Las etapas tardías de la adquisición fonológica: procesos de reducción de grupos consonánticos

Research on child phonology tends to adopt formal models from linguistics, and to concentrate on the early stages. The present stzldy is an attempt to establish the later stages in the development of phonology, and to explain them from a psychological and pragmatic perspective based on the paradigm of phonological processes. We considered both phonematic and phonotactic processes, but we focused on consonant cluster reduction as the process that is most representative of late phonology. Spontaneous speech samples were recorded from 240 Spanish-speaking children (120 girls/l20 boys) divided into six age groups ranging from 3;O to 5;11 years. We obtained a large corpus of errors and codified them in terms of the corresponding processes. The results show a significant age-related decrease in the frequency of the processes. Three stages can be observed in the acquisition of phonology during the period studied: expansion, stabilization and resolution. Age four is a decisive milestone in the acquisition of phonology, as previous research in several languages has repeatedly pointed out. Our data strongly support universal trends in the acquisition of phonology, although it is accornplished through different individual paths. Analysis of the mechanisms underlying phonological processes provides a tentative explanation of phonological development in the context of emergent knowledge. Implications for articulation versus knowledgebased intervention in speech disorders are also discussed.La investigación de la fonología infantil tiende a basarse en modelos formules de la lingüística y a concentrarse en las etapas más tempranas. Este estudio constituye un intento de establecer las etapas tardías del desarrollo fonológico y de explicarlas desde un enfoque psicolbgico y pragmático basado en el paradigma de los procesos fonológicos. Consideramostanto los procesos de tipo fonemático, como los fonotácticos,aunque nos centramos en los de reducción de grupos consonánticos por ser los más característicos de la fonología tardía. Recogimos muestras de habla espontánea de 240 niños hablantes de castellano (120 niñas/120 niños) divididos en seis grupos de edades entre 3;O y 5;11 años. Obtuvimos un amplio corpus de errores y los codificamos en términos de los procesos correspondientes. Los resultados muesban un decremento significatio en la frecuencia de los procesos relacionado con la edad. Se pueden observar tres etapas en la adquisición de la fonología durante el periodo estudiado:etapa de expansión, etapa de estabilización y etapa de resolución. La edad de cuatro años es un hito decisivo en la adquisición fonológica, como repetidamente han puesto de manifiesto numerosos estudios en distintas lenguas. Nuestros datos repejan claramente tendencias universales en la adquisición de la fonologia, aunque cada sujeto la realiza por caminos diferentes. El análisis de los mecanismos que subyacen a los procesos,fonológicos nos proporciona una explicación tentativa del desarrollo fonológico en el contexto del conocimiento emergente. También se plantean las implicaciones para la intervención logopédica en los trastornos del habla en relación con la opción entre enfoques basados en la articulación y enfoques basados en el conocimiento

Procesos de asimilación en las etapas tardías del desarrollo fonológico

Este artículo presenta una investigación de los procesos fonológicos tardíos de asimilación en el lenguaje infantil con el objeto de determinar las posibles etapas en su evolución y las variaciones en su frecuencia relativa en función de la dirección (progresiva vs regresiva), la distancia (contigua vs no contigua) y el tipo de fonemas implicados en las asimilaciones (consonantes vs vocales). El corpus analizado procede de 240 niños entre tres y seis años y las muestras de habla se obtuvieron en situaciones naturales de conversación espontánea y fueron transcritas y analizadas con los instrumentos del Proyecto CHILDES. Los resultados permiten delinear un perfil evolutivo en tres etapas que reflejan la dinámica general del desarrollo fonológico tardío. En torno a los cuatro años se produce una reorganización del sistema fonológico y los procesos de asimilación menos frecuentes (progresivos, contiguos y entre vocales) muestran una tendencia más temprana de resolución. Los procesos más frecuentes (regresivos, no contiguos y entre consonantes) tienden a persistir como errores de procesamiento en la transición al habla adulta. Los datos hallados confirman la complejidad funcional de los procesos tardíos de asimilación y la necesidad de tenerla en cuenta para planificar la intervención clínica

Procesos de asimilación en las etapas tardías del desarrollo fonológico

Assimilation processes in the late stages of phonological development. This article reports a research on late phonological assimilation processes in child language in order to determine the possible stages in their evolution and the variations in relative frequency as a function of directionality (progressive vs. regressive), distance (contiguous vs. non-contiguous), and type of phonemes involved in assimilations (consonants vs. vowels). The corpus analyzed was collected from 240 children ranging in age between three and six years old. The speech samples were obtained in naturalistic settings of spontaneous conversation with the researchers, and were transcribed and analyzed with the tools provided by the CHILDES Project. Results describe a profile with three stages, reflecting the general dynamics of phonological development. Around the age of four, a general reorganization of the phonological system takes place, and the least frequent assimilation processes (progressive, contiguous and intervocalic) tend to disappear earlier. The most frequent assimilation processes (regressive, non-contiguous and inter-consonant) tend to persist as processing errors in the transition to adult speech. These findings show the functional complexity of late assimilation processes, as well as the need for taking it into account when planning clinical intervention.Este artículo presenta una investigación de los procesos fonológicos tardíos de asimilación en el lenguaje infantil con el objeto de determinar las posibles etapas en su evolución y las variaciones en su frecuencia relativa en función de la dirección (progresiva vs regresiva), la distancia (contigua vs no contigua) y el tipo de fonemas implicados en las asimilaciones (consonantes vs vocales). El corpus analizado procede de 240 niños entre tres y seis años y las muestras de habla se obtuvieron en situaciones naturales de conversación espontánea y fueron transcritas y analizadas con los instrumentos del Proyecto CHILDES. Los resultados permiten delinear un perfil evolutivo en tres etapas que reflejan la dinámica general del desarrollo fonológico tardío. En torno a los cuatro años se produce una reorganización del sistema fonológico y los procesos de asimilación menos frecuentes (progresivos, contiguos y entre vocales) muestran una tendencia más temprana de resolución. Los procesos más frecuentes (regresivos, no contiguos y entre consonantes) tienden a persistir como errores de procesamiento en la transición al habla adulta. Los datos hallados confirman la complejidad funcional de los procesos tardíos de asimilación y la necesidad de tenerla en cuenta para planificar la intervención clínica

Profiles of grammatical morphology in Spanish-speaking adolescents with Williams syndrome

This chapter presents a comparative perspective on the morphological profiles of Williams Syndrome (WS) and Down Syndrome (DS). The initial research described these neurodevelopmental disorders as cases of specific preservation and delay of grammar, respectively, whereas later approaches have challenged such assumptions. The present study aimed to contribute to this discussion with data from 18 Spanish-speaking adolescents in three groups (WS, DS and typical development). Spontaneous speech was analysed with the tools of the CHILDES Project, transcribing and coding the parts of speech and morphological errors. While errors are less frequent in WS than in DS, their type and distribution remain atypical in both syndromes which points towards differential trajectories of language development.This research was supported by grant FFI2012-39325-C03-03 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) to the SYNDROLING Project

Vibrating vaginal balls to improve pelvic floor muscle performance in women after childbirth: a protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial

AIM: This paper presents a feasibility trial protocol the purpose of which is to prepare for a future randomised controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of vibrating vaginal pelvic floor training balls for postpartum pelvic floor muscle rehabilitation. BACKGROUND: Vibrating vaginal pelvic floor training balls are available in Austria to enhance women's pelvic floor muscles and thus prevent or treat urinary incontinence and other pelvic floor problems following childbirth. Nonetheless, there is currently little empirical knowledge to substantiate their use or assess their relative effectiveness in comparison to current standard care, which involves pelvic floor muscle exercises. DESIGN: Single blind, randomised controlled feasibility trial with two parallel groups. METHODS: It is planned to recruit 56 postpartum women in Vienna, who will be randomised into one of two intervention groups to use either vibrating vaginal balls or a comparator pelvic floor muscle exercises for 12 weeks. As this is a feasibility study, study design features (recruitment, selection, randomisation, intervention concordance, data collection methods and tools) will be assessed and participants' views and experiences will be surveyed. Tested outcome measures, collected before and after the intervention, will be pelvic floor muscle performance as reported by participants and measured by perineometry. Descriptive and inferential statistics and content analysis will serve the preparation of the future trial. DISCUSSION: The results of this feasibility trial will inform the design and conduct of a full randomised controlled trial and provide insight into the experiences of women regarding the interventions and study participation

Women’s pelvic floor muscle strength and urinary and anal incontinence after childbirth: a cross-sectional study

Abstract OBJECTIVE To analyse pelvic floor muscle strength (PFMS) and urinary and anal incontinence (UI and AI) in the postpartum period. METHOD Cross-sectional study carried out with women in their first seven months after child birth. Data were collected through interviews, perineometry (Peritron™), and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF). RESULTS 128 women participated in the study. The PFMS mean was 33.1 (SD=16.0) cmH2O and the prevalence of UI and AI was 7.8% and 5.5%, respectively. In the multiple analyses, the variables associated with PFMS were type of birth and cohabitation with a partner. Newborn’s weight, previous pregnancy, UI during pregnancy, and sexual activity showed an association with UI after child birth. Only AI prior to pregnancy was associated with AI after childbirth. CONCLUSION Vaginal birth predisposes to the reduction of PFMS, and caesarean section had a protective effect to its reduction. The occurrence of UI during pregnancy is a predictor of UI after childbirth, and women with previous pregnancies and newborns with higher weights are more likely to have UI after childbirth.AI prior to pregnancy is the only risk factor for its occurrence after childbirth. Associations between PFMS and cohabitation with a partner, and between UI and sexual activity do not make possible to conclude that these variables are directly associated

Narrative competence in Spanish-speaking adults with Williams syndrome

Background: Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder associated with intellectual disability and characterised by displaying an atypical neuropsychological profile, with peaks and valleys, where language skills seem better preserved than non-verbal intelligence. Method: This study researches the narrative competence of nine Spanish-speaking adults with WS. Oral narratives were elicited from a silent film, and narrative coherence was analysed as a function of sequential order of the events narrated at three structure levels, while narrative cohesion was assessed through the frequency of use and type of discourse markers. Results: WS subjects were able to remember a significant proportion of the events from the film, but coherence of narratives, i.e., sequential order of events, was more impaired. Consistently with their linguistic abilities, cohesion of narratives was better preserved, as they used discourse markers to introduce a high proportion of events. Conclusions: Construction of mental models of the narratives may be constrained in WS by non-verbal cognitive abilities, but narrative competence is also determined by textual pragmatic abilities to organize discourse, which should be addressed by specific intervention in narrative competence.Competencia narrativa en adultos hablantes de español con síndrome de Williams. Antecedentes: el síndrome de Williams (SW) es un trastorno genético asociado con discapacidad intelectual, que presenta un perfil neuropsicológico atípico, con picos y valles, donde las habilidades lingüísticas parecen mejor preservadas que la inteligencia no-verbal. Método: se investiga la competencia narrativa de un grupo de nueve adultos castellanohablantes con SW. Se elicitaron narraciones orales a partir de una película muda y se evaluó su coherencia narrativa en función del orden secuencial de los eventos narrados en tres niveles estructurales, así como la cohesión narrativa en función de la frecuencia y tipo de marcadores discursivos. Resultados: los sujetos con SW recordaban una alta proporción de los eventos de la película, pero la coherencia de las narraciones, i.e. el orden secuencial de los eventos, aparecía más alterada. En consonancia con sus habilidades lingüísticas, la cohesión de las narraciones aparecía mejor preservada ya que usaban marcadores discursivos para introducir muchos de los eventos. Conclusiones: la construcción de modelos mentales de las narraciones puede verse limitada en el SW por las habilidades cognitivas no-verbales, pero la competencia narrativa también está determinada por las habilidades pragmáticas textuales para organizar el discurso, que podrían abordarse mediante la intervención específica en la competencia narrativa

La metodología Retamhe y el Proyecto Childes: breviario para la codificación y análisis del lenguaje infantil

RETAMHE methodology and the CHILDES project with a focus on minimal standards to codify and analyze child language. This paper investigates some methodological issues concerning research in the field of child language and introduces a set of instruments and software developed in the context of the CHILDES (Child Language Data Exchange System) Project. The RETAHME system provides powerful tools for recording, transcribing, and analyzing spontaneous speech samples. Information about the use of the coding system (CHAT) for making distinctions in the transcription process is provided together with the minimum set of standards (minCHAT) to create CHAT files. The CLAN computer programs are used to analyze files containing transcriptions of speech samples for frequency counts, word searches, interactional analyses, etc. The core set of CLAN commands and options constitute the minCLAN system. The first steps in learning to use the CHILDES tools are also explained.En este artículo se investigan algunas cuestiones metodológicas relativas al estudio del lenguaje infantil y se presenta la instrumentación y el software desarrollados en el proyecto CHILDES (Sistema de Intercambio de Datos del Lenguaje Infantil). El sistema proporciona potentes herramientas para investigar en el marco de la metodología de Registro, Transcripción y Análisis de Muestras de Habla Espontánea (RETAMHE). Se proporciona información del sistema de codificación (CHAT) que permite introducir finas distinciones en el proceso de transcripción, al tiempo que se exponen los requerimientos básicos (minCHAT) para crear archivos CHAT. El paquete de programas (CLAN) específicamente diseñados para analizar esos archivos que contienen transcripciones de muestras de habla, incluye recuentos de frecuencias, búsqueda de palabras, análisis de la interacción, etc. El núcleo de comandos y opciones de CLAN constituye el sistema minCLAN, del que se ofrecen algunas pautas. Se trata con todo ello de facilitar los primeros pasos para aprender a usar los instrumentos metodológicos de CHILDES

Editorial: New trends in typical and atypical language acquisition

[eng] This Research Topic presents a selection of contributions linked to the IX AEAL International Congress on Language Acquisition. The Association for the Study of Language Acquisition (AEAL; https://aeal.eu) promotes research on language acquisition and development in both, monolingual and multilingual contexts, with a particular focus on Spanish, Basque, Catalan and Galician, as well as the relationships between language and psychological, social, educational and biological processes. The triennial AEAL Congress has reached its 10th edition since 1995, and it has become one of the most relevant international scientific events in the field of language acquisition, bringing together experts in diverse areas, including grammar, lexicon, discourse analysis, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, and language teaching and education. A substantial body of research on language acquisition from these broad and interdisciplinary perspectives has been published in previous AEAL conference volumes (Pérez-Pereira, 1996; Mayor et al., 2005; Diez-Itza, 2008; Aguilar-Mediavilla et al., 2019). The 18 articles included in this Research Topic provide an updated contribution to this research area, fostering and giving continuity to the dissemination and open discussion of new trends in the study of typical and atypical acquisition, as promoted by AEAL. They address the key topics covered in the AEAL Congress on Language Acquisition, including studies on phonological, morphosyntactic, and lexical-semantic levels, the development of discourse and pragmatics, literacy acquisition and development, language acquisition in bilingual and multilingual contexts, assessment and intervention in developmental language disorders, language learning and teaching, and new methodological approaches. Accordingly, this Research Topic offers an integrated view of theoretical, methodological and applied issues from multilingual and multidisciplinary perspectives. It includes review articles, brief research reports and original research articles employing experimental, cross-sectional and longitudinal designs that cover a wide range of crucial issues in the field. The studies examine language acquisition among native speakers of various languages and dialects (i.e., Chilean, Colombian, Mexican and Peninsular Spanish; Basque; Catalan; Italian; English); in both monolingual and bilingual participants, across different age groups (infants, children, adolescents, and adults), and in both typical and atypical development (e.g., Developmental Language Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder; Williams and Down Syndromes, Hearing Impairment). A variety of research methods and assessment tools for spontaneous and elicited oral and written language are employed, including those from the CHILDES Project (MacWhinney, 2000), PROESC (Cuetos-Vega et al., 2002), PREP-CORP (Diez-Itza et al., 2022), PDP-PI (Junquera and Zubiauz, this volume), MacArthur Bates CDI (Fenson et al., 2007), SSRT Repetition Task (Bravo et al., this volume), The Pragmatics profile (Dewart and Summers, 1995), and MUAQ (Aparici et al., this volume). Additionally, instruments such as eyetracking, the preferential-looking paradigm, multimodal input in foreign language teaching or technology-assisted intervention in neurodevelopmental disorders can also be found