Initial consonant deletion in bilingual Spanish–English-speaking children with speech sound disorders

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to utilize a theoretical model of bilingual speech sound production as a framework for analyzing the speech of bilingual children with speech sound disorders. In order to distinguish speech difference from speech disorder, we examined between-language interaction on initial consonant deletion, an error pattern found cross-linguistically in the speech of children with speech sound disorders. Thirteen monolingual English-speaking and bilingual Spanish-and English-speaking preschoolers with speech sound disorders were audio-recorded during a single word picture-naming task and their recordings were phonetically transcribed. Initial consonant deletion errors were examined both quantitatively and qualitatively. An analysis of cross-linguistic effects and an analysis of phonemic complexity were performed. Monolingual English-speaking children exhibited initial consonant deletion at a significantly lower rate than bilingual children in their Spanish productions; however, no other quantitative differences were found across groups or languages. Qualitative differences yielded between-language interaction in the error patterns of bilingual children. Phonemic complexity appeared to play a role in initial consonant deletion. Evidence from the speech of bilingual children with speech sound disorders supports analysing bilingual speech using a cross-linguistic framework. Both theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingualism
• disorder
• phonology
• Spanish

Acknowledgments

The authors of this study would like to thank the children and families who participated in this study. We would like to acknowledge funding for this project through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (1R21HD081382-01A1, Leah Fabiano-Smith, P.I.) that funded data collection in Tucson, Arizona. The first author would like to thank the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Health Disparities Loan Repayment Program (L60-MD006256) who supported her during the length of this project and The University of Arizona Foundation and the Office of the Vice President for Research, Graduate Studies, and Economic Development Faculty Seed Grant Program for awarding her funding for data collection in Tucson, Arizona. Finally, we thank Dr. Yvan Rose and Dr. Jessica Barlow for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.