This study investigated the phonological awareness abilities of children who were typical and atypical. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether there were developmental differences in the phonological awareness abilities (i.e., syllable, onset/rime, phonemes) of the two groups of participants through a sound segmentation task. The participants were arranged into preschool, kindergarten, and first grade groups. Stimuli included one and two syllable words, which were originally used by Treiman and Zukowski (1991) when they investigated the sound segmentation abilities of typical children. As part of the sound segmentation task, participants were asked to listen to a pair of words and indicate if the one and two syllable words had any sounds in common, either at the phoneme, onset/rime, or syllable levels.An analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed and results revealed a significant difference between children who were typical and children that were specific language impaired (SLI) on segmenting. The children who were typical were more effective at segmenting than children who were SLI. Results also revealed that there was a significant different between the first grade children and the preschool children in both groups to segment words at all three conditions. Significant differences were also noted between the types of phonological task completed among participants. The phoneme task was significantly different than the onset/rime and syllable tasks. Also, the onset/rime task was significantly different that the phoneme and syllable task.The combined data from this study revealed developmental trends in phonological awareness for the typical population. However, the developmental trend was not observed in the SLI population. It was noted that the typical population was more efficient in segmentation of words than the SLI population.The data that were obtained provides additional information on the phonological awareness development in typical children and children with SLI. The data may also assist researchers and clinicians in the identification and treatment of children with language impairments. The results may also provide researchers and practitioners important insight into literacy development, given the strong correlation between sound segmentation and the ability to read and write. / Department of Special Education

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on November 26, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/05/12). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Missouri State University, 2008. / "May 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-57). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.85-100).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1928. / Vita. Published also as Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to education, no. 314. Bibliography: p. 59.

Thesis (master's)--Duquesne University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 32-33) and abstract.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-150).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 63-70).