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Characterizing Speech Sound Productions in Bilingual Speakers of Jamaican Creole and English: Application of Acoustic Duration Methods

León, Michelle
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7785-6902
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1659534138033017

Abstract Details

2022, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Allied Health Sciences: Communication Sciences and Disorders.
In most of the world, bilingualism is the norm, with cultural and linguistic minority groups steadily increasing in countries such as the United States. A growing population within this bilingual group is the Jamaican population. Consequently, a growth in bilingual populations increases the likelihood of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) having bilingual children on their caseloads. Despite this growing possibility, bilingual children continue to be at risk for misdiagnosis of communication disorders, especially in the English (or mainstream language) setting. This risk for misdiagnosis necessitates an urgent improvement in understanding speech features that can be used for diagnostic and treatment purposes in bilingual populations. This dissertation addresses this need for improved bilingual speech assessment through a series of four studies, highlighting culturally responsive and innovative approaches for characterizing the speech features of Jamaican preschoolers. Study one considered the use of a screening tool for measuring their functional speech intelligibility, providing evidence of the clinical utility of this tool. Study two compared the appropriateness of two protocols for characterizing their speech productions. Bilingual adult participants from similar linguistic communities were included to inform typical speech patterns of this community. The culturally adapted protocol captured a greater variety of responses from the children and thus was more representative of the children’s speech abilities. Additionally, the duration of adult speech acoustic duration features was typically shorter than the children. In accordance with the findings from study two, study three examined the speech acoustic features using the culturally adapted protocol. The findings demonstrated some differences between child and adult acoustic duration characteristics, particularly in voice onset time (VOT) in JC and English. Furthermore, minimal differences were found in the children’s durational patterns when compared between Jamaican Creole (JC) and English. Lastly, the relationship between children’s durational patterns and contextual factors (i.e., age, sex, percentage of language exposure and use) were evaluated. The percentage of language use was a predictor of the children’s vowel and whole word duration in English. Study four continued the characterization of speech acoustic patterns of two groups of four-year-old Jamaican bilingual preschoolers. The preschoolers were grouped as typically developing (TD) or suspected of presenting with speech sound disorder (sSSD). The speech patterns of duration were mostly similar between the two groups; however, the typically developing group produced VOT with greater variation than the sSSD group. This study also investigated the relationship between the groups’ speech patterns and their contextual factors and found the percentage of exposure to JC be a significant predictor of the proportion of vowel to whole word duration for the children in the sSSD group. The findings from this dissertation contribute to SLPs’ and researchers’ improved understanding of speech patterns in bilingual children. The related studies identified culturally responsive approaches that can be clinically applied in the speech assessment of bilingual children. Potential developmental speech patterns were identified that can broaden the theoretical understanding of bilingual development and have implications for improving speech diagnostic assessment and contribute to the development of normative data in an understudied bilingual population.
Karla Washington, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Suzanne Boyce, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Lesley Raisor, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kristina Fritz, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Victoria McKenna, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kathryn Crowe, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
271 p.
Bilingual Education
cultural and linguistic minority groups; bilingual; preschoolers; Jamaican Creole; speech; acoustic duration

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • León, M. (2022). Characterizing Speech Sound Productions in Bilingual Speakers of Jamaican Creole and English: Application of Acoustic Duration Methods [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1659534138033017

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • León, Michelle. Characterizing Speech Sound Productions in Bilingual Speakers of Jamaican Creole and English: Application of Acoustic Duration Methods. 2022. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1659534138033017.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • León, Michelle. "Characterizing Speech Sound Productions in Bilingual Speakers of Jamaican Creole and English: Application of Acoustic Duration Methods." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1659534138033017

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1659534138033017
48
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.