The Role of Prominence and Position in the Acquisition of Codas in the Speech of Hearing-impaired Children

Abstract

The paper describes the developmental phases in the acquisition of codas in the speech of Hebrew-acquiring hearing-impaired children, with reference to prosodic properties—the prominence (stress) and the position of the syllable hosting the coda. The participants were 10 hearing-impaired children using cochlear implant or conventional hearing aid device, ranging in age from 1;5 to 3;5 years old in their first recording session. Data collection continued until each child completed the acquisition of codas. A prosodic analysis of the phases of coda acquisition reveals a similarity between hearing impaired children and typically developing hearing children acquiring Hebrew, as well as other languages. The results suggest that the position of the syllable in the word (final, penultimate, antepenultimate) plays a major role in the development of codas, whereas stress has no significant effect.