title: Speech processing and production in two-year-old children acquiring isiXhosa: A tale of two children.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Communication Sciences and Disorders, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Cape Town. michelle.pascoe@uct.ac.za.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pascoe
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rossouw
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fish
authors.forename: Charne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Manley
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Loren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rosen
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D032882:Comprehension; D003906:Developing Countries; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000193:education*; 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
keywords: psycholinguistic assessment; phonology; psycholinguistic framework; naming; repetition; auditory discrimination.