The purpose of the current study was to develop and administer a Spanish static and dynamic assessment of decoding and other important reading measures. Using the best available resources regarding Spanish literacy acquisition and Spanish language development, a preliminary Spanish dynamic and static screener was developed. The resulting test was named the Spanish Dynamic Decoding Measure (S-DDM) and is a counterpart to the original DDM available in English. This test contains three subtests: decoding, phonemic awareness, and word identification. The S-DDM was administered to eight bilingual Spanish-English speaking students with varying levels of Spanish language ability and reading proficiency in grades ranging from second to fourth grade. The results from all three subtests of the S-DDM were analyzed to report the levels of validity, reliability, and variance observed in the administration of the test and performance of the participants. There was a wide range of performance on the pretest sections of the dynamic assessment decoding subtest, and performance at or near ceiling on the posttest sounds sections. Modifiability scores were strong for the students who were not receiving special education services while the two participants receiving special education both received weaker modifiability ratings. There was a wide range of variance observed on all subtests of both the phonemic awareness and word identification subtests, with the exception of the phoneme blending target of the phonemic awareness subtest. Interrater reliability and administration fidelity were found to be within acceptable measures. Results indicated that the test is sensitive to varying degrees of Spanish reading proficiency and reading ability. Future research is needed to determine the effectiveness of this screener in identifying Spanish-speaking students who are at-risk for reading difficulties.

Electropalatography (EPG) is a computer-based tracking system designed to provide real-time visual biofeedback of articulatory contacts occurring during speech production. Historically, EPG technology has proven functional within the treatment and assessment of speech disorders however, application of EPG technology to assist in second language learning has remained limited. The present thesis is part of a larger study examining the effectiveness of using EPG as an advanced instructional tool for assisting second language (L2) learners of German. Fricative productions ([ç], [x], /s/, and /∫/) within real words were gathered from 12 native English speakers enrolled in a second semester university level course to learn German. Speech productions from student participants were compared against native German speakers' productions collected in a previous study, using electrode mappings, percentages of regional contact, and center of gravity measures. These measures revealed different patterns of palatal contact between fricative sounds, between individual subjects, and cross-linguistically. Fricative sound mappings varied visually as speakers generally produced [ç] and [x] with significantly less palatal contact than when producing /s/ and /∫/. Variation across individual subjects was identified as some produced sounds with nearly no posterior palatal contact while others produced sounds asymmetrically or with decreased overall contact. Cross-linguistic differences were apparent as non-native German speakers frequently contacted greater numbers of electrodes with greater force, compared to the natives. It is anticipated that the information included in this thesis will provide insights into the role of EPG technology as an instructional tool for L2 learners.

This study examined changes in speech production when distracting background audio is present. Forty typically speaking adults completed a repetitive sentence reading task in the presence of 5 different audio conditions (pink noise, movie dialogue, heated debate, classical music, and contemporary music) and a silent condition. Acoustic parameters measured during the study included vowel space area (VSA), vowel articulation index (VAI), formant transition extent, formant transition rate, and diphthong duration for /ɑɪ/ and /ɑʊ/. It was hypothesized that there would be significant increases in vowel space area and vowel articulation index as well as an increase in formant transition measures in the presence of background noise. There were statistically significant decreases in vowel space are and vowel articulation index in the presence of all noise conditions compared to the silent baseline condition. Results also demonstrated a significant decrease in F2 transition extent for both /ɑɪ/, and /ɑʊ/ diphthongs in all noise conditions except the pink noise condition when compared to the silent condition. These findings were contrary to what was originally hypothesized. It is possible that VAI and VSA decreased in the presence of background noise due to an increase in speaking rate. Formant transition measurements were consistent with the VAI and VSA results. More research is needed to accurately determine the acoustic changes a speaker makes in response to distracting background audio.

The present study was designed to determine whether differences exist between frontal tongue thrusters and normal swallowers on tasks or oral stereognosis and two-point discrimination.

A prevalent feature of typical spontaneous speech are speech pauses. Longer speech pauses, known as cognitive pauses, occur in typical speech and are indicative of higher-level cognitive processes. Atypical cognitive pauses, however, are prevalent in the speech of people with aphasia consequent to their communication disorder. Research has shown that these atypical pauses may contribute to negative listener perceptions. This study aimed to determine the influence of atypical speech pause on listener perceptions of communicative effectiveness and speaker likeability. Specifically, this study evaluated the relationship between listener ratings of communicative effectiveness and likeability and acoustic measures of between-utterance pause duration, within-utterance pause duration, and the location of within-utterance pauses. This study also examined the relationship between listener ratings of communicative effectiveness and likeability. Target stimuli included 30-second samples of speech from two individuals with mild aphasia and four with moderate aphasia. Using a visual analog scale, 40 adult listeners listened to these speech samples and rated each sample according to the speaker's communicative effectiveness and likeability. Overall, listeners were not as sensitive to between-utterance pauses. While listeners were more sensitive to within-utterance pauses greater than one second, they were similarly impacted by within-utterance pauses between 250-999 milliseconds. Listeners were also more affected by pauses at the beginning of an utterance than at the end of an utterance. Results also demonstrated a strong positive correlation between listener ratings of communicative effectiveness and likeability. In general, results suggest that the location and length of pauses in the speech of people with aphasia have an impact on listeners' perceptions. In combination with future research, the results of this study will provide a deeper understanding of the impact of cognitive pause in people with aphasia, thus improving future clinical assessment and treatment of aphasia.

The purpose of the current study was to gain a better understanding of speech adaptation by examining kinematic and acoustic adaptation to bite block perturbation over time. Fifteen native American English speakers (7 female, 8 male) with no history of speech, language, or hearing deficits participated in the study. Custom bite blocks were created for speakers which created a 10mm interincisal gap when inserted. Speakers produced five repetitions of the sentence, I say ahraw /ərɑ/ (as part of a larger set) prior to bite block insertion, immediately following bite block insertion, 2-mintues post insertion, 4-minutes post insertion, 6-minutes post insertion, and immediately following bite block removal. Participants’ speech was audio-recorded, and their lingual articulatory movements were measured with a Northern Digital Instruments Wave electromagnetic articulograph. The VC syllable /ɑɪs/ was analyzed kinematically from the midpoint of the /ɑɪ/ diphthong through production of /s/ using a custom Matlab application. Kinematic data were obtained via sensor coils placed in the tongue back, tongue mid, tongue front, jaw, lower lip and upper lip. Measures of displacement (mm), maximum velocity (mm/sec), and jaw contribution to the tongue and lower lip (mm) were taken during each recording. Spectral mean (Hz), standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis were calculated for the central 50% of each /s/ production using acoustic analysis software. Kinematic analysis revealed no significant change in tongue measures upon bite block insertion or during the 6-minute adaptation period. In contrast, significant acoustic changes were observed upon bite block insertion and during the following 6 minutes, demonstrating adaptation over time. The changes observed in acoustic measures may have been a result of tongue shape changes and subsequent adaptations that were not detected via kinematic analysis. Future studies may provide further insight into the tongue’s ability to compensate for bite block perturbation by examining the relationship between mandibular positioning and tongue shape.

The present investigation was undertaken to collect normative data on a teenage population and a young adult population in order to assess tongue sensitivity regarding the identification of various geometric shapes. The research, was conducted to answer the following questions: 1. Is there a significant difference between a teenage group and a young adult group regarding lingual discrimination? 2. What is the range and variability between and within the two groups? 3. Is the teenage group significantly better than the elementary school age group previously tested by Weiss (1973b)? There were 50 normal-speaking subjects in the teenage group ranging in age from 13 through 15 years, and 50 normal-speaking young adults ranging in age from 22 through 26 years. The subjects in the teenage group were volunteers from the public schools of Portland, Oregon, and Camas, Washington. The adults were from the same areas and were either employed in responsible jobs or were enrolled in graduate study programs. All subjects were administered a passive and an active test of lingual discrimination. Each test included 24 identifications of plexiglass geometric shapes. Selection of the shapes were made by the subject pointing to his choice on a response sheet, after the geometric shape had been removed from his mouth. The results were analyzed statistically to assess mean, range, and variability within and between the groups. A t-test was used to determine a significance of differences. The questions posed by this investigator were answered in the following manner: There was no significant difference in performance between a teenage group and a young adult group regarding lingual discrimination. This would appear to contraindicate the belief by some authorities (McDonald and Aungst, 1967) that lingual discrimination abilities continue to improve until the mid-teens. In discussing the results between the groups, the means of the active scores for both age groups were significantly greater than those achieved on the passive test. The variability on the passive test was significantly greater (p > .05) for the teenage group than for the adult group. The adults tended to be more variable on the active test. This would tend to indicate that both age groups were receiving more discriminative cues on the active test than on the passive test. 2. In comparing the teenage group to a group of 8 year-oIds previously tested by Weiss (1973b), it was found that the older group performed significantly better. These findings held true for both passive and active tests. This finding is not surprising in that one would expect maturation in this discrimination task over time as a result of human development.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that a dispensing program utilizing rehabilitative follow-up in the form of a post-fitting check appointment would show: (1) less return for repairs for hearing aids; (2) higher patient satisfaction with the aid; and (3) higher patient satisfaction with the service received during the hearing aid dispense than would a clinic with no follow-up. Data for comparison between the two clinics were drawn from medical chart review, frequency of hearing aid repairs, and from a questionnaire which assessed satisfaction levels. Patients were also asked to estimate the amount of use with the aid and success with manipulation of the aid for purposes of comparison with other groups previously studied.

The purpose of this study was to compare the frequency of occurrence of specific speech disfluencies in 4-year-old Alaska Native children to those of 4-year-old Caucasian children. Specifically, eight disfluency types were investigated: part-word repetition, word repetition, phrase repetition, interjection, revision-incomplete phrase, disrhythmic phonation, tense pause, and intrusive schwa. The questions addressed in the study were: 1. Do 4-year-old Alaska Native children exhibit a higher frequency of disfluencies than 4-year-old Caucasian children? 2. Do 4-year-old Alaska Native children exhibit a greater frequency of specific disfluencies, in terms of part-word repetition, word repetition, phrase repetition, interjection, revision-incomplete phrase, disrhythmic phonation, tense pause, or intrusive schwa than 4-year-old Caucasian children? 3. Do 4-year-old Alaska Native and Caucasian children exhibit a higher frequency of low risk disfluency types (word repetition, phrase repetition, interjection, and revision-incomplete phrase) when compared to high risk disfluency types (part-word repetition, disrhythmic phonation, tense pause, and intrusive schwa)?

In recent years, operant conditioning techniques have been effectively used to modify a variety of behaviors. For the most part, the modification of stuttering behavior has relied solely on the use of punishment. The shaping of "fluency” through differential reinforcement has been reported as a behavioral approach for the treatment of stuttering; however, the effectiveness of this technique in combination with other "teaching" tools, such as, modeling, instruction, and explanation has not been reported in the literature. The purpose of this study was to construct behavioral definitions of terminology utilized in a stuttering treatment program at Portland State University to produce "self-monitored normal, fluent speech" and to structure the procedures of this program with regard to baseline, conditioning, and extinction in order to provide a base for further research leading to the standardization of procedures for this program. A 35 year old male was chosen as the subject for this study. Specific procedures were applied in three baseline sessions in order to determine the base operant level of interference responses and positive and negative language responses in reading, monologue, and dialogue settings. The emission of interference and language responses were tracked throughout the conditioning and follow-up phases of the program by (I) random sample analysis of audio tapes by the experimenter and (2) a complete analysis of video-tapes by the experimenter and six student trackers. The response goals of the conditioning phase included four progressive stages of motor response ("stretch and flow, "increased breathiness-reduced stretch," "reduced breathiness," and "normal, fluent speech") in addition to a repertoire of positive language responses. The self-monitoring of these responses was conditioned by using differential reinforcement supported by modeling, instruction, and explanation of responses. Throughout the conditioning phase, varying schedules and magnitudes of different reinforcements were utilized to strengthen the subject's monitoring of the above responses in increasing intensities of environmental stimuli. An examiner, other than the experimenter, administered the procedures for a follow-up baseline four weeks after the conditioning phase in order to determine the base operant level of interference responses and positive and negative language responses in reading, monologue, and dialogue settings after the removal of reinforcement in the clinic. The results of the data obtained from the baseline and follow up phases of the program revealed a reduction from 11.7 to 0.86 in the total number of interference responses per minute emitted by the subject and an increase from 29 to 83 percent of positive language responses. These results suggest the effectiveness of the procedures in this program for establishing “self-monitored normal, fluent speech" behavior.