Abstract
For Nearly Twenty Years (Beresford & Grady, 1968; Fry, 1968; Haas, 1968), There Have Appeared In This Journal Research Papers, Discussion Articles And Book Reviews Which Have Sought To Indicate The Clinical Importance Of The Linguistic Distinction Between Phonetics And Phonology. It Has To Be Acknowledged That The Emphasis On The Possibility And Necessity Of Such A Distinction Has Frequently Led To Rather Simplistic, Overly Dichotomous Explanations Of Its Nature (Grunwell, 1982a: 14). This Striving For Simplicity Is To Some Extent Understandable When One Takes Into Account The Circumstances Behind Its Introduction. Firstly, The Concept Of Phonology Was Apparently Entirely New To Speech Pathology, Where In The Late 1960s And Early 70s The Only Current Terms Were “Articulation Disorder” And “Misarticulations”, Indicating A Conceptualisation Of “Speech Disorders” Restricted To The Phonetic Level. Secondly, The Introduction Of Phonological Concepts Into The Speech Pathology Literature And Speech Therapy Training In The Late 60s Inevitably Set In Train The Linguistics Revolution Which Began In Earnest About Five Years Later (Crystal, 1972; Hmso, 1972). A Radical Revision Of The Descriptive And Diagnostic Terminology And A Fundamental Redesign Of The Educational Curriculum Ensued. This Presented The Clinician And The Student With Many New Complexities To Consider In Theory And Practice. Added To Which, The Study And Application Of Linguistics Entails Choice Between Apparently Competing Theories And Descriptive Frameworks. It Is Therefore Perhaps Not Surprising That Some Of The More Complex Aspects Of The Relationship Between Phonetics And Phonology Have Not Been Fully Explored During This “Foundation Period”.