z le . Speech samples
were o b ta in e d on d i f f e r e n t days w ith th e t o t a l tim e ranging
from fo u r hours to a p p ro x im ately one hour. Branscom w rote
out th e remarks of h e r s u b je c ts v e rb a tim d urin g th e t e s t
in g . Hughes and Oxtoby a ls o rec o rd ed re sp o n se s d u rin g th e
t e s t i n g , but used a dot f o r each word, w ith s u p e r s c r ip t s
and s u b s c r i p t s to i n d i c a t e number and ty p e o f r e p e t i t i o n s .
Where t h e r e was s u f f i c i e n t tim e, r e p e t i t i o n s were w r i t t e n
out v e rb a tim .
Egland (1955) used puppets t o s t im u la te speech
samples of f i v e and s ix y e a r old n o n s t u t t e r e r s and th r e e
and fo u r y e ar o ld s t u t t e r e r s . While th e puppet i n t e r a c t e d :
w ith th e c h il d , th e p u p p e te er was not v i s i b l e . The speech ;
was rec o rd ed on aluminum d is k s . No judges were m entioned, j
| ]
|nor th e method of t r a n s c r i p t i o n .
j
I B lo o d s te in , A lper, and Z isk ( 1 9 6 5) e l i c i t e d speech
|
|from ten c h ild r e n aged fo u r y e a rs throu gh s ix y e a rs i n a —
!stu d y of th e c o n s is te n c y e f f e c t on normal d is f lu e n c y . j
j [
I The c h il d r e n r e p e a te d fo u r l i s t s of te n se n te n c e s each, j
^and a n u rs e ry rhyme of tw e n ty -fo u r s h o r t l i n e s o f v e rs e . j
Each p a r t was d i c t a t e d to each c h il d tw ic e in s u c c e s s io n , j
re sp o n se s were ta p e reco rd ed , and th e experim en ter marked
mimeographed c o p ie s of th e m a te r ia l fo r d i s f l u e n c i e s d u r
in g each in d iv i d u a l s e s s io n .
14
B lo o d ste in and Gantwerk ( 1 9 6 7) ta p e rec o rd ed th e
spontaneous speech of each of t h e i r s t u t t e r e r s , aged two
th ro ugh s ix . Each c h il d was i n a f r e e p la y s i t u a t i o n i n
which he was encouraged to t a l k about to y s , games, and a c
t i v i t i e s p ro v id ed . The s e s s io n s l a s t e d from f o r t y m inutes
t o one hour.
W illiam s, Silverm an, and Kools ( 1 9 6 9) asked k i n d e r
g a r t e n and f i r s t grade s t u t t e r e r s and n o n s t u t t e r e r s to r e
p e a t t e n se n ten c es t h a t ranged i n le n g th from f i v e to e ig h t
words. These speech samples were ta p e re c o rd e d . Sanders
( 1 9 6 1) s e lf-a g re e m e n t index was used f o r exp erim en ter r e
l i a b i l i t y .
In 1970, Silverm an c o l l e c t e d d a ta from te n fo u r
y e a r o ld n o n s t u t te r i n g boys on t h r e e days spaced one week
a p a r t . Six ta p e rec o rd ed speech samples were o b ta in e d fro m !
;a s t r u c t u r e d in te r v ie w and from a p re sc h o o l classroo m . A
; I
t o t a l of t h r e e hours of speech samples were c o l l e c t e d f o r j
each c h i l d . The c h ild r e n were more d i s f l u e n t t a l k i n g w ith
1
'th e ex p erim e n ter th a n w hile i n t e r a c t i n g w ith p e e r s . The
lau th o r i n d ic a t e d t h a t t h i s d if f e r e n c e was of such magnitude!
I !
‘t h a t i t ap p ears r i s k y to conclude t h a t th e amount of d i s - ;
‘flu e n c y produced by many c h il d r e n in a s t r u c t u r e d in te rv ie w !
■is th e same as i t i s i n some r e a l - l i f e s i t u a t i o n s . In a
p rev io u s stu d y ( 1 9 6 9)* Silverm an found p re s c h o o l c h ild r e n
most d i s f l u e n t a t home, next i n th e s t r u c t u r e d in te rv ie w ,
and l e a s t among p e e r s .
15
Hoshiko and. Holloway ( 1 9 6 8) u t i l i z e d ra d io t e l e
m etry f o r th e m o nito ring of v e rb a l b e h av io r of a f o u r y e ar
old i n h i s home and w ith in two hundred f e e t of h i s home.
The a u th o rs used a l a p e l microphone, a t r a n s m i t t e r , PM
tu n e r, and ta p e r e c o r d e r . The equipment was p laced i n th e
c h i l d 's home. The c h i l d wore a h a rn e ss under h is c lo th in g
w ith a pocket f o r th e t r a n s m i t t e r . Sampling o c c u rre d i n
o n e -h a lf hour segm ents, over a two day p e rio d , f o r a t o t a l
of fo u r hours of re c o rd in g s . R ecordings were r e p o r te d to
be of a q u a l i t y adequate f o r p h o n e tic a n a l y s i s . The a u th
ors recommended th e p ro cedu re f o r o b ta in in g speech sam ples.
Grammatical Development and Measurement
R eceptive
I t i s g e n e r a l l y a cc ep ted t h a t gram m atical (morpho-
■ l o g i c a l and s y n t a c t i c a l ) s t r u c t u r e s a re comprehended be-
i fo re th e y a re produced (M yklebust, 195^j M cNeill, 1 9 6 6). :
i ;
I ;
j In an i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f a u d ito ry comprehension o f language i
j
j s t r u c t u r e in v o lv in g v o cab ulary, morphology, and sy n ta x ,
1
| Carrow ( 1 968) t e s t e d f o r t y c h ild r e n aged two y e a rs s i x
! |
I months to s ix y e a rs s i x months. The t e s t c o n s is te d of a I
: s e t of draw ings r e p r e s e n ti n g c o n t r a s t s i n form c la s s e s and
: fu n c tio n words, m orphological c o n s t r u c t io n s , gram m atical ;
! c a t e g o r i e s , and s y n t a c t ic s t r u c t u r e . I t r e q u ire d no l a n
guage e x p re ssio n from th e c h ild r e n . She found s i g n i f i c a n t
(no p r o b a b i l i t y f i g u r e in d ic a te d ) d i f f e r e n c e s i n mean
16
comprehension sc o res a t s i x month i n t e r v a l s from t h r e e
y e a rs to fo u r y e a rs s ix months. D iffe re n c e s in mean com
p re h e n sio n sc o res from fo u r y e a rs s ix months to seven y e a rs
were found s i g n i f i c a n t {no p r o b a b i l i t y f i g u r e in d ic a t e d ) at
one y e ar i n t e r v a l s .
E x p ressiv e
Burko ( ig 6 l) i n v e s t i g a t e d m orphological development
i n n in e te e n p re s c h o o l c h il d r e n and s ix ty -o n e f i r s t g ra d e rs
ran g in g from fo u r t o seven y e a rs in age. They were p r e
se n te d w ith a number of p i c t u r e s and nonsense words and
asked to supply E n g lish p l u r a l s , verb te n s e s , p o s s e s s iv e s ,
id e r i v a t i o n s , and compounds of th e s e words. She found t h a t '
improvement in gram m atical development came from im proving '
]
knowledge th e c h il d r e n a lr e a d y had a t th e e a r l i e s t age
t e s t e d . j
1 i
;R eceptiv e and E xp ressiv e j
| I
| F r a s e r , B e llu g i and Brown ( 1 9 6 3) s tu d ie d th e con-
j t r o l of grammar i n i m i t a t i o n , comprehension and p r o d u c tio n
]
I i n tw elve t h r e e y e a r o ld c h il d r e n . The c h il d r e n were g iv en
!ta s k s which c o n ta in e d t e n d i f f e r e n t gram m atical c o n t r a s t s
;such as s i n g u l a r / p l u r a l , and p re s e n t t e n s e / p a s t te n s e .
Grammatical c o n t r a s t s from l e a s t to most d i f f i c u l t were
:o b ta in e d by combining sc o re s on i m i t a t i o n , comprehension,
and perform ance.
■ 17
Lee ( 1 9 6 9) developed th e N orthw estern Syntax
Screening t e s t , which a t th e p re s e n t tim e i s th e only t e s t
t h a t measures r e c e p tiv e and e x p re s s iv e m orphological and
s y n t a c t i c a l s t r u c t u r e s . Normative d a ta were c o lle c te d
from two hundred fo rty -tw o c h il d r e n between th e ages of
t h r e e and e ig h t . The c h il d r e n came from middle income and
upper m iddle income homes., and from p r i v a t e and p ublic
sc h o o ls. The item s in t h e t e s t a re a rra n g ed in o rd er of
i n c r e a s in g d i f f i c u l t y based on d a ta g a th e re d from th e s e
c h ild r e n . A f u r t h e r d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h i s t e s t i s found in
C hapter I I I .
CHAPTER I I I
METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Overview of Design
F o rty c h ild re n were s e l e c te d from a p r i v a t e school
p o p u la tio n , te n from each of fo u r age l e v e l s : t h r e e , fo u r,
f i v e , and s i x y e a rs of age. Speech sam ples of each c h ild
were o b ta in e d in h i s home by means of a r a d io te le m e try
ta p e re c o rd in g a p p a ra tu s . Sampling o c c u rre d o v e r s e le c te d
p e rio d s of tim e during a one day p e rio d . On th e p rec ed in g
day, each c h il d was i n d iv i d u a ll y a d m in is te re d th e N orth
w e ste rn Syntax Screening T est (Lee, 1 9 6 9). S t a t i s t i c a l
r e l a t i o n s h i p s were e s ta b lis h e d among c h ro n o lo g ic a l age,
gram m atical development, and p r o p o rtio n s of l e x i c a l and
f u n c t i o n word d l s f l u e n c ie s to t o t a l l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n
words in t h e speech samples.
S u b je cts
S u b je c ts were s e le c te d from a p r i v a t e scho ol in
th e San Fernando V a lle y , which se rv es p r i m a r i l y a white
m iddle c l a s s p o p u la tio n . One hundred f i f t e e n c h ild r e n
between th e ages of th r e e and s ix y e a r s , t e n months were
s e l e c t e d by a t a b l e of random numbers from t h e l a r g e r
p o p u la tio n . P a re n ts of th e s e le c te d c h i l d r e n were con-
19
t a c t e d f o r t h e i r consent by l e t t e r (Appendix A) and t e l e
phone. A ffirm a tiv e r e p l i e s were re c e iv e d from f i f t y - n i n e
p a r e n ts . From th e a f f i r m a t i v e group, te n c h ild r e n were
s e l e c te d t h a t b e s t covered th e age span f o r each of th e
follo w in g age g roups: t h r e e , fo u r, f i v e , and s ix y e a rs of
age. C r i t e r i a f o r in c lu d in g a c h il d i n th e stu d y were:
( l ) com pletion of th e N o rthw estern Syntax Screening T e s t,
and (2) com pletion of ta p in g s e s s io n s by p a re n ts r e s u l t i n g
in a minimum of 500 w ords.
M a te r ia ls and Apparatus
Grammatical development was d e fin e d as th e score
a t t a i n e d by each c h il d on th e N orthw estern Syntax Screening:
T est (NSST). The t e s t was d esigned f o r c h ild r e n th r e e to
e ig h t y e a rs of age. I t compares r e c e p tiv e and e x p re ss iv e
use of such gram m atical f e a t u r e s as p r e p o s i ti o n s , negatives,!
I p e rs o n a l pronouns, r e f l e x i v e pronouns, s u b j e c t - o b je c t
! j
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n , verb te n s e s , p o s s e s s iv e s , w h -q u e stio n s, |
i
! yes-no q u e s tio n s , i n d i r e c t o b je c ts and p a s s iv e s . The j
j j
I procedure c o n s i s t s of tw enty s e n te n c e - p a ir s t o be i d e n t i - j
!
j \
f i e d r e c e p t i v e l y by p i c t u r e s e l e c t i o n , and tw enty sentence-^
i I
i 1
I p a i r s to be produced in resp o n se to stim u lu s p ic t u r e s
; (Appendix B). The s e n te n c e - p a ir s in c lu d e gram m atical con- j
t r a s t s of in c r e a s in g d i f f i c u l t y . Lee c o n sid e rs th e t e s t
u s e f u l f o r q u ic k ly e s tim a tin g s y n t a c t ic development as p a rt
of a g e n e ra l speech and language e v a lu a tio n (Lee, 1970).
20
The s t a t i o n a r y a p p a ra tu s p la c e d i n t h e home i n
cluded an FM r e c e i v e r , and a ta p e r e c o r d e r . The FM r e
c e iv e r was an Edcor S e n sa tu n e r, model ST-2,. I t o p e ra te d
on a s ta n d a rd FM tu n in g band, w ith a s e n s i t i v i t y of 1.0 mv
f o r 20 dB q u i e t i n g . Frequency resp o n se was from 20 to
20,000 Hz. The ta p e r e c o r d e r was a C raig 2602-1 w ith an
au to m atic volume c o n tr o l , and a frequency re sp o n se of 150
to 7000 Hz.
The a p p a ra tu s p lac ed on. th e c h i l d was a w ir e le s s
Edcor Sensa-tninim ike. The e f f e c t i v e range was up to 150
f e e t , and th e freq u e n cy resp o n se was from 50 to 15j 000 Hz.
The microphone was a maximum of 3/4 of an in c h i n d ia m e te r,
and 2 3/4 in ch e s i n le n g th . I t was covered w ith a c o tto n
: k n i t cover which was pinned t o th e c h i l d 's s h i r t . The
t r a n s m i t t e r b ro a d c a ste d on an FM freq u en cy between 88 and
I 94 mHz,, and had a b a t t e r y l i f e of s e v e n ty - f iv e h o u rs. |
! f
I t measured 2 J/Q in ch e s by 1 1/8 in ch e s by 2 1/8 in c h e s,
and was c lip p e d to th e back of th e c h i l d 's p a n ts . The
| co n n ec tin g c o rd -a n te n n a was tw e n ty - s ix in c h e s long.
I
i
! Procedure i
" j
| Each s u b je c t was a d m in is te re d th e NSST i n h i s home :
th e day p r i o r to th e c o l l e c t i o n of th e speech sample. A ll j
NSST a d m i n i s t r a t io n s were g iv en i n th e l a t e a fte rn o o n .
: The ex p erim e n ter and th e c h ild were t y p i c a l l y th e only
ones p r e s e n t . When i t appeared t h a t th e m o th e r's absence
might be d i s t u r b in g to th e c h i I d , th e mother was asked to
rem ain i n s i l e n c e . The c h i l d 's c h ro n o lo g ic a l age, r e c e p
t i v e sc o re , e x p re ss iv e sc o re and t o t a l sc o re were rec o rd ed
on th e NSST form s. A s e t o f i n s t r u c t i o n s (Appendix C)
were given th e p a re n ts on th e p rocedures th e y were to f o l
low. The experim en ter then i n s t a l l e d and dem onstrated th e
equipment. The fo llo w in g day, i n th e absence of th e ex
p e rim e n te r, th e p a re n ts made re c o rd in g s of th e c h i l d 's
i n t e r a c t i o n s w ith h is p a r e n t s , s i b l i n g s , p e e rs , r e l a t i v e s ,
and o th e rs who had occasio n t o v i s i t th e home. Sampling
o c cu rred i n h a lf - h o u r segments d u rin g th e day f o r a t o t a l
of two h o u rs. The segments were as fo llo w s: ( l ) One h a l f ;
hour i n th e e a r l y morning in c lu d in g d r e s s in g and b re a k fa s t
tim e. (2) One h a l f hour i n th e mid-morning. (3) One h a l f
hour i n th e e a r l y a fte rn o o n , sometimes in c lu d in g lunch.
: (4) One h a l f hour i n th e l a t e a fte rn o o n . P a re n ts were
! 3
: j
! re q u e s te d to i n v i t e a f a v o r i t e playm ate to p la y w ith th e !
t |
; c h il d d u rin g one of th e ta p in g s e s s io n s , but t h i s was not !
always p o s s ib le . A k itc h e n tim e r was p rovided to r e g u l a te
; th e le n g th of th e segm ents.
i E v a lu a tio n j
j j
Each tap e d speech sample was tr a n s c r i b e d to a type-j
; r
f
w r i t t e n m anuscript w ith a maximum of 1500 words. The ex- ;
p e rim e n te r served as judge, and u t i l i z e d th e c r i t e r i a f o r
d e fin in g moments of d is f lu e n c y l i s t e d i n Appendix D.
S a n d e r's S elf-ag reem en t Index (Sander, 1961) was computed
f o r judge r e l i a b i l i t y . I d e n t i f i e d as d i s f l u e n c i e s were
p a rt-w o rd r e p e t i t i o n s , word r e p e t i t i o n s , p h rase r e p e t i t i o n s ,
I n t e r j e c t i o n s of sounds and s y l l a b l e s , r e v i s i o n s , te n s e
pau ses, and d lsrh y th m ic ph onatlo ns (Johnson, 1961, W illiam s,
Silverm an, & Kools, 1968). The experim en ter marked d i s
f lu e n c ie s on in d iv i d u a l ty p e w r itte n m an u scrip ts w h ile l i s
te n in g t o th e ta p e re c o rd in g s . The fo llo w in g in fo rm a tio n
was re c o rd e d f o r each in s ta n c e of d is f lu e n c y : type and f r e
quency of d is f lu e n c y , th e number of tim es a r e p e t i t i o n oc
c u rre d , who th e c h il d was w ith a t th e tim e of th e d is flu e n c y
(communicative s i t u a t i o n ) , word le n g th , se n ten c e p o s i t i o n ,
i n i t i a l phoneme, and p a rt of speech. Each d is f lu e n c y was
a ls o marked as being e i t h e r a l e x i c a l or f u n c tio n word.
C l a s s i f i c a t i o n of d i s f l u e n t words by gram m atical c a te g o r ie s
, 1
j ( i . e . , noun, verb , e t c . ) were determ ined by th e experimenter!
jfrom d e f i n i t i o n s f o r each gram m atical c a te g o ry from Web- j
j s t e r 's New World D ic tio n a ry ( 1968). These d e f i n i t i o n s a re j
i !
Igiven i n Appendix E. j
i |
! S t a t i s t i c a l Comparisons 1
R e la tio n s h ip s among ( l ) c h ro n o lo g ic a l age i n months,
( 2 ) p r o p o r tio n of l e x i c a l words d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l l e x i c a l
words i n th e speech sample, and ( 3 ) p ro p o r tio n of f u n c tio n
words d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l f u n c tio n words i n t h e speech sam
p le were determ ined by com putation o f P e a rs o n 's p ro d u c t-
23
moment c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t (G u ilfo rd , 1965). R e la tio n
s h ip s among ( l ) t o t a l sc o re on th e NSST, ( 2 ) p r o p o r tio n of
l e x i c a l words d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l l e x i c a l words i n th e
speech sample, and (3 ) p r o p o r tio n o f fu n c tio n words d i s
f l u e n t to t o t a l f u n c tio n words i n th e speech sample were
a ls o determ ined by com putation of P e a rs o n 's product-moment
c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t . Although th e s e a n a ly se s were
used to t e s t th e h y p o th eses, a l l o th e r a n a ly se s su g g ested
by e m p iric a l o b s e rv a tio n of th e d a ta were perform ed as
i n d ic a t e d .
CHAPTER IV
RESULTS
Grammatical F u n c tio n and Age
No s i g n i f i c a n t (p > 0 .0 5) r e l a t i o n s h i p was found
between c h ro n o lo g ic a l age and th e p r o p o r tio n o f .l e x ic a l
and f u n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l l e x i c a l and f u n c tio n
words i n th e speech sam ples. P earson product-moment c o r
r e l a t i o n s r e s u l t e d i n th e fo llo w in g c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i
c i e n t s : r = +0 .0 9 f o r c h ro n o lo g ic a l age and p ro p o rtio n of ;
l e x i c a l words d i s f l u e n t * r = - 0 .0 6 f o r c h ro n o lo g ic a l age j
and p r o p o r tio n of f u n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t .
1
Although no s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p was found b e - ;
tween gram m atical fu n c tio n and age, a s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r -
| j
ence was found between p r o p o r tio n s of l e x i c a l and f u n c tio n I
1 p |
| words d i s f l u e n c i e s i r r e s p e c t i v e o f age. A t e s t of s i g -
1
| n i f ic a n c e of d if f e r e n c e s between p ro p o rtio n s (G u ilfo rd ,
1965) r e s u l t e d i n Z v a lu es s i g n i f i c a n t a t l e s s th an th e
j 0 .0 1 l e v e l of co nfidence. T able 1 i l l u s t r a t e s th e Z values!
i ;
j f o r d i f f e r e n c e s between p ro p o r tio n s of l e x i c a l words d i s -
1 f l u e n t t o t o t a l l e x i c a l words (p 1 ), and f u n c tio n words
d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l f u n c tio n words (p2 ) by age group. As
24
TABLE 1
Z VALUES FOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROPORTIONS OF
LEXICAL (px ) AND'FUNCTION (p2) W ORDS
DISFLUENT BY ACE GROUP
Age
Pi P2
Z Value
3 y e ars .0345 .0639
6.88**
4 years .0490 .0615 2.93**
5 y ears .0421 .0630 5.14**
6 y e a rs .o4o8
.0587
4.4o**
**All s i g n i f i c a n t beyond O.Ol le v e l of
c o n fid e n c e .
in dicated* th e r e was a s i g n i f i c a n t l y la r g e r p ro p o rtio n of
fu n c tio n word d i s f l u e n c ie s a t each age group.
While more l e x i c a l word d i s f l u e n c ie s th an f u n c tio n
word d is f l u e n c ie s have been r e p o rte d i n th e l i t e r a t u r e f o r
s t u t t e r i n g and n o n s t u t te r i n g a d u lt and school age c h ild re n ;
presch o o l s t u t t e r e r s and n o n s t u t t e r e r s have been r e p o rte d
to have s i g n i f i c a n t l y more fu n c tio n word d i s f l u e n c i e s .
While th e h y p o th esis t h a t gram m atical fu n c tio n and age a re
a s s o c ia te d would have r e l a t e d th e s e fin d in g s ; t h i s hypoth e
s i s was not supported by th e r e s u l t s of th e p re s e n t stud y.
I f th e h y p o th esis would have been supported; a n e g a tiv e
r e l a t i o n s h i p between age and fu n c tio n d is f l u e n c ie s would
have been a n ti c i p a te d ; as w e ll as a p o s i t iv e r e l a t i o n s h i p
between age and l e x i c a l d i s f l u e n c i e s . While an in s p e c tio n ;
of th e p ro p o rtio n s of fu n c tio n and l e x i c a l d i s f l u e n c ie s in
Table 1 does i n d ic a t e a s l i g h t p o s i t iv e in c re a s e i n l e x i c a l ,
d i s f l u e n c ie s w ith age; and a s l i g h t n e g a tiv e d e crea se in j
fu n c tio n word d i s f l u e n c ie s w ith age; t h i s s h i f t was not
s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t .
j
The fin d in g t h a t a l l age groups in th e stu d y had I
s i g n i f i c a n t l y more f u n c tio n th an l e x i c a l d i s f l u e n c ie s lendsj
support to th e s tu d ie s of B lood stein and Gantwerk ( 1967)*
and Silverm an (1971); but i s i n o p p o s itio n to r e s u l t s of
s tu d ie s of school age c h ild r e n and a d u lts . S ev eral f a c t o r s
need to be c on sidered concerning th e s e fin d in g s .
27
Age g ro u p in g s . With th e movement of th e p ro p o r
t i o n s i n p o s i t i v e and n e g a tiv e d i r e c t i o n s as would he needed
to su p p o rt th e hypotheses., i t c o u ld be argued t h a t th e age
groupings i n th e p re s e n t stud y d id not cover a s u f f i c i e n t
c h ro n o lo g ic a l age range. W illiam s, Silverm an and Kools
( 1968) had n in e k in d e r g a r te n and t h r e e f i r s t grade non
s t u t t e r i n g c h il d r e n i n t h e i r stu d y , th e youngest being f i v e
y e a rs fo u r months o ld . The sample s i z e f o r t h i s group
(tw elve) i s s i m il a r to age gro upings i n both th e Silverm an
(1971) stu d y ( t e n ) , and th e p re s e n t study ( te n ) . This
group of k in d e r g a r te n and f i r s t grade c h ild r e n from th e
W illiam s, Silverm an and Kools ( 1968) stu d y would have p ro b
a b ly o v erlapp ed th e f iv e and s i x y e a r o ld age groups in
th e p re s e n t stud y. A c h il d in th e W illiam s, Silverm an, and |
Kools study was c l a s s i f i e d as b ein g d i s f l u e n t on words p o s- '
s e s s in g th e l e x i c a l word a t t r i b u t e i f th e p e rc en ta g e of th e j
!
; i
jc h ild 's d i s f l u e n t l y spoken words p o ss e s sin g th e a t t r i b u t e
i
lexceeded th e p e rc e n ta g e of th e c h i l d 's t o t a l words spoken
]
p o s s e s s in g th e a t t r i b u t e . According t o Table 2, a h ig h e r
i
p e rc e n ta g e of k in d e r g a r te n and f i r s t g rade n o n s tu tte r in g
| |
■children i n th e W illiam s, Silverm an, and Kools ( 1969) stu d y j
were d i s f l u e n t on l e x i c a l words th a n were o ld e r c h ild r e n i n I
th e stu d y . Thus o v e rla p p in g age groups of th e W illiam s,
Silverm an, and Kools study did not produce th e same r e s u l t s
as th e p r e s e n t stu d y . The a u th o rs a t t r i b u t e d th e r e l a t i v e l y
low p e rc e n ta g e of second and t h i r d grade n o n s t u t t e r e r s (N =
TABLE 2
PERCENTAGES OF NONSTUTTERING CHILDREN CLASSIFIED
AS DISFLUENT ON LEXICAL W ORDS
(Williams., Silverman., & Kools., 19&9)
Grades P ercentage
K in d e rg a rte n and F i r s t
83.33
Second and Third 40.00
F o u rth , F i f t h , and S ix th
76.47
29
30) c l a s s i f i e d as d i s f l u e n t on l e x i c a l words as r e f l e c t i n g
some ty p e of sampling e r r o r , but th e y d id not r u l e out th e
p o s s i b i l i t y of a developm ental tr e n d .
Word sample s i z e . W illiam s, Silverm an, and Kools
( 1969), asked th e tw elve k in d e r g a r te n and f i r s t grade c h i l
d ren to r e p e a t t e n se n te n c e s ran g in g i n le n g th from f i v e to
e ig h t words. This would produce a maximum word sample p e r
c h il d of e ig h ty words. With a maximum of e ig h ty p o s s ib l e
words, and a median of 3 .0 3 words d i s f l u e n t p e r 100 words
r e p o r te d f o r th e n o n s t u t t e r i n g c h ild r e n i n t h e i r stu d y , th e
e stim a te d number of d i s f l u e n c i e s p e r c h i l d would be
s l i g h t l y over two. O lder c h ild r e n i n th e stu d y rea d a
p aragraph of a p p ro x im ately 200 words. Silverm an ta p e r e
corded each of th e t e n n o n s t u t t e r i n g c h ild r e n in h e r stu d y :
s i x tim e s, f o r a t o t a l of s i x hours each. In th e p r e s e n t 1
jstu d y , each c h il d was ta p e rec o rd ed f o r two hours v i a r a d io
te le m e tr y , r e s u l t i n g i n a range of 700 t o 1448 words p e r
c h il d . I t appears th e d if f e r e n c e i n r e s u l t s r e p o r te d by
W illiam s, Silverm an, and Kools f o r k in d e r g a r te n and f i r s t
I grade c h ild r e n , and th e f in d in g s of Silverm an and th e p r e s - !
i i
;ent stu d y may have been in f lu e n c e d by th e s i z e of th e
speech sam ples, as w e ll as th e c o n d itio n s under which such
d a ta were g a th e re d .
Grammatical Development and
Gramm atical P u n e tio n
No s i g n i f i c a n t (p > 0 .0 5 ) r e l a t i o n s h i p was found
between gram m atical development and t h e p r o p o r tio n o f l e x i
c a l and f u n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l l e x i c a l and fu n c
t i o n words in speech sam ples. Pearson product-moment
c o r r e l a t i o n s r e s u l t e d i n th e fo llo w in g c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f
f i c i e n t s : r = +0.11 f o r gram m atical development and p ro p o r
t i o n of l e x i c a l words d i s f l u e n t , and r = - 0 .0 6 f o r grammat
i c a l development and p r o p o r tio n of f u n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t .
The r e s u l t s of t h i s stu d y do not support th e hy
p o th e s is t h a t gram m atical f u n c tio n as a v a r i a b le a f f e c t i n g
d is f lu e n c y i s s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d to gram m atical d ev elop-!
. inent as measured by th e NSST, S e v e ra l f a c t o r s may have
c o n tr ib u te d to t h i s f in d in g .
In flu e n c e of C h ro n o lo g ic al Age
! The NSST i s sc o re d by comparing each t e s t sc o re t o j
|norms of c h ild r e n o f s p e c i f i c ages, A range of sc o re s f o r j
! 1
leach age grouping i s p ro v id ed i n d ic a t i n g some r e l a te d n e s s
between language development and c h ro n o lo g ic a l age. With
‘r e fe r e n c e to th e r e s u l t s o f th e f i r s t q u e s tio n concerning
:gram m atical f u n c tio n and age, s i m i l a r i t y of r e s u l t s w ith ;
th e second q u e stio n would depend somewhat on th e r e l a t i o n - ;
sh ip between c h ro n o lo g ic a l age and gram m atical development
w ith in th e sample p o p u la tio n . The c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t
o b ta in e d between c h ro n o lo g ic a l age and gram m atical d e v elo p -
ment in t h i s stu d y was r = + 0.86. This c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f
f i c i e n t in d ic a t e d t h a t a p p ro x im ately 74 p e rcen t of th e
v a ria n c e a s s o c ia te d w ith age and gram m atical development
as measured by t h e NSST i n t h i s study was common v a ria n c e .
This common v a ria n c e accoun ts f o r much of th e s i m i l a r i t y
i n r e s u l t s of th e two q u e s tio n s .
Group Grammatical A b i l i t y
The fin d in g t h a t a l l age groups i n the stu d y were
s i g n i f i c a n t l y more d i s f l u e n t on f u n c tio n words th a n l e x i c a l
words poses a n o th e r q u e stio n . I f d i s f l u e n c ie s on f u n c tio n
words were a s s o c ia te d w ith gram m atical a b ility ., and no ap
p r e c i a b l e change i n f u n c tio n d i s f l u e n c i e s were found w ith
in c re a s e d gram m atical a b i l i t y , perhaps th e study pop ulation:
as a whole was below th e norm i n language development as
measured by th e NSST. Table 3 i l l u s t r a t e s t h i s d id not j
occur. At each age l e v e l , th e 5 0th p e r c e n t i l e sc o re s of j
i
th e study s u b je c ts were above th e 50th p e r c e n t i l e sc o re i
i
norms l i s t e d f o r th e NSST, except between ages f i v e y e a rs
s ix months to f i v e y e a rs elev en months.
P ercent of D isflu e n cy
D isflu e n c y ranged from 1.7 p e rc e n t to 11 .2 p e rc e n t.;
To determ ine i f th e c h i l d r e n w ith h ig h e r p e rc e n ta g e s of
d is f lu e n c y d i f f e r e d i n p r o p o r tio n s of l e x i c a l d i s f l u e n c i e s
to fu n c tio n d i s f l u e n c i e s from c h ild r e n w ith lower p e r c e n t
ages of d is f lu e n c y , th e c h il d r e n were d iv id e d i n t o two
32
TABLE 3
50TH PERCENTILE NORM SCORES ON NSST, AND 50TH PERCENTILE
SUBJECT SCORES ON NSST BY AGE GROUP
5 0 th P e r c e n t il e 50th P e r c e n t il e
NSST NSST
Norm (N=242) S u b je ct Scores
Age Group (N=4o )
3-0 to
3-5 35.2
36.5
3-6 to
3-11 42.1
45.5
4-0 to 4-5 50.6 5 2 .0
4-6 to 4-11
51.1
5 8 .0
5-0 to
5-5 59.2 60.5
5-6 to
5-11
63.3
6 2 .0
6 -0 to
6-5 63.4 7 0 .0
6-6 to 6-11 6 9 .2 7 2 .0
33
g ro u p s: ( l ) th o s e c h ild r e n a t or above th e median d i s f l u
ency o f 4 .4 percen t* and (2) th o se c h il d r e n below th e median
d i s f l u e n c y p e rc e n ta g e . S ig n i f ic a n t (p < 0 .0 1 ) d if f e r e n c e s
were found between p ro p o rtio n s of l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n word
d i s f l u e n c i e s f o r both groups as seen in T able 4. These
r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e t h a t p e rc e n t of d is f lu e n c y a p p a re n tly d id
not in f lu e n c e th e r e s u l t s of t h i s study.
A d d itio n a l d a ta reco rd ed during e v a lu a tio n co ncern
ing ty p e of d isflu en c y * who th e c h il d was w ith a t th e tim e
of th e d is f lu e n c y (communicative s i t u a t i o n ) * word le n g th ,
se n te n c e p o s itio n * i n i t i a l phoneme* and p a r t of speech a re
l i s t e d i n Appendix P.
Judge R e l i a b i l i t y
E ight o f th e f o r t y t r a n s c r i p t s were s e l e c te d by a
t a b l e of random numbers f o r re s c o rin g to d eterm ine th e r e
l i a b i l i t y of th e exam iners' judgments of d i s f lu e n c y . A j
] i
jminimum of one month had e la p se d between o r i g i n a l scoring
i i
land r e s c o r i n g . T r a n s c r ip ts were re ty p e d from t h e o r i g i n a l !
:with no i d e n t i f y i n g d a ta in c lu d e d . A ll i d e n t i f y i n g d a ta
iwere covered on th e c a s s e t t e ta p e s . The e x p erim e n ter r e - ;
Iscored th e t r a n s c r i p t s f o r l e x i c a l and f u n c t i o n a l d i s -
iflu e n c ie s , and th e n uncovered i d e n t i f y i n g d a ta . The Sand
e r ' s S e lf-ag ree m en t Index (Sander* 196l ) y i e l d e d a c o e f f i
c ie n t of agreem ent of 0.932 f o r l e x i c a l words and 0.938
f o r f u n c tio n words. These r e s u l t s were f o r t o t a l l e x i c a l
34
TABLE 4
Z VALUES FOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROPORTIONS OF
LEXICAL (p2 ) AND FUNCTION (p2 ) W ORDS
DISFLUENT BY PERCENT OF DISFLUENCY
P ercent of
D isflu e n c y
p l
P2
Z Value
Below median of
kAfo
.0293 .0431 5.67**
At o r above median
of 4 .4 ^
.0556 .0819
8.35**
**A11 s i g n i f i c a n t beyond O.Ol le v e l of c o n fid e n c e .
35
and f u n c tio n a l d i s f l u e n c i e s only., and do not r e f l e c t
agreement on any o th e r c a t e g o r i c a l d e c is io n s made. Judge
r e l i a b i l i t y sc o re s a r e l i s t e d i n Appendix G.
CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND DISCUSSION
Summary
The Problem
The purpose of t h i s stu d y was to d e s c r ib e th e p ro
p o r tio n s of l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n word d i s f l u e n c i e s to t o t a l
l e x i c a l and f u n c tio n words found In speech samples of p r e
sch o o l c h ild r e n w ith r e s p e c t to c h ro n o lo g ic a l age, and
gram m atical developm ent. S p e c i f i c a l l y , th e q u e s tio n s asked;
were: ( l ) what i s th e r e l a t i o n s h i p between c h ro n o lo g ic a l
age and th e p ro p o rtio n of l e x i c a l and f u n c tio n words d i s
f l u e n t i n speech samples of p re s c h o o l c h il d r e n ; and, (2)
I what i s th e r e l a t i o n s h i p between gram m atical development I
and p r o p o r tio n of l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t in j
speech samples of p resch o o l c h ild re n ? The fo llo w in g s t a - |
t i s t i c a l h y potheses were g e n e ra te d from th e s e q u e s tio n s :
i ( l ) t h e r e w i l l be no s i g n i f i c a n t (p > 0 .0 5 ) r e l a t i o n s h i p
; between c h ro n o lo g ic a l age and th e p r o p o r tio n o f l e x i c a l
' and f u n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l l e x i c a l and f u n c tio n j
1 i
words i n speech samples of p re sc h o o l c h il d r e n ; and, (2) i
: t h e r e w i l l be no s i g n i f i c a n t (p > 0 .0 5 ) r e l a t i o n s h i p b e
tween gram m atical development and th e p r o p o r tio n of l e x i c a l
and f u n c tio n words d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n
36
37
words i n speech samples of p re sc h o o l c h ild r e n .
Method
Radio te le m e tr y was u t i l i z e d to re c o rd spontaneous
speech samples of f o r t y p re sc h o o l c h ild r e n in t h e i r homes,
t e n each from th e fo llo w in g age l e v e l s : t h r e e , fo u r, f iv e ,
and s i x y e a rs of age. The day p r i o r to th e c o l l e c t i o n of
th e speech sample each c h i l d was a d m in iste re d th e N o rth
w e ste rn Syntax S creening T e s t. The fo llo w in g day, th e
c h i l d 's p a re n ts pinned a w ir e le s s microphone to th e c h i l d 's
s h i r t , and c lip p e d a sm all FM t r a n s m i t t e r to th e hack of
h i s p a n ts . They were p ro vid ed an FM r e c e i v e r and a ta p e
r e c o rd e r to re c o rd th e speech samples a t fo u r s p e c i f i e d
p e rio d s th ro u g h o u t th e day. Each speech sample was t r a n s
c rib e d to a t y p e w r itte n m anuscript and judged by th e ex
p e r i m e n t e r f o r d i s f l u e n c i e s . !
j R e su lts j
| I
| Grammatical fu n c tio n and a g e . No s i g n i f i c a n t
(p > 0.0 5) r e l a t i o n s h i p was found between c h ro n o lo g ic a l j
: I
age and th e p r o p o rtio n of l e x i c a l and f u n c tio n words d i s - I
f l u e n t to t o t a l l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n words u sin g P e a rs o n 's !
1 ;
product-moment c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t . A t e s t of s i g
n if ic a n c e of d i f f e r e n c e s between p r o p o rtio n s r e s u l t e d in a ;
s i g n i f i c a n t (p < 0 .01 ) d if f e r e n c e between l e x i c a l and
f u n c tio n d i s f l u e n c i e s in f a v o r of f u n c tio n d i s f l u e n c i e s
f o r a l l age groups.
Grammatical fu n c tio n and gram m atical developm ent.
No s i g n i f i c a n t (p > 0.05) r e l a t i o n s h i p s were found between
gram m atical development and p r o p o rtio n of l e x i c a l and fu n c
t i o n words d i s f l u e n t to t o t a l l e x i c a l and fu n c tio n words
u t i l i z i n g P e a rs o n 's product-moment c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t .
C onclusions
The fo llo w in g co n clu sio n s can be drawn from th e
r e s u l t s of t h i s stu d y :
1. Age i s not a s s o c ia te d w ith l e x i c a l o r f u n c tio n
word d i s f l u e n c i e s .
2. More d i s f l u e n c i e s occur on " fu n c tio n " words
th a n l e x i c a l words a t a l l age l e v e l s .
3. Grammatical development i s not a s s o c ia te d w ith
l e x i c a l o r fu n c tio n word d i s f l u e n c i e s . I
D isc u ssio n ■
The r e s u l t s of t h i s stu d y len d s co n fid e n ce to th e
fin d in g s o f B lo o d ste in and Gantwerk ( 1967)^ and Silverm an
(1971). These cum ulative fin d in g s su ggest a b a sic d i f f e r -
I
en.ce between th e v e rb a l b e h av io r of n o n s t u t t e r i n g p r e - j
!
i
school c h ild r e n and o ld e r c h ild r e n and a d u lt s as f a r as |
I
gram m atical f u n c tio n i s concerned. I f o ld e r c h ild r e n and j
a d u lts do indeed have more l e x i c a l d i s f l u e n c i e s th an fu n c - 1
t i o n d i s f l u e n c i e s as r e p o r te d i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e , th en th e
age or ages of th e s h i f t from fu n c tio n d i s f l u e n c i e s to
l e x i c a l d i s f l u e n c i e s has y et to be i d e n t i f i e d . Because of
39
th e h ig h c o r r e l a t i o n between age and th e measure of gram
m a tic a l developmentj s i m il a r p a tt e r n s between gram m atical
development and gram m atical f u n c tio n of d is f lu e n c y were
found.
The use of ra d io te le m e tr y i n Communicative D is
o rd e rs r e s e a r c h w ith p re sc h o o l c h ild r e n was found to be an
e ffe c tiv e ., easy to use t o o l . Only one p a re n t was unable to
o p e ra te th e equipment due to h e r i n a b i l i t y to rea d E ng lish
i n s t r u c t i o n s . Undoubtedly t h i s p a re n t could have been
ta u g h t to u se th e equipment w ith adequate tim e. Radio
te le m e tr y i s seen as a h ig h ly dependable s c i e n t i f i c t o o l
in t h e stu d y of Communicative D iso rd e rs of most age groups, j
w hether f o r c l i n i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n (such as a p p r a i s a l or
c a r r y - o v e r ) j developm ental r e s e a r c h (such as s t u t t e r i n g ,
language, or v o ic e ) ; o r ex p erim e n tal r e s e a r c h (such as
:c o n t r o l l e d s i t u a t i o n s w ith o u t ex perim en ter i n t r u s i o n ) . •
i
iThe la c k of re s e a r c h i n Communicative D iso rd e rs on th e p re -
|
' sch o o l c h il d i s probably due i n g r e a t p a r t to th e d i f f i
c u l t y i n methodology.
i |
1 Because of th e in c o n s is te n c y t h a t rem ains between \
; j
th e f in d in g s co ncernin g th e gram m atical fu n c tio n o f p r e -
i
sch ool c h il d r e n and o ld e r c h ild r e n and a d u lt s , f u t u r e j
re s e a r c h w ith school age c h ild r e n u t i l i z i n g both ra d io
te le m e tr y and th e t r a d i t i o n a l methods of re a d in g a n d /o r
r e p e a tin g words would appear f r u i t f u l . S tu d ie s of t h i s
ty p e would p ro v id e a d d i t i o n a l d a ta concerning gram m atical
f u n c tio n and age, and would a ls o h e lp c l a r i f y com parisons
of r e s u l t s of ra d io te le m e tr y r e s e a rc h w ith t r a d i t i o n a l
methodology.
R E F E R E N C E S
I
I
41
REFERENCES
B lankenship. J . , S t u t t e r i n g in normal speech. J . Speech
Hearing R e s., 7, 95-96 (1964).
B lo o d ste in , 0 ., The development o f s t u t t e r i n g : I I , Develop
m ental ph ases. J . Speech H earing P i s ., 25, 366-376
( I 960).
B lo o d ste in , 0 ., A lper, J . , and Z isk, P ., S t u t t e r i n g as an
outgrow th of normal d is f lu e n c y . In D. A. B arbara (Ed. ),
New D ire c tio n s i n S t u t t e r i n g . S p r in g f ie ld , 1 1 1 . :
C harles C. Thomas (1965).
B lo o d s te in , 0 ., and Gantwerk, B . , Grammatical f u n c tio n in
r e l a t i o n to s t u t t e r i n g in young c h il d r e n . J . Speech
H earing R es., 10, 786-789 (1967)*
Branscom, M., Hughes, J . , and Oxtoby, E ., S tu d ie s of non- j
flu e n c y in th e speech of p re s c h o o l c h ild r e n . In W . j
Johnson and R. L eutenegger ( E d s .) , S t u t t e r i n g i n C h il- |
dren and A d u lts. M in n eap o lis, M inn.: U n iv e rs ity P re ss :
(1955).
: Brown, S ., The in f lu e n c e of gram m atical fu n c tio n on th e
in c id e n c e of s t u t t e r i n g . J . Speech D is ., 2, 207-215
(1937).
Brown, S ., The l o c i o f s t u t t e r i n g i n th e speech sequence. j
! J . Speech P i s ., 10, 181-192 (1945).
jBurko, J . , The c h i l d 's le a r n in g of E n g lish morphology.
i In S. S up orta (E d .), P s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c s . New York:
1 H olt, R in e h a rt, and Winston (1961). |
; i
1 Carrow, A., The development of a u d ito r y comprehension of ;
language s t r u c t u r e i n c h il d r e n . J . Speech H earing
B i s ., 33, 99-111 ( 1968).
Chaney, C., Loci of d i s f l u e n c i e s i n th e speech of non
s t u t t e r e r s . J . Speech H earing R e s., 12, 667-668
(1969).
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43
Egland, G., R e p e titio n s and. p r o lo n g a tio n s i n th e speech of
s t u t t e r i n g and n o n s t u t te r i n g c h il d r e n . I n W . Johnson
and R. L eutenegger (E d s .), S t u t t e r i n g i n C h ild re n and
A d u lts . M inneapolis, Minn.: U n iv e r s ity P re ss (1955)-
F r a s e r , C., B e llu g i, U., and Brown, R ., C o n tro l of grammar
i n i m i t a t i o n , comprehension, and p ro d u c tio n . J . Verb.
L earn. Verb. Behav., 2, 121-135 (1963).
G u ilfo rd , J . , Fundamental S t a t i s t i c s in Psychology and
E d u c a tio n . New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company ( 1965).
Hahn, E ., A stu d y of th e r e l a t i o n s h i p between s t u t t e r i n g
o c cu rren c e and gram m atical f a c t o r s i n o r a l re a d in g .
J . Speech P i s ., 7, 329-335 (1942).
H ejna, R ., A stu d y of th e lo c i of s t u t t e r i n g i n spontaneous
speech. D i s s e r t a t i o n A b s tr a c t s , 15, 1674-1675 (1955).
H ejna, R ., S t u t t e r i n g frequency in r e l a t i o n to word f r e
quency u sage, Asha, 5; 78l (1963).
Hoshiko, M., and Holloway, G., Radio te le m e tr y f o r th e j
m o nito ring of v e rb a l b eh av io r. J . Speech H earing D i s ., !
33, 48-50 ( 1968). I
Johnson, W., Measurement of o r a l re a d in g and speaking r a t e !
and d is f lu e n c y of a d u lt male and fem ale s t u t t e r e r s and
n o n s t u t t e r e r s . J . Speech H earing D is. Monogr., Suppl,
7, 1-20 ( 1961).
;Lanyon, R ., Speech: r e l a t i o n of n o n flu en cy to in fo rm a tio n j
: v a lu e . S c ie n c e , 164, 451-452 ( 1969).
|Lee, L ., The N orthw estern Syntax S creenin g T e s t . Evanston,
| 1 1 1 .: N o rthw estern Univ. P re ss ( 1969).
:Lee, L ., A sc re e n in g t e s t f o r sy n tax developm ent. J .
| Speech H earing D is ., 35, 103-112 (1970).
|Lewis, D., Word f a m i l i a r i t y and freq u e n cy of d i s f l u e n c i e s
i n a r t i c u l a t o r y t r a n s i t i o n . U npublished R esearch,
U n iv e r s ity of Southern C a l i f o r n i a ( 1968). i
McClay H ., and Osgood, C,, H e s i t a t io n phenomena in spon- -
tan eo u s E n g lish speech. Word, 15, 19-44 (1959).
M cN eill, D ., Developmental p s y c h o l in g u i s t i c s . In F. Smith
and G. M i l le r (E d s .), The G enesis of Language.
Cambridge: M .I.T. P ress ( 1966).
44
M yklebust, H., A u dito ry D iso rd e rs In C h ild r e n . New York:
Grune and S t r a t t o n (1954).
Sanders, E , , R e l i a b i l i t y of th e Iowa speech d is f lu e n c y
t e s t . J.. Speech H earing D is. Monogr., Suppl. J, 21-30
(1961).
Silverm an, E ., V a r i a b i l i t y of d is f lu e n c y p ro d u c tio n i n
f o u r - y e a r o ld s as a f u n c tio n of speaking s i t u a t i o n .
Paper p re s e n te d a t th e American Speech and H earing
A s s o c ia tio n Convention, Chicago ( 1969).
Silverm an, E ., G e n e r a lity of d is f lu e n c y d a ta c o l l e c t e d from
p r e s c h o o le r s . Paper p re s e n te d a t th e American Speech
and H earing A s s o c ia tio n Convention, New York (1970).
Silverm an, E ., P e rso n a l communication (1971)*
Silverm an, F ,, and W illiam s, D., Loci of d i s f l u e n c i e s i n
th e speech of n o n s t u t t e r e r s during o r a l re a d in g .
J . Speech H earing R es. , 10, 790-794 ( 1967)*
:Soderberg, G., L in g u is tic f a c t o r s i n s t u t t e r i n g . J . Speech
H earing R e s., 10, 801-810 ( 1967). j
Soderberg, G., R e la tio n s of word in fo rm a tio n and word
le n g th . J . Comm. P i s , ( i n P r e s s ) .
T aylor, I . , What words a re s t u t t e r e d ? Psych. B u l l . , 65 j
233-242 ( 1966). I
I Thorndike, E . , and Lorge, I . , The T e a c h e r1s Wordbook of j
! 30,000 Words. New York: T chrs. C o l l . , Columbia Univ. i
; (1944).
1
1
|W eb ster's New World D ic tio n a ry of The American Language.
| C ollege e d i t i o n . C leveland: The World P u b lish in g
| Company ( 1968). j
i i
'W illiam s, D., Silverm an, F ., and K ools, J . , D isflu e n c y ;
b e h av io r of e le m e n ta ry -sc h o o l s t u t t e r e r s and non- |
s t u t t e r e r s : th e a d a p ta tio n e f f e c t . J . Speech Hearing
R es. , 11, 622-630 (1968).
W illiam s, D ., Silverm an, F ., and K ools, J . , D isflu e n cy
b e h av io r o f e le m e n ta ry -sc h o o l s t u t t e r e r s and non
s t u t t e r e r s : l o c i o f i n s ta n c e s o f d is f lu e n c y . J . Speech
H earing R e s., 12, 308-318 ( 1969).
Wingate, M., S t u t t e r i n g and word le n g th . J . Speech H earing
R e s., 10, 146-152 ( 1967).
A P P E N D I C E S
I
45
APPENDIX A
CONSENT LETTER
46
Dear
As p a r t of th e req u ire m e n ts f o r com pletion of a Ph.D.
degree in Communicative D iso rd e rs a t th e U n iv e rs ity of
Southern C a li f o r n ia , I am co n ductin g a study co ncerning
th e normal speech and language development of c h il d r e n .
In c o o p e ra tio n w ith Mr. Dye of P in e c r e s t Schools, I have
randomly s e l e c te d y o ur c h il d , ________________________________,
fo r p o s s ib le p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h i s study.
As p a r t of th e stu d y , I would a d m in is te r a language
e v a lu a tio n (u n d e rsta n d in g and u sin g language) t o your child.
I would e x p la in th e r e s u l t s of t h i s e v a lu a tio n to you f r e e
of charge i n a p p r e c ia tio n f o r your c h i l d ’s p a r t i c i p a t i o n
in t h i s stu d y . T his e v a lu a tio n would i n d i c a t e to you your
c h i l d 's p ro g re s s i n language development in com parison to
o th e r c h il d r e n .
Your c h i l d 's language can be e v a lu a te d a t your home on ;
|a day co nvenien t t o you. This would ta k e l e s s th a n one :
hour. During th e fo llo w in g day, your c h il d would wear a j
i sm all b a t t e r y o p e ra te d microphone to re c o rd h i s speech four!
d i f f e r e n t tim es thro u g h o u t th e day. This can e a s i l y be j
accom plished by you w ithou t my p re se n c e . During th e s e p e - !
; r io d s , your c h il d would be f r e e to p la y i n s i d e your home,
| or i n your y a rd .
j
l I would be most a p p r e c i a t i v e of your c h i l d 's p a r t i c i
p a tio n i n t h i s stu d y . In o rd e r f o r your c h il d to ta k e
p a r t , p le a s e f i l l out th e b r i e f form enclosed and m ail i t |
to me i n th e stamped envelope p ro v id ed . I w i l l c o n ta c t
you by te le p h o n e t o f u r t h e r e x p la in t h e d e t a i l s of th e
i study , and a rra n g e a convenient t e s t tim e.
47
48
C h i ld 's name ____________________________________________________
Date of b i r t h ___________________________________________________
P a r e n t ' s name ___________________________________________________
Telephone number _______________________________________________
Days d urin g t h i s summer your c h i l d w i l l u s u a l ly be home:
Monday __
Tuesday _
Wednesday
Thursday
F rid a y _
S aturday
APPENDIX B
NORTHWESTERN SYNTAX SCREENING TEST
RECORD FORM
49
PLEASE NOTE:
Pape 50, "Northwestern Syntax Screen
ing Test Record Form", (c)1969 by
Northwestern U niversity not microfilmed
at request of author. A vailable fo r
co n su lta tio n at U niversity of Southern
C aliforn ia Library.
UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS.
APPENDIX C
INSTRUCTIONS TO PARENTS
51
INSTRUCTIONS
1 . WEN YOUR CHILD WAKES UP, TURN TEE TRANSMITTER ON (MOVE THE BLACK BUTTON TOW ARD THE RED DOT),
PIN THE MICROPHONE UNDER HIS SHIRT, AND CLIP THE TRANSMITTER TO THE BACK OF HIS PANTS.
LEAVE THE TRANSMITTER AT THE ON POSITION ALL DAY.
TAPE 1 TAPE 2 TAPE 3 TAPE k
2 . ON THE IDS SENSATUNER, TURN THE DOT ON THE POWER SWITCH TO OPERATE.
THE RED TUNING LIGHT SHOULD LIGHT UP.
5 . ON THE TAPE RECORDER, PRESS THE RECORD BUTTON AND THE PLAY BUTTON
AT THE SAM E TIME. CHECK TO SEE IF THE TAPE IS MOVING.
b. SET THE TIMER FOR JO MINUTES.
W HEN THE TIMER RINGS:
5 . ON THE IDS SENSATUNER, TURN THE DOT ON THE POWER SWITCH TO OFF.
w 6 . ON THE TAPE RECORDER, PRESS D O W N THE STOP BUTTON.
7 . TURN OVER THE TAPE FOR THE NEXT RECORDING SESSION, OR REPLACE THE
TAPE AS NEEDED.
PLEASE TAPE DURING THE FOLLOWING TIMES GOING THROUGH NUMBERS T W O THROUGH SEVEN ON THE CHECKLIST.
EACH TIME:
TAPE 1 W HEN YOUR CHILD GETS UP, TAPE FOR 30 MINUTES.
TAPE 2 BETWEEN 1 0 :3 0 AND 1 1 :0 0
TAPE 3 BETWEEN 1 :3 0 AND 2 :0 0
TAPE 4 BETWEEN L :3 0 AND 5 :0 0
PLEASE D O NOT HAVE ANY TV SETS TURNED ON DURING THESE FOUR TAPING SESSIONS.
APPENDIX D
CRITERIA FOR DEFINING MOMENTS OF DISFLUENCY
53
CRITERIA FOR DEFINING M O M E N T S O F DISFLUENCY
1. PART-WORD REPETITIONS. R e p e titio n s o f p a r t s of words—
t h a t i s , s y l l a b l e s and sounds— a re p la c e d i n t h i s c a te g o ry .
W ithin each i n s ta n c e of r e p e t i t i o n th e number of tim es th e
sound o r s y l l a b l e i s r e p e a te d i s counted; M buh-boy" i n
v o lv es one u n i t of r e p e t i t i o n and " g u h -g u h -g irl" in v o lv e s
two u n i t s . No a ttem p t i s made to draw a d i s t i n c t i o n b e
tween sound and s y l l a b l e r e p e t i t i o n s .
2. W ORD REPETITIONS. R e p e titio n s o f whole words, i n c l u d
ing words of one s y l l a b l e , a re counted i n t h i s c a te g o ry .
Both th e number of i n s ta n c e and th e number of r e p e t i t i o n
u n i t s w ith in each i n s t a n c e a re counted. " I - I - I , "was-
w as," and "going-going" a r e samples of i n s ta n c e s of word
r e p e t i t i o n ; th e f i r s t in v o lv e s two u n i t s o f r e p e t i t i o n and
each of th e o th e rs in v o lv e one u n i t . A word re p e a te d f o r
em phasis, as i n "very, v e ry c le a n ," i s not counted as a
d is f lu e n c y . A p a rt-w o rd r e p e t i t i o n , o r an i n t e r j e c t i o n ,
does not n u l l i f y a word r e p e t i t i o n ; f o r example, "going uh
going" o r "guh-going going" i s c l a s s i f i e d as a word r e p e
t i t i o n . In any such c a se , th e i n t e r j e c t e d or a s s o c ia te d
d is f lu e n c y I s a ls o t a b u l a t e d i n th e a p p r o p r ia te c a te g o ry .
3. PHRASE REPETITIONS. R e p e titio n s o f two o r more words
: a re In clu d e d i n t h i s c a te g o ry . "I was I was going" i s an
; example of t h i s ty p e of d is f lu e n c y .
14. INTERJECTIONS OF SOUNDS AND SYLLABLES. This c a te g o ry i
;in c lu d e s extran eo u s sounds such as " u h ," " e r ," and "hmm"
iand ex tra n eo u s words such as " w e l l , " which a re d i s t i n c t j
|from sounds and words a s s o c i a t e d w ith th e f l u e n t t e x t o r I
;w ith phenomena in c lu d e d i n o th e r c a t e g o r i e s . An in s ta n c e
I of I n t e r j e c t i o n may in c lu d e one or more u n i t s of r e p e t i t i o n
of th e i n t e r j e c t e d m a t e r i a l ; f o r example, "uh" and "uh uh"
a re counted as one in s ta n c e of i n t e r j e c t i o n . The number of
tim es th e i n t e r j e c t i o n i s r e p e a te d ( u n i ts of r e p e t i t i o n )
w ith in each in s t a n c e i s a ls o n oted; "uh uh" i s an example
of an i n t e r j e c t i o n r e p e a te d once and "uh uh uh" i s an
|example of an i n t e r j e c t i o n re p e a te d tw ic e . j
| 5. REVISIONS. I n s ta n c e s i n which th e c o n te n t of a p h rase !
j i s m o d ified , o r In which th e r e I s gram m atical m o d ific a tio n ,!
a re counted as in s ta n c e s o f r e v i s i o n . Change I n th e p r o - j
n u n c ia tio n of a word i s a ls o counted as a r e v i s i o n . I |
was—I am going" i s an example of t h i s c a te g o ry .
54
55
6. TENSE PAUSES. This i s a d is f lu e n c y phenomenon judged
to e x i s t between w ords, p a rt-w o rd s , and nonwords ( i .e ..,
i n t e r j e c t i o n s ) when a t th e b e tw ee n -p o in t i n q u e s tio n t h e r e
a re b a r e ly a u d ib le m a n if e s ta tio n s of heavy b re a th in g or
m uscular t i g h t e n i n g . The same phenomena w ith in a w o r d . . . .
would p la c e th e word i n th e c a te g o ry of d isrh y th m ic phona-
t i o n s .
7 . DISRHYTHMIC PHONATIONS. I d e n t i f i e d only w ith words, i t
i s t h a t k in d of p h o n atio n which d i s t u r b s o r d i s t o r t s th e
s o - c a l l e d normal rhythm o r flow o f speech. The d is tu r b a n c e
or d i s t o r t i o n may or may not in v o lv e t e n s i o n . . . . and may be
a t t r i b u t a b l e to a prolong ed sound, an a ccen t or tim ing
which i s n o ta b ly u n u su a l, an im proper s t r e s s , a break, or
any o th e r sp e ak in g -b e h a v io r i n f e l i c i t y not com patible w ith
f l u e n t speech and not in c lu d e d i n a n o th e r c a te g o ry . D is-
rhythm ic p h o n atio n i s a w ith in -w o rd c a te g o ry .
;
t
APPENDIX E
DEFINITIONS OF GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES
56
DEFINITIONS O F G RAM M ATICAL CATEGORIES
1. NOUN. Any o f a c l a s s of words naming or d e n o tin g a
p e rso n , th in g , a c t io n , q u a l i t y , e t c . : as boy, w a te r, and
t r u t h a re nouns.
2. VERB. Any of a c l a s s of words e x p re ssin g a c t io n , e x i s
te n c e , or o c c u rre n c e : as ta k e , be, and ap p ear a re v erb s.
3. ADVERB. Any of a c l a s s of words used t o modify a v e rb ,
a d je c t i v e (o r o th e r adverb) by e x p re ssin g tim e, p la c e ,
manner, d e g re e, cause, e tc .
4. ADJECTIVE. Any of a c la s s of words used to l i m i t or
q u a li f y a noun o r o t h e r s u b s ta n tiv e : as good and every.
5. ARTICLE. Any one of th e words a, an, o r th e .
6. PRONOUN. A word used in th e p la c e of or as a s u b s t i
t u t e f o r a noun: I , you, i t , we, th e y e tc .
7. CONJUNCTION. An u n i n f le c t e d word used to connect
words, p h ra s e s , c la u s e s , or se n te n c e s] c o n n e c tiv e : con- I
ju n c tio n s may be c o - o r d in a tin g ( e . g . , and, b u t, o r) sub- I
o rd in a tin g ( e . g . , i f , when, a s, because, though, e t c . ) or
c o r r e l a t i v e ( e i t h e r . . . o r, b o t h .. .a n d , e t c . ) .
|
8. PREPOSITION. In some language, a r e l a t i o n word, as i
E n g lish in , by, f o r , w ith , t o , e t c . , t h a t co nn ects a noun,
; pronoun, o r noun p h ra se to a n o th e r element o f th e sentence,j
as to a verb (th e sound of_ tram ping fee t) o r to an a d je c - j
i t i v e (o ld i n y e a r s ).
i'
! 9. AUXILIARY. A verb t h a t h e lp s form t e n s e s , a s p e c ts ,
j moods, or v o ic e s of o th e r words, as have, be, may, can,
! must, do, s h a l l , w i l l . Examples: has and been i n "He has
j been w orking."
I 10. INTERROGATIVE. Used i n asking a q u e s tio n : an i n t e r - j
: r o g a tiv e word, c o n s tr u c tio n , or element (What? Where?). |
; 11. NOUN DETERMINER. Used t o e s t a b l i s h th e d e f i n i t e n e s s
of nouns fo llo w in g them. Examples a re th e words th e , th is,!
! th e s e , t h a t , th o se and any p o s s e s s iv e form. Must be a b le j
; to f i t i n th e se n ten ce frame: A ll ___________+ noun.
57
APPENDIX F
ADDITIONAL DATA RECORDED DURING EVALUATION
58
T A B L E 5
T Y P E S O F D IS F L U E N C IE S
V Jl
vo
Age
Revisions
W ord
Repeti
tions
Inter
jections
Phrase
Repeti
tions
Part W ord
Repeti
tions
Disrhy-
thmic
Phonation
Tense
Pause
L F L F L F L F L F L F L F
3 years 87 105 17 73
20
37 35
56 23
24 4 0 1 0
4 years
73
100 46 65
65 56 75
110 21 l4 8 2 1 0
5 years 98 176 17 4o
55
47 45 98 27 12 6 1
2 3
6 years 74
105
20 46 56 62
55 87 31
12 12
5 1 3
TABLE 6
PERCENTAGE OF DISFLUENT SYLLABLES BY AGE AND LISTENER
Age M F B S G M GF Pe BP S
3
4.10 3.82 3.02 4.21 1.82 0
3.9^
5.45 2.23
(9) W (3) (3)
(2) (0) (7) (2)
(1)
4
5.23 5.51
4.78 0 0
5.15
6.29 2.54
(10)
(3) (3) (3) (0) (0)
w
(2)
(* )
5
4.52 3.85 2.69
4.29 0 0 5.69 13.80 3.98
(9) (5) (* ) w
(0) (0) (7) (1) (3)
6 4.98
3.97 3-37
1.05 17.80 11.20 4.65 2.47 2.02
(10) (6) (6) (2)
(1) (1) (7) (1)
(2)
N o te : Num bers i n p a r e n t h e s e s d e n o te t h e num ber o f c a s e s i n e a c h sa m p le .
M = M o th er F = F a t h e r B = B r o th e r
S = S i s t e r G M = G ran d m o th er GF = G r a n d fa th e r
Pe = P e e r BP = B o th P a r e n t s S = S e l f
61
TABLE 7
W ORD LENGTH
Age 4 L e t te r s o r Less 5 L e t t e r s or More
3 y e a r o ld s 341 22
4 y e a r o ld s
375 87
5 y e a r o ld s 434 47
6 y e a r o ld s 378 71
TABLE 8
SENTENCE POSITION
Age
F i r s t Three Words
i n a Sentence A ll O ther Words
3 y e a rs 142
91
4 y e a rs 114 148
5 y e a rs
113
158
6 y e a rs 94 150
TABLE 9
INITIAL PHONEME
Age Consonants Vowels
3 y e a r o ld s
257*
106
4 y e a r o ld s 301 161
5 y e a r o ld s 315
166
6 y e a r olds 284
165
TABLE 10
PERCEIlCAGES OP DISFLUENT W ORDS FOR PARTS OF SPEECH
A ge N oun Adverb Adject. Verb Pron. Prep. Art. Conjun. Aux. V. Intero. N. Det. Interj.
3
11.5
5-9
1.6 16.0 22.4 8.0 5.4 4.5 5.4 4.2 3.8
11.3
4 8.6 8.6 2.7
17-9
17.0 6.4 4.7 6.6
7-7
2.6 4.2
13.1
5
7.6 6.9 3-6 16.1 22.6 6.8
4.3
4.0
8.5 5-0
3-5
11.1
6
8.9 9-7
3.0 16.3 20.4
5A
3-2 7.0
7.5
2.0 4.6 12.1
a \
ro
APPENDIX G
JUDGE RELIABILITY SCORES
63
TABLE 11
JUDGE RELIABILITY SCORES
Tape
Recording
L e x ic a l
Agree
L e x ic a l
D isagree
Function
Agree
F unctio n
D isagree
1
20
0 30 4
2 21 1
29
1
3 17 3
24 0
4 24 1 16
3
5
10 0
17
2
6 23 3
18 1
7 23
1 30 0
8 15
2
33
2
64
APPENDIX H
RAW SCORES AND PROPORTIONS
I
I
I
i
i
i
i
65
M
36
38
39
39
4 l
41
42
43
45
46
48
48
50
51
53
54
56
56
57
58
60
61
63
63
64
64
66
68
68
70
72
73
74
75
77
78
79
81
82
83
TABLE 12
R A W SCORES
C O
< D
•H
O
i
•H
X to p
i
o to
CTi
C O 'C f C to P * S ^ t
< D P p o
p i O 1 3
i — I to iH iH HlS rH O H
ctf'd
0 ? P ^ c t5 C
-p
P to prH to P O
o o O -H o •H • O -H
BP E H o p p E hp
TW TD TL DL TF
-p
C to
(Dt3
3 ^
iH O
P ^
to
• H •
p p
DF
7°° 27 395
10 305 17
875
24 484 6
391
18
1097 77
556
15
541 62
923 43
488 18
435 25 .
974 62 490
29
484
33
959
50 492 20 467
30
1448 47
874 20 574 27
1157
62 616
25
541
37
927 43 475
18 452
25
995 49
520 25 475
24
1123
44
559 25
564
19
1175 87
611
47
564 40
1316 57
642
25
674 32
1484
153 797 75 687 78
982 45 475
20
507 25
1268 92 689 38
579
54
868
37
428 16 440 21
975 35 527
8 448
27
1312 53
688
27
624 26
974 28
529
10 445
18
1327
114
613 45
714
69
1235
30 612 14 623
16
1228 44 625 20 603
24
1160 94 627 33 533
61
1110 57
524
13
586 44
1032 29 513
10
519 19
1117
54
579
26 538 28
1271
106 556 42
715
64
1148
51 575
21
573
30
1257
48
609
21 648
27
1207 43
622
13 585
30
1119 45
534 21 585
24
1023 19
530 8 493
11
1128 40 635 19 495
21
1003 115
450
37 553
78
1266 50 669 17 597 33
1196 47 613
22
583 25
1239 71 671 36 568
35
954 42 500
23
454
f 9
1396 97 ■ 759
48
637 49
66
TABLE 13
GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION AND AGE—LEXICAL W ORDS
X Y X Y
36
.0253
60 .0734
38 .0124 61 .0229
39 .0269 63
.0320
39 .0369 63 .0527
41 .0592 64 .0248
41 .o4o6 64
.0195
42
.0229
66 .0450
43 .0405
68 .0754
45 .0379
68
.0365
46 .0481 70 .0345
48 .0447 72 .0209
48
.0769 73 .0393
50 .0389 74 .0151
51
.0941
75 .0299
53
.0421
77
.2822
54 .0552 78 .2254
56
.0373 79 .0359
56 .0152 81
.0535
57
.0392 82 .0460 .
58 .0189 83
.0646
TABLE 14
GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION AND AGE- -FUNCTION W ORDS
X Y X Y
36
.0557
60
.0967
38 .0460 6 l
.0257
39 .1145 63 .0398
39 .0575 63
.1144
4 i .0683
64 .0750
4 l .0643
64 .0366
42 .0470 66 .0520
43 .0683
68
.0895
45 .0553
68
.0519
46 .0505 70 .0 4 l6
48
.0337
72
.0513
48 .0710
73
.0410
50 .0475 74 .0223
51
.1136
75
.0426
53 .0493 77
.1410
54 .0934 78 .0553
56
.0477 79
.0428
56 .0602 81 . 0616
57 .0417
82 .0419
58 .0405 83 .0770
6 9
TABLE 15
GRAM M ATICAL DEVELOPMENT AND GRAM M ATICAL FUNCTION-
LEXICAL W O R D S
X Y X . Y
38
.0253 55
.0734
27
.0124 64 .0229
42
.0269
58 .0320
35 .0369 69 .0527
26 .0592 58 .0248
38 .0406
63 .0195
22
.0229 71
.0450
47
.0405
60 .0754
44
.0379
64
.0365
49 .0481 48 .0345
56 .0447 70 .0209
52 .0769 71 .0393
52 .0389
64
.0151
48 .0941 72
.0299
49
.0421 64 .0822
58 .0552 63
.0254
54
.0373 75 .0359
47
.0152
77 .0535
63 .0392 72 .0460
61 .0189 72 . 0646
TABLE 16
GRAMMATICAL DEVELOPMENT AND GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION--
FUNCTION W ORDS
X Y X Y
38
.0557 55 .0967
27
.0460 64
.0257
42 .1145 58 .0398
35 .0575 69
.1144
26
.0683
58 .0750
38 .0643 63 .0750
22 .0470
71
.0520
47
.0683
60
.0895
44
.0553
64
.0519
49 .0505
48 .0 4 16
56
.0337
70 .0513
52 .0710
71
.o 4 io
52
.0475
64
.0223
48 .1136 72 .0426
49 .0493
64 , i 4 i o
58 .0934
63 .0553
54
.0477 75
.0428
47
.0602
77
. 0616
63 .0417 72 .0419
61 . 0405 72 .0770
TABLE 17
GRAMMATICAL DEVELOPMENT AND AGE
X Y X Y
36 38 60
55
38 27 61 64
39
42
63
58
39 35 63 69
4 l 26 64 58
4 l 48 64
63
42 22 66
71
43 47 68 60
45
44 68 64
46
49
70 48
48 56 72 70
48 52
73 71
50 52 74 64
51
48
75
72
53 49 77
64
54 58 78 63
56 54
79 75
56
47
8 l
77
57 63
82 72
58 6 l
83
72

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Asset Metadata

Creator Gardner, Julie O'Brien (author)

Core Title Chronological Age And Grammatical Development As Determinants Of The Proportions Of Disfluencies On Lexical And Function Words In Preschool Children

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Comparative Disorders

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag health sciences, speech pathology,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Perkins, William H. (committee chair), Handler, Harry (committee member), Haney, Russell (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-498773

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Legacy Identifier 7226015

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Document Type Dissertation

Rights Gardner, Julie O'Brien

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

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