Speech processing and production in two-year-old children acquiring isiXhosa: A tale of two children.
We investigated the speech processing and production of 2-year-old children acquiring isiXhosa in South Africa. Two children (2 years, 5 months; 2 years, 8 months) are presented as single cases. Speech input processing, stored phonological knowledge and speech output are described, based on data from auditory discrimination, naming, and repetition tasks. Both children were approximating adult levels of accuracy in their speech output, although naming was constrained by vocabulary. Performance across tasks was variable: One child showed a relative strength with repetition, and experienced most difficulties with auditory discrimination. The other performed equally well in naming and repetition, and obtained 100% for her auditory task. There is limited data regarding typical development of isiXhosa, and the focus has mainly been on speech production. This exploratory study describes typical development of isiXhosa using a variety of tasks understood within a psycholinguistic framework. We describe some ways in which speech and language therapists can devise and carry out assessment with children in situations where few formal assessments exist, and also detail the challenges of such work.
['Pascoe|Michelle|M|', 'Rossouw|Kate|K|', 'Fish|Laura|L|', 'Jansen|Charne|C|', 'Manley|Natalie|N|', 'Powell|Michelle|M|', 'Rosen|Loren|L|']
D002648:Child D032882:Comprehension D003906:Developing Countries D005006:Ethnicity D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007802:Language D007804:Language Development D008037:Linguistics D000067010:Literacy D008297:Male D019303:Multilingualism D013019:South Africa D013067:Speech Perception D013068:Speech Production Measurement D014705:Verbal Behavior
phonology naming repetition auditory discrimination. psycholinguistic framework psycholinguistic assessment