Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

A Comparison Of Speech Intelligibility Measures Between Unsophisticated Listener Judgements And Orthographic Transcription, Carla J. Dukart

Dissertations and Theses

Intelligible speech is a primary component for successful communication. However, the speech of children with disordered phonologies is often unintelligible. Therefore, when assessing the speech intelligibility of children in order to determine whether they qualify for intervention services, speech-language pathologists need reliable evaluation tools.

The focus of this investigation was the measurement of speech intelligibility. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between two methods for measuring speech intelligibility. The first, identification method, involves the listener transcribing a speech sample from which the percentage of words understood is calculated. The second, scaling procedure, involves the listener estimating …

A Pilot Study: Normative Data On The Intelligibility Of 3 1/2 Year Old Children, Karen Mary Ware

Dissertations and Theses

Most of the previous published research involving intelligibility has focused on persons with various disabilities or delays. Minimal research has been conducted on intelligibility in young children with no diagnosed speech and/ or language disorders. The result is a gap in normative data by which to set a standard to judge speech as being at an acceptable level of intelligibility for a particular age group. The focus of this pilot study was to collect normative data on the intelligibility of young children, ages 3:6 ±2 months, with no diagnosed speech and/or language disorder. ~ Thirteen subjects, ages 3:6 ±2 months, …

Temporal Characteristics Of Words Surrounding A Moment Of Stuttering In Preschool-Age Children, Gregory Keith Lilly

Dissertations and Theses

Until this time, few studies have examined differences in durational characteristics in words surrounding a moment of stuttering for untreated preschool children. It is important to determine whether or not untreated preschoolers' who stutter alter the duration of their speech when they stutter versus when they are fluent to determine what factors influence stuttering behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to examine the duration of words immediately before and after a stuttered word and the duration of the matched target word in the identical fluent utterance. The following questions were to be addressed: 1) Is there a significant …

A Study Of The Narrative Skills Of 7-Year Olds With Normal, Impaired, And Late Developing Language, Rita F. Hernandez

Dissertations and Theses

The narrative, just like any lectured or monologue information which is shared, does not depend to any great extent on context. Therefore, ability to encode and decode the information to be presented verbally is required, that is, in order for the speaker to be able to verbalize what he or she wants to say while taking into consideration the listener's needs. This indicates that production of strong narratives depends on higher level language skills, and so children's narratives provide a sensitive means of assessing children's language development. The purpose of this study was to compare the narrative ability of children …

The Effectiveness Of A Self-Directed Inservice Program To Educate Teachers About The Classroom Needs Of Students With Hearing Impairment, Teresa Michelle Whiteley

Dissertations and Theses

Students with mild to moderate hearing losses, and some with severe hearing losses, are mainstreamed in a regular classroom for all or part of the day (Martin, Berstein, Daly & Cody, 1988). While these students may require special education services, the classroom teacher plays a vital role in the overall education and daily management of a child with a hearing impairment (Hass, 1987). Villa (1989) reported that many school employees have not received adequate training to educate these students. Therefore, it becomes the school's responsibility to educate teachers through a comprehensive inservice training program.

One format for providing such a …

Speech Recognition With Linear And Non-Linear Amplification In The Presence Of Industrial Noise, Marcia Ann Olson

Dissertations and Theses

In order to help reduce hearing loss, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulates noise levels in work environments. However, hearing aids are the primary rehabilitative service provided for individuals with an occupational hearing loss. Very little is being done to monitor hearing aid use in the work environment. Noise which may be safe to an unaided ear can amplified to levels that are damaging to the ear when a hearing aid is being worn. However, it is necessary for some individuals to wear amplification in these noisy environments for safety reasons. As a consequence it is important that these …

Speech Understanding In Noise As A Function Of Microphone Placement In Hearing Aids, Erin Marlene Flowers Hand

Dissertations and Theses

Hearing aid users often complain of poor speech understanding in the presence of background noise. There have been many attempts to overcome this problem by hearing aid manufactures and dispensers. The purpose of the present study was to determine if differences existed between three different styles of hearing aids (i.e. in the ear (ITE), in the canal (ITC), and completely in the canal (CIC)) in the presence of a multi-talker babble. Five sensori-neural hearing impaired subjects were selected from the Portland State University audiology clinic. The subjects were required to listen to a recording of the California Consonant Test (CCT) …

Comparison Of Two Phonological Treatment Procedures For A Child With Phonological Deviations, Katherine Vaughan Kemper

Dissertations and Theses

Choosing an effective and efficient phonological treatment approach is an important decision for clinicians when treating children with phonological deviations. Current research supports the effectiveness of phonological treatment, but few studies have compared two approaches. More comparative studies are essential to support clinical intervention for children who are highly unintelligible.

This single-subject study was designed to compare the effectiveness of two phonologically-based treatment approaches in facilitating an intelligible speech production system for one highly unintelligible preschool female. Multiple baselines across behaviors with an alternating treatment design were used in this descriptive study. This study sought to answer the following questions: …

Adolescents And Sex On The Soaps: A Content Analysis, Jenelle Gay Winter

Dissertations and Theses

This study updates prior examinations of sexual content on daytime soap operas by investigating verbal references, implied sexual acts and mentions of sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, it extends earlier work by analyzing the commitment level and age of those involved in the sexual content. Finally, this study will attempt to obtain a clear picture of what adolescents perceive while viewing these shows. This was investigated by conducting adolescent and adult focus groups to see how they talk about soap operas. Also, comparisons were made of adult and adolescent coding of the sexual content on soap operas. All daytime soap …

A Study Of The Correlation Between The Articulation Competence Index (Aci) And The Percentage Of Words Understood In The Continuous Speech Of 4- And 5-Year-Olds Of Varying Phonological Competence, Susan Coll Mitchell

Dissertations and Theses

Intelligibility refers to how recognizable a speaker's words are to the listener. Severity, a broader but closely related concept, incorporates intelligibility, disability, and handicap. Many factors influence intelligibility, including speech sound production, voice, and prosody, as well as a number of linguistic and contextual factors. Clinicians and researchers in the field of speechlanguage pathology require accurate measures of intelligibility and severity to assess and describe communicative functioning and to measure change over time. Determining the most accurate and efficient measurement approaches has been the focus of recent attention in the field. This study was a preliminary investigation of the relationship …

Examining The Relationship Between Three Speech Features And Intelligibility Ratings Of Black English Preschoolers As Judged By Standard English Listeners, Britteny Sue Asher

Dissertations and Theses

Linguistic diversification within our public schools has demanded professional responsibility from speech-language pathologists (SLPs) serving nonstandard English speaking students. Understanding and recognizing normal cultural linguistic differences is the responsibility of the SLP. This study focused on the relationship of three speech features to intelligibility ratings of 10 preschool aged Black English speakers as assigned by 4 licensed standard English speaking SLPs with varying experience. The SLPs also rated the perceived effect of these speech features (i.e., articulation, speaking rate, and resonance) on intelligibility. Using the Pearson product-moment correlation, ratings were correlated and found to demonstrate an association between intelligibility ratings …

Gender Differences In The Language Development Of Late-Talking Toddlers At Age 3, Nancy Ann Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

Language is a major part of a child's early developmental growth. Research examining early language shows a wide variation in the rate of language acquisition and its pattern of development. These variations also exist when language development is delayed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of a relationship between gender and language delay by looking for significant differences in the language skills of 3-year-old boys and girls who were identified as late-talkers (LTs) at the age of 2. Data used for analysis in this study were retrieved from data collected earlier as part of the Portland …

An Organizational Profile: Members' Understanding Of Discrimination, Debra Cay Hornibrook

Dissertations and Theses

Cultural diversity in the United States is an issue of concern and organizations must now learn to function effectively with an increasingly diverse workforce. Since the history of U.S. organizations is a history of institutional discrimination against most ethnic and racial groups of people and the privileging of a dominant group, managing workforce diversity now constitutes one of the most difficult and important issues human resource professionals address. This study is concerned with the issues of workforce diversity, most specifically with how organizational members understand and respond to discrimination, and the utilization of this understanding to discuss implications for diversity …

Parental Perceptions Of The Efficacy Of Clinical Intervention For Speech-Language Disorders At Portland State University's Speech And Language Clinic, Deborah Ellen Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the survey as a method of assessing client satisfaction with clinical services and to then assess parental satisfaction of clinical services at Portland State University's language clinic using the survey method. The survey asked questions regarding the parents' perceived benefits from the clinic, their perception of the skills of the clinicians who served their children, and the parents' perception of the clinical atmosphere. Eighty-five Consumer Satisfaction Surveys were mailed to 81 parents of children receiving services at Portland State University Speech-Language Clinic between the years 1987 and 1994. Eleven surveys were returned, …

Temperament Differences In Children With A History Of Slow Expressive Language Development And Their Peers With Normal Language Development, Beth Ann Jones

Dissertations and Theses

Language is the way in which individuals are able to express ideas, feelings, needs, expectations, and form relationships with others in their surrounding environment. A disruption in language development may negatively impact a child's social development. Research shows that children with language delays or disorders tend to have increased social and behavioral difficulties (Cantwell & Baker, 1977; Caulfield, Fischel, DeBaryshe, & Whitehurst, 1989). However, research has not examined temperament differences in young children with language delays or disorders. The question this study sought to answer was: Is there a significant difference in the dimensions of temperament between children with a …

Gender Differences In Adaptive Behavior Between Two-Year-Old Boys And Girls With Slow Expressive Language Development, Christine Lee Rusnak

Dissertations and Theses

Research has suggested that there are significant differences between genders in various aspects of normal, as well as abnormal development. It has been established that more boys than girls have speech deficits, such as stuttering and poor articulation, are less social, and display more behavior problems (Eakins, 1978; Baker & Canhvell, 1982). However, past studies also suggest that females exhibit greater delays and deficits when affected by a disorder compared to males (Vogel, 1990; Paul, 1993). The question posed by this study is: How do the communication skills, both expressive and receptive, as well as daily living skills, socialization skills, …

Using A Computer Program About Pediatric Hearing Evaluations To Help Educate Parents, Jeanne E. Aleskus

Dissertations and Theses

Hearing assessment techniques, and counseling for the pediatric population are different from those used on adults. Parents will often not have any prior knowledge of how their child's hearing will be assessed. Therefore, many questions may pertain to the mechanics of the evaluation. Audiologists may find the questions take away some of their counseling time and they have less time to discuss the diagnosis and prognosis of the child. The purpose of this study was to determine if a computer program developed with information about pediatric evaluations could be used to educate individuals about this process. Twenty subjects were involved …

Phonological Awareness Skills In Children With Highly Unintelligible Speech, Sheryl Mohwinkel

Dissertations and Theses

The phonological awareness skills of children with language disorders has been well addressed throughout the literature. Research into the phonological awareness skills of children with highly unintelligible speech, however, is still in its infancy. One published study has looked at the relationship between phonological awareness skills in children with persistent phonological impairments and in children with normal phonology (Webster & Plante, 1992). Significantly higher scores were recorded on three of the four phonological awareness measures for the children with normal phonology As phonology improved, so did the children's phonological awareness skills. The purposes of the present study were to determine …

Influence Of Articulation And Phonology Intervention On Children's Social And Emotional Characteristics, Tracy Lynn Carlisle

Dissertations and Theses

It would be useful to obtain information about social and emotional characteristics in children who are receiving articulation/phonological intervention in order to assess the effectiveness of various treatment approaches from a social/emotional perspective. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not articulation and phonological intervention influences children's social and emotional characteristics as perceived by their parents and, if so, which articulation approach (traditional vs. phonological cycling) results in more improvement in different domains of social and emotional characteristics. The specific social and emotional characteristics explored in this study are social skills, communication, independence, self-esteem, and domestic responsibility …

Children With Early Language Delay: A Group Case Study Of Outcomes In Intermediate Grades, Tracey Abild-Lane

Dissertations and Theses

Current research in early language development suggests that children who were diagnosed during preschool with expressive language delay would demonstrate difficulties during elementary school years. This purpose of the present study was to qualitatively describe the outcome of children with a history of early language delay and differing levels of expressive performance (ELD and HELD), as reported by the parents. A questionnaire was developed to determine the children's current age and grade level, past and present reading ability and reading interests, best and worst academic subject, special services and diagnosed disability, speech and language concerns, friendships concerns, and behavioral and …

Intervention History Of Children With Slow Expressive Language Development, Kathleen Belfiore

Dissertations and Theses

Children who are identified with slow expressive language development (SELD) around the age of two are producing less than fifty intelligible words or no two word phrases. Current research suggests that some children with SELD outgrow their delay while others continue to develop long term language difficulties. The literature shows varied findings of short term recovery but long term deficits, and shifts in the specific expressive language deficits ~s the child with SELD matures and encounters increased language demands. Suggestions are found for a mix of monitoring and early intervention, in step with signs of readiness and dynamic assessments, to …

Effects Of Posttraining Maintenance Sessions On Aphasic Subjects' Verbal Labeling, Connie Allene Freed

Dissertations and Theses

For many years, treatment for word retrieval deficits has involved the use of various cueing techniques to help trigger retrieval of target words. Research has shown that accuracy for future retrieval of target words is best achieved by training subjects with semantically based cues. Personalized cues that are created by the subjects themselves to help remember a target word have been shown to be the most effective of the semantically based cues. However, even with the use of personalized cues, accuracy for naming tasks has been found to decrease once training is completed. Current research in memory indicates that, for …

Understanding Pre-Service Teachers' Conceptualizations Of Diversity, Terrine Louise Borwn Vogt

Dissertations and Theses

"Diversity" has become a word associated with many professions, institutions, and contexts, paired with words such as standards, consultants, training, awareness and others. However, the researcher focused on how diversity is defined or conceptualized by pre-service teachers at Portland State University. Diversity is especially important as it relates to educators and pre-service teachers. Teachers will, today, be instructing children of different backgrounds and races more than ever in the past (Ross & Smith, 1992). And teachers conceptualizations and behaviors have profound impacts on student performance and success. In an effort to come to understand the ways pre-service teachers conceptualize "diversity," …

Parental Perceptions Of Articulation Intervention Services Received At Portland State University, Janet Ann Murphy

Dissertations and Theses

Now more than ever, speech clinicians are being required to justify the effectiveness of their work by showing results. There are different ways to measure outcomes. For example, outcomes may be measured by testing to determine if change has occurred regarding clinical goals, or by comparing the cost of the treatment to the benefit of the treatment to determine if the treatment was economically sound. Another type of measure is subjective outcomes, such as client satisfaction. Subjective outcomes are difficult to define and measure and few studies of this type have been reported in the literature. Because clinical outcome is …

An Analysis Of Spondee Recognition Thresholds In Auditory-Only And Audio-Visual Conditions, Brenene Marie Brady-Herbst

Dissertations and Theses

To date there are no acceptable speechreading tests with normative or psychometric data indicating the test is a valid and reliable measure of speechreading assessment. Middlewerd and Plomp (1987) completed a study of speechreading assessment using sentences (auditory-only and auditory-visual) in the presence of background noise. Results revealed speech reception thresholds to be lower in the auditory-visual condition. Montgomery and Demorest (1988) concurred that these results were appealing, but unfortunately not efficient enough to be used clinically.

The purpose of this study was to develop a clinically valid and reliable assessment of speech reading ability, following Middlewerd and Plomp's (1987) …

Temperament And Language Development In First Grade Children, Loretta Marcia Kellogg

Dissertations and Theses

Many young children develop language over a broad range of ages yet present as having normal language development. When language development lags behind what is considered a normal time line, it is important to consider the various factors that may contribute to the delay in development. The purpose of the current study was to examine various aspects of temperament among three groups of children with varying language histories. The specific question to be answered was, do significant differences occur on parent and clinician questionnaires of temperament among three groups of first grade children demonstrating varying levels of language development: those …

Relationship Of Marital Types And Conflict Styles, Lynn Marie Stanek

Dissertations and Theses

Communication is an integral part of all relationships. The intent of this study was to discover if certain individual preferences for approaching conflict occur in a significant fashion between the partners of particular types of marriages. In addition, this study meant to better understand how conflict is perceived and responded to, in marriage and/or long term relationships. Fitzpatrick's (1977) Relational Dimensions Inventory (RDI), was used for this study to characterize three dimensions of marriage: interdependence, ideology, and conflict engagement/avoidance, resulting in the following marital types: Traditionals, Independents, Separates, and Mixed. Rahim's (1983) instrument, the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory (ROCI), was …

Reading Abilities And Phonological Skills Of Second Grade Children With Three Different Language Histories: Normal, Delayed, And Chronically Delayed, Candace Jane Murray

Dissertations and Theses

This study was part of the Portland Language Development Project, a longitudinal study of early expressive language delay. Its purpose was twofold. The first was to examine phonological and reading abilities in second grade children with a history of language delay. The second purpose was to examine the relationship between phonological processing abi1ities and reading skills in these children. Second grade children were assigned to one of three groups, based on their history and current Development Sentence Score (DSS) score: (a) normal language (NL), those with more than 50 words at 20-34 months and above the tenth percentile on the …