title: Auditory sequence analysis and phonological skill.
abstract: This work tests the relationship between auditory and phonological skill in a non-selected cohort of 238 school students (age 11) with the specific hypothesis that sound-sequence analysis would be more relevant to phonological skill than the analysis of basic, single sounds. Auditory processing was assessed across the domains of pitch, time and timbre; a combination of six standard tests of literacy and language ability was used to assess phonological skill. A significant correlation between general auditory and phonological skill was demonstrated, plus a significant, specific correlation between measures of phonological skill and the auditory analysis of short sequences in pitch and time. The data support a limited but significant link between auditory and phonological ability with a specific role for sound-sequence analysis, and provide a possible new focus for auditory training strategies to aid language development in early adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Newcastle Auditory Group, Medical School, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. (manon.grube@ncl.ac.uk).
authors.forename: Manon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grube
authors.forename: Sukhbinder
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Freya E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Turton
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D010897:Pitch Discrimination; D010898:Pitch Perception; D011932:Reading; D013067:Speech Perception; D013997:Time Factors