To explore how children use dialect, and whether the dialectal language develops during growth might be of interest from a speech language pathologist’s point of view as the dialect could influence the child’s speech. Previous research is often based on older material and/or examines the speech of adults.  In the present study, everyday language in groups of south- eastern Swedish speaking children was investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine to what extent typically developed children of the ages of  5, 8 and 11 years use dialectal language. A further purpose was to discover which dialectal characteristics that were present in the different age groups, and how they differed. The children were video- and audiorecorded during group sessions in everyday settings. The collected material was transcribed according to principles of conversation analysis, and key portions were chosen for deeper analysis. The identified dialectal characteristics were diphthongal, distinctly open or closed vowels and regarding consonants retroflex flap [ɭ] and posterior /r/ were encountered. In prosody a final tonal raise in phrases was observed. Dialectal words and phrases and discourse markers were also documented.   The results of the present study showed that the children use dialectal language as early as by the age of 5, but that older children had a more distinguishable dialect. Throughout all age groups, the vowels were dialectally influenced. Most distinctive was a much closed /i/ with a diphthong, and characteristically open <ä> and <ö>. The characteristic final tonal raise in phrases was encountered in all age groups. Furthermore, a variation regarding dialectal use has been observed between children but also within the same child. Discourse markers were found primarily in the school-aged children, assumingly due to the increased desire of belonging to a group. The results of the present study may contribute to the ability to determine whether phonology, lexicon and/or grammar in a child is deviant or in fact reflected by the south-eastern Swedish characteristics. Also from a diagnostic perspective it might be of value to know when to expect hearing dialectal characteristics in the child’s speech.

<p>Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur en grupp typiskt utvecklade, svenska barn, i åldrarna fyra till tio år presterar på tre deltest i VMPAC, för att därmed skapa ett underlag för en referens för svenska barn i bedömningen av avvikande utveckling. Studiens frågeställningar är: 1. <em>Hur presterar en grupp typiskt utvecklade, svenska barn, i åldrarna fyra till tio år, på tre deltest i VMPAC (Focal Oromotor Control, Sequencing Maintenance Control och Connected Speech and Language Control)? </em>och 2. <em>Förekommer det några skillnader mellan en grupp typiskt utvecklade, svenska barn, jämfört med den amerikanska normeringen i VMPAC och barn med verbal dyspraxi (CAS) undersökta inom ramen för en magisteruppsats (Björelius-Hort, 2009)?</em> Oral- och talmotorisk förmåga hos 23 svenska barn i åldrarna fyra till tio år, som åldersmatchats mot barn med verbal dyspraxi (Björelius-Hort, 2009), testades med deltest två, tre och fyra ur VMPAC. Prövning av inter- och intrabedömarreliabiltet visade statistiskt signifikanta resultat, r =. 923 respektive r =. 913, med p <. 001 i båda fallen. Utifrån resultatet kan följande slutsatser dras: 1. att de studerade barnen, generellt presterade över 80 % på deltest två, tre och fyra i VMPAC, oavsett ålder, 2. att skillnaderna mellan den amerikanska normeringen i VMPAC och studiens deltagare är små och 3. att barnen med verbal dyspraxi generellt presterar sämre än den studerade gruppen på samtliga deltest.</p> / <p>The study investigates speech and oral motor skills in typically developed children at different ages. The results are intended to serve as a basis for future reference in the assessment of atypical development in Swedish children. The questions addressed within the study are: 1. <em>How does a group of typically developed, Swedish children, in the ages four to ten years, perform on three subtests in VMPAC (Focal Oromotor Control, Sequencing Maintenance Control and Connected Speech and Language Control)?</em> and 2. <em>Are there any differences in performance between a group of typically developed, Swedish children, and the American standardization in VMPAC and also with the children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) from the study by Björelius-Hort (2009)?</em> Speech and oral motor abilities were assessed using subtests two, three and four in VMPAC. The participants were 23 Swedish children, aged four to ten years old, who had been age-matched based on the children with CAS from the study by Björelius-Hort (2009). Inter- and intra-rater reliability showed statistically significant results, r =. 923 and r =. 913, with p <. 001, in both cases. From the results of the study the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. that the investigated group of children in general performed over 80 % on subtests two, three and four in VMPAC independent of age, 2. that the differences between the American standardization in VMPAC and the participants in this study were almost nonexistent and 3. that children with CAS in general performed poorer than the investigated group of children in all subtests.</p>

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur en grupp typiskt utvecklade, svenska barn, i åldrarna fyra till tio år presterar på tre deltest i VMPAC, för att därmed skapa ett underlag för en referens för svenska barn i bedömningen av avvikande utveckling. Studiens frågeställningar är: 1. Hur presterar en grupp typiskt utvecklade, svenska barn, i åldrarna fyra till tio år, på tre deltest i VMPAC (Focal Oromotor Control, Sequencing Maintenance Control och Connected Speech and Language Control)? och 2. Förekommer det några skillnader mellan en grupp typiskt utvecklade, svenska barn, jämfört med den amerikanska normeringen i VMPAC och barn med verbal dyspraxi (CAS) undersökta inom ramen för en magisteruppsats (Björelius-Hort, 2009)? Oral- och talmotorisk förmåga hos 23 svenska barn i åldrarna fyra till tio år, som åldersmatchats mot barn med verbal dyspraxi (Björelius-Hort, 2009), testades med deltest två, tre och fyra ur VMPAC. Prövning av inter- och intrabedömarreliabiltet visade statistiskt signifikanta resultat, r =. 923 respektive r =. 913, med p &lt;. 001 i båda fallen. Utifrån resultatet kan följande slutsatser dras: 1. att de studerade barnen, generellt presterade över 80 % på deltest två, tre och fyra i VMPAC, oavsett ålder, 2. att skillnaderna mellan den amerikanska normeringen i VMPAC och studiens deltagare är små och 3. att barnen med verbal dyspraxi generellt presterar sämre än den studerade gruppen på samtliga deltest. / The study investigates speech and oral motor skills in typically developed children at different ages. The results are intended to serve as a basis for future reference in the assessment of atypical development in Swedish children. The questions addressed within the study are: 1. How does a group of typically developed, Swedish children, in the ages four to ten years, perform on three subtests in VMPAC (Focal Oromotor Control, Sequencing Maintenance Control and Connected Speech and Language Control)? and 2. Are there any differences in performance between a group of typically developed, Swedish children, and the American standardization in VMPAC and also with the children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) from the study by Björelius-Hort (2009)? Speech and oral motor abilities were assessed using subtests two, three and four in VMPAC. The participants were 23 Swedish children, aged four to ten years old, who had been age-matched based on the children with CAS from the study by Björelius-Hort (2009). Inter- and intra-rater reliability showed statistically significant results, r =. 923 and r =. 913, with p &lt;. 001, in both cases. From the results of the study the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. that the investigated group of children in general performed over 80 % on subtests two, three and four in VMPAC independent of age, 2. that the differences between the American standardization in VMPAC and the participants in this study were almost nonexistent and 3. that children with CAS in general performed poorer than the investigated group of children in all subtests.