The Effect of Phonological Processes on the Intelligibility of Speech

Abstract

The goal of treatment for individuals with phonological impairment is to reduce as quickly as possible those errors which are most distracting to the listener. Such errors would by necessity be those creating the most unintelligibility. With the advent of phonological processes, numerous authors have proposed guidelines for selecting and sequencing of target processes. Unfortunately, none of the current guidelines is based upon data which considers intelligibility. Therefore, this study attempted to ascertain if a hierarchy of unintelligibility could be developed to assist in selecting treatment targets. Thirty-nine adult females rated five words which were systematically varied across five phonological processes. These listeners were asked to rate the intelligibility of each word (contrasted with the correct production) on a 7 point scale. The data indicated that the processes could be ranked for intelligibility. Significant differences between some processes were demonstrated, thus suggesting that some objective guidelines for the selection of treatment targets may able to be established utilising such an approach.