Distinctive feature generalization in articulation training.

Abstract

Articulation errors of several children with severe articulation problems were analyzed for distinctive feature errors. On the basis of the analysis, children were administered training programs to teach production of features lacking in their repertoires. The study was concerned with generalization of trained features across phonemes in which the feature had been in error. During training, probes on selected phonemes were administered to test for feature generalization. Results for three children are presented to represent generalization from training on three different features. During training, feature errors deceased by 69% to 84%, indicating that a feature generalizes across several phonemes although training in only one phoneme is administered. The degree of generalization varied across phonemes and across phonemes in different positions in words. The study indicated that features have generality and that children’s feature errors are consistent and systematic. For clinical purposes, the results suggest that detailed analyses will aid in selecting items for training that may increase the efficiency of articulation training.