Acquisition of /s/ among kindergarten children who misarticulate /s/ as measured by the Deep Test of Articulation.
The purpose of this study was to describe the process of /s/ acquisition among young children who substituted an interdental fricative for /s/. The Deep Test of Articulation for /s/ was administered once a month during seven consecutive months to 11 kindergarten children who misarticulated /s/. Results indicate that acquisition of /s/ was not influenced by its function as a syllable-releasing or syllable-arresting consonant. One factor associated with /s/ acquisition was the presence of adjacent palatal-fricative/affricate sounds. Although there was considerable variability among subjects in rate of /s/ acquisition, when a score of 38% correct /s/ productions or better during two consecutive testing periods on The Deep Test of Articulation was obtained, four out of five subjects continued to produce high rates of correct /s/ responses. Implications of these data are discussed.
Arizona State University, Speech and Hearing Clinic, Tempe 85287.
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Mowrer
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Sundstrom
D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D013062:Speech Articulation Tests; D013068:Speech Production Measurement