Speech Abilities Research Articles

Application of practice-based learning and improvement in standardized training of general practitioners

BackgroundIn the context of standardized training for general practitioners, the emphasis is still primarily on clinical skills, which does not fully encompass the overall development of general practitioners. This study implemented a practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) project among students and evaluated its effectiveness based on indicators such as learning outcomes, students’ subjective experiences, and annual grades. This study offers recommendations for optimizing general practitioners’ teaching and residential training programs.Methods60 residents who participated in the regular training of general practitioners at the First Clinical College of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology from January 2019 to January 2022 were selected for this study. They were randomly divided into two groups, the PBLI group, and the control group, using a random number table method. Out of the 60 residents, 31 were assigned to the control group and 29 were assigned to the PBLI group. The participants in the PBLI group received additional PBLI training along with their daily residential training, while the participants in the control group only took part in the latter. The effectiveness of the PBLI program was analyzed by conducting a baseline survey, administering questionnaires, and evaluating examination results.ResultsAfter implementing the program, the PBLI group scored significantly higher than the control group (p < 0.05). Throughout the implementation process, students in the PBLI group expressed high satisfaction with the learning project, particularly with its content and alignment with the training objective. The teacher’s evaluation of the PBLI group students surpassed that of the control group in various areas, including literature retrieval, self-study, courseware development, speech ability, and clinical thinking.ConclusionsThe PBLI program aims to encourage resident-centered study in standardized residency training. This approach is beneficial because it motivates students to engage in active learning and self-reflection, ultimately enhancing the effectiveness of standardized residency training.

Children’s reformulations during speech-language assessment

In speech and language therapy it is common to do an assessment of a child’s speech and language abilities. During the assessment, the child does not solely carry out the assigned task, but also does repair work to achieve intersubjectivity in order to perform well in the test activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate how children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) design and initiate repair during assessment. Sixteen children with DLD aged between 7;05 (7 years and 5 months) to 10;00 years were included. The data consist of video recordings of the children and a researcher made during the test activities, and conversation analysis is used to analyse the data. Findings show how the children initiate several kinds of repair during the test activities, with several types of reformulations presenting candidate understandings. The reformulations occurred just after the task-setting turn (TST), and they indicate that the children displayed an understanding of what was expected of them during the test activities. By using reformulations, the children thus revealed pragmatic skills and demonstrated competence in being a test taker. These findings may have clinical implications when assessing pragmatic skills.

Individual variation in bilingual vocabulary in preschoolers with developmental language disorder

BackgroundIt is unclear how speech production, selective attention, and phonological working memory are related to first- (L1) and second-language (L2) vocabularies in bilingual preschoolers with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). AimsTo study individual variation in vocabularies in DLD bilingual preschoolers by (1) comparing them to typically developing (TD) bilingual, and TD and DLD monolingual peers; (2) differentially predicting L2 vocabulary; and (3) identifying and characterizing bilinguals’ L1/L2 vocabulary profiles. MethodsWe measured the selective attention, working memory, and L1 Turkish/Polish (where applicable) and L1/L2 Dutch speech and vocabulary abilities of 31 DLD bilingual, 37 TD bilingual, and 61 DLD and 54 TD Dutch monolingual three-to-five year-olds. ResultsDLD bilinguals scored lower than TD bilinguals and TD/DLD monolinguals on all measures, except L2 vocabulary, where all bilinguals underperformed all monolinguals. Selective attention predicted Dutch vocabulary across groups. Three bilingual vocabulary profiles emerged: DLD bilinguals were less likely to be L1 dominant, TD/DLD bilinguals with better attention more often had a Balanced high L1/L2 profile, while those with poorer selective attention and L1 speech tended to be L2 dominant. ConclusionsThese findings highlight the roles of L1 speech and selective attention, rather than L2 speech and working memory, in understanding bilingual vocabulary variation among DLD preschoolers.

Motor and neurocognitive profiles of children with symptomatic spinal muscular atrophy type 1 with two copies of SMN2 before and after treatment: a longitudinal observational study.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. In clinical studies, gene replacement therapy with onasemnogene abeparvovec (formerly AVXS-101, Zolgensma®, Novartis) was efficacious in improving motor functioning in children with SMA. However, its effects on cognitive and language skills are largely unknown. This longitudinal observational study evaluated changes in motor and neurocognitive functioning over a 1-year period after administration of onasemnogene abeparvovec in 12 symptomatic SMA type 1 patients with two copies of SMN2 aged 1.7-52.6 months at administration. Motor functioning was measured using the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Infant Test for Neuromuscular Disorders (CHOP-INTEND) while neurocognitive assessment was measured using Griffiths III. Motor milestones and language ability were also assessed at each timepoint. Statistically significant increases in median CHOP-INTEND scores from baseline were observed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after onasemnogene abeparvovec administration (all p ≤ 0.005). Most (91.7%) patients were able to roll over or sit independently for >1 min at 12 months. Significant increases in the Griffiths III Foundations of Learning, Language and Communication, Eye and Hand Coordination, and Personal-Social-Emotional subscale scores were observed at 12-months, but not in the Gross Motor subscale. Speech and language abilities progressed in most patients. Overall, most patients showed some improvement in cognitive and communication performance after treatment with onasemnogene abeparvovec in addition to significant improvement in motor functioning and motor milestones. Evaluation of neurocognitive function should be considered when assessing the global functioning of patients with SMA.

Evaluation of the effect of palatoplasty on the quality of life and speech outcomes in patients with velocardiofacial syndrome.

Children diagnosed with velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) suffer from various disabilities. Palatal abnormalities, as well as speech and language impairment, adversely affect a child's quality of life (QoL) and are some of the most distressing aspects for the parents of these children. The present study aimed to explore the effect of palatoplasty on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and speech outcomes in children with VCFS. The study recruited 20 patients (N = 20) with VCFS and connected speech, aged 3 years or older, having either undiagnosed submucous cleft palate (SMCP) or velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI), and requiring primary cleft palate surgery or revision surgery. Speech assessment was conducted prior to palatoplasty and 6 months after the surgery. Intelligibility and hypernasality were evaluated using the Cleft Audit Protocol for Speech - Augmented (CAPS-A). The parent proxy-report form of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) was used to evaluate and compare the HRQoL of the VCFS patients before and after palatoplasty. Significant improvement in the HRQoL scores was achieved after the surgery across all domains (physical, emotional, social, and school functioning), especially in the emotional and social dimensions (p < 0.000). The post-operative speech assessment based on CAPS-A demonstrated improvement in speech intelligibility and hypernasality in the majority of patients. Given that children with VCFS face various medical and social problems, suitable palatal interventions are beneficial, improving both the speech ability and QoL of these children.

The Association of Speech/Language Risk With Phonological Awareness, Rapid Naming, and Reading Ability in Children With Cleft Lip and/or Palate

ABSTRACT Children with cleft lip and/or palate were assessed for speech, language, phonological awareness (PA), rapid naming (RN) and reading ability using standardized instruments at baseline (T1; N = 142, Mage = 6.14 years, 51% males) and 2-year follow-up (T2; 89% retention, Mage = 8.38). Children with no speech or language risk scored higher for T1 and T2 PA, RN, and reading than children with both speech and language risk [Adjusted Mean Difference (AMD) ranged from 11.79 to 21.25]; language risk (AMD 8.37 to 13.58); and speech risk (0.51 to 6.87). No significant differences by cleft type or child sex.

Методические условия реализации метода предметно-языкового интегрированного обучения (CLIL) в обучении английскому языку в начальной школе

The aim of the study is to substantiate the possibility of implementing the method of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in early English language teaching in primary school. The paper discusses the notion of the CLIL method, its main components, as well as the conditions that ensure the most optimal use of the method in teaching a foreign language to primary school children and provides examples of the practical implementation of the specified conditions. The scientific novelty of the study lies in identifying the methodological conditions that make it possible to teach English most effectively at an early stage on the basis of content and language integration. As a result of the study, it was found that CLIL can be successfully used in teaching English to primary school children with consistent observance of a number of important conditions. The issues related to the selection of the teaching content in accordance with the programs of the integrated subjects, as well as the possibility of further practical application of knowledge and skills on the studied topics and the vocabulary used in them, are considered. In addition, the importance of strict adherence to established methodological stages in the formation of foreign language speech skills and abilities is emphasized, as well as the need to involve all types of speech activity when using the CLIL method.

Abstract TP78: Characteristics of Verbal and Non-Verbal Cognitive Function in Post-Stroke Aphasia Based on Language-Cognition Neuropsychological Processing Model

Introduction: Post-stroke aphasia (PSA) patients have different levels of phonetic, lexical, semantic, syntactic, and other linguistic domain impairment, and accompanied by non-verbal cognitive impairment. However, the association between verbal and non-verbal cognitive functions is not fully understood.In this study, we used the Chinese Aphasia Language Battery (CALB) and Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA) to fully evaluate the characteristics of verbal and non-verbal cognitive function impairment in PSA patients. Methods: A total of 105 stroke patients were recruited in this study. Language and non-linguistic cognitive impairments were evaluated by CALB and LOTCA, respectively. Patients in the PSA group were subdivided into the fluent aphasia group (FAG) and the non-FAG group. Potential confounders were adjusted in the analysis of covariance. Partial correlation analysis between the subscores of CALB and LOTCA was also performed. Results: This study showed that PSA patients had worse speech analysis ability, vocabulary processing ability, semantic processing ability, syntactic structure conversion ability, and non-verbal cognitive performance(P&lt;0.001). Moreover, the scores of phonetic decoding, phonetic vocabulary production, noun category classification, total LOTCA, orientation, visual perception, motor use, and thinking operation were lower in the non-FAG compared with the FAG (p&lt;0.05). The total score of LOTCA was positively correlated with the aphasia quotient (r=0.637, P&lt;0.001) and scores of speech analysis ability, vocabulary processing ability, semantic processing ability, and syntactic structure conversion ability (r&gt;0; P&lt;0.0005). Conclusions: Based on the language-cognition neuropsychological processing model, this study adopted a comprehensive verbal and non-verbal cognitive assessment set of tests, and found that PSA patients have extensive phonological, lexical, semantic, syntactic, and grammatical processing disorders. Moreover, PSA patients often have more extensive and serious non-verbal cognitive impairments, and the severity of aphasia is significantly positively correlated with the degree of nonverbal cognitive impairment.

Vowel distinctiveness as a concurrent predictor of expressive language function in autistic children.

Speech ability may limit spoken language development in some minimally verbal autistic children. In this study, we aimed to determine whether an acoustic measure of speech production, vowel distinctiveness, is concurrently related to expressive language (EL) for autistic children. Syllables containing the vowels [i] and [a] were recorded remotely from 27 autistic children (4;1-7;11) with a range of spoken language abilities. Vowel distinctiveness was calculated using automatic formant tracking software. Robust hierarchical regressions were conducted with receptive language (RL) and vowel distinctiveness as predictors of EL. Hierarchical regressions were also conducted within a High EL and a Low EL subgroup. Vowel distinctiveness accounted for 29% of the variance in EL for the entire group, RL for 38%. For the Low EL group, only vowel distinctiveness was significant, accounting for 38% of variance in EL. Conversely, in the High EL group, only RL was significant and accounted for 26% of variance in EL. Replicating previous results, speech production and RL significantly predicted concurrent EL in autistic children, with speech production being the sole significant predictor for the Low EL group and RL the sole significant predictor for the High EL group. Further work is needed to determine whether vowel distinctiveness longitudinally, as well as concurrently, predicts EL. Findings have important implications for the early identification of language impairment and in developing language interventions for autistic children.

Electrically evoked auditory brainstem responses in deaf children with cochlear nerve canal stenosis

Background Deaf children with cochlear nerve canal stenosis (CNCs) are always considered poor candidates for cochlear implantation. Objectives To investigate the function of the peripheral auditory pathway in deaf children with CNCs, as revealed by the electrically evoked auditory brainstem response (EABR), and postoperative cochlear implants (CIs) outcomes. Materials and Methods Thirteen children with CNCs and 13 children with no inner ear malformations (IEMs) who received CIs were recruited. The EABR evoked by electrical stimulation from the CI electrode was recorded. Postoperative CI outcomes were assessed using Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) and Speech Intelligibility Rate (SIR). Results Compared with children with no IEMs, children with CNCs showed lower EABR extraction rates, higher thresholds, a longer wave V (eV) latency and lower CAP and SIR scores. The auditory and speech performance was positively correlated with the diameter of the cochlear nerve canal and the number of channels showing wave III (eIII) and eV in children with CNCs. Conclusions and Significance The physiological function of the peripheral auditory pathway in children with CNCs is poorer than that in children with no IEMs. Postoperative auditory and speech abilities may depend on the severity of cochlear nerve malformation and auditory conduction function.

Kompetencja fleksyjna osób niemownych

The content of this paper constitutes an introduction to the issue known as inflectional competence, which refers to people affected by speech inability. Inflectional competence is based on the theory and practice of internal grammar, thanks to which it is treated as a brain function, a component of the subconscious mechanism of composing linguistic elements, a kind of competence which enables, above all, the reception of inflectional forms that signal syntactic functions and contribute semantic information. Such an approach makes it possible to relate the inflectional competence to people who are prelingually deprived of the gift of speech (in this context language), and hence, do not take up activities which a speaking person performs with the use of language. At the same time they do not recognise reality at the level of language-able people and do not convey its interpretation to other participants of social life. In the applicational part of the work, attention was paid to the very process of equipping a prelingually language-disabled person in inflectional competence, which takes place with the use of therapeutic systems and methods that belong to the sphere of activity known as Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Реализация принципа обучения на речевых образцах в профильно-ориентированной иноязычной подготовке

One of the leading special methodological principles of professionally-oriented foreign language training — the principle of teaching based on speech patterns of a specific subject area — is highlighted. A theoretical analysis of the essence of this principle, its place and role in the system of principles of professionally-oriented foreign language teaching is presented, along with an attempt to practically implement this principle in the content of English language teaching for the subject area “Information Technology”. To achieve the goal: 1) the concept and essence of speech patterns in a specific professional field are specified; 2) similarities and differences in the use of the terms “speech pattern”, “speech template”, “speech cliché” are analyzed; 3) specific conditions for the implementation of the principle in practical pedagogical activities in professionally-oriented foreign language classes are determined; 4) the sequence of methodological and educational actions during foreign language training based on speech patterns of a specific subject area is described; 5) a practical implementation option of the principle for the purposes of professionally-oriented foreign language teaching for students in the field of information technology is proposed. The study concludes that the quality of such foreign language training indicators as visibility, authenticity, time efficiency, functionality, and complexity (multi-aspect nature) is improved in the process of forming professionally-oriented speech skills and developing students’ speech abilities.

Ունկնդրման կարողությունների ձևավորման սկզբունքները անգլերեն լեզվի ուսուցման գործընթացում / Principles of Developing Listening Skills in the Process of Learning English

This article focuses on listening as a component of speech activity and its significance in teaching a foreign language. It analyzes the characteristics of listening, addresses challenges in developing students' listening skills at the initial stages of language learning, and proposes principles for building these skills based on the development of language and speech abilities. The article provides an overview of the most up-to-date and relevant principles for effective teaching.

Development of Checklist to Assess Caregivers Perspectives and Preparatory Knowledge about Aphasia

Aphasia has a devastating effect on both the patient and the caregiver. As the onset of this condition is sudden it doesn’t offer time for the caregiver to gain preparatory knowledge about aphasia. If the preparatory knowledge is poor, then the empathy and mutuality would get affected. In order to carry out his/her role effectively a caregiver must have preparatory knowledge about aphasia, its impact on speech and language abilities of a person, co morbid conditions associated, rehabilitation services need for the patient to overcome the constraints induced by aphasia. The study aimed at assessing preparatory knowledge about aphasia in the caregivers. It had three parts part (a) concentrated on questions about impact of aphasia, part (b) testedthe knowledge of caregiversquestionnaire about the rehabilitation service while the last part, part (c) concentrated ontesting their knowledge about the responsibilities to be taken up.The questionnaire was circulated among four Caregivers (females) of four patients with aphasia, who were in acute phases. It was found that the caregivers had limited knowledge about the impact of aphasia. They knew that it would take time for the person with aphasia to recover and also the roles to assumed during this phase

Evaluating Parents' Concerns, Needs, and Levels of Satisfaction with the Services Provided for ASD Children in Saudi Arabia.

Supporting children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents is vital in improving their children's abilities and their parents' ability to care for them. Thus, parents' perceptions of and levels of satisfaction with the services provided for their children must be assessed. This study aimed to understand parents' perceptions of and satisfaction with the speech-language services (SLS) provided for ASD children in different health facilities in Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study included 109 parents of ASD children. The survey included five sections dealing with (1) general information about the child; (2) assessment of the child's ASD characteristics (including their age when diagnosed, when they first noticed symptoms, and their speech, language, and communication abilities); (3) the reasons for enrollment in SLS sessions; (4) questions about SLS; and (5) parents' perceptions of SLS, satisfaction with the service, descriptions of their children's progress, and the respect and support they received. Parents' satisfaction levels were significantly higher when they had easy access to SLS, sufficient information and support, proper training in applying therapy exercises at home, and perceived respect and support from speech and language pathologists (SLPs). The reasons for discontinuing SLS included high session costs, the need for initial behavioral sessions, the lack of qualified SLPs, the end of the sessions, the lack of improvement, the nonavailability of specialized centers, and parents' dependence on home training only. They also sought opportunities for work and education, continuous and intensive SLS sessions, reduced costs, centers for adults with ASD, and accessible schools. Parents' main concerns were their children's poor speech and language skills, independence, and social acceptance. The study highlighted the importance of understanding parents' experiences with SLS, identifying the factors that enhance SLS use by ASD children, and improving parents' satisfaction with such services.

The methodology of using mass media in developing oral speech abilities in English at high schools

The methodology of using mass media in developing oral speech abilities in English at high schools

A Study of Artificial Intelligence-Driven Educational Intervention Strategies for Students with Special Educational Needs

Abstract This paper first introduces the intervention path of artificial intelligence in special education. It then takes the deaf and hard-of-hearing people as the research object, adopts artificial intelligence technology, digitizes the speech signal, performs sound-rhyme syncopation, and constructs an interactive speech evaluation system using the HMM model as the evaluation basis. Finally, this paper discusses the effect of an interactive speech recognition model on special education interventions and describes the future development trend of combining artificial intelligence and special education. The results show that the subjects’ passive response to basic interactive speech in the baseline period showed a stable state, the interactive speech ability in the intervention period showed stable progress, and the subjects’ ability in the maintenance period remained at a high level. In the three periods, the posttest error rates of the experimental group testers on semantic recognition were 40%, 30%, and 10%, respectively, whereas the control group was 80%, 70%, and 65%, respectively, which shows that the semantic network training affected the improvement of the speech recognition ability of the 10 subjects. The mean values of the average error rate of the three stages of the experimental group were 7.53%, 2.44%, and 2.07%, and their average recognition times were 1566.73 seconds, 1051.30 seconds, and 463.55 seconds, respectively. The three-stage semantic recognition training significantly improves the subjects’ semantic recognition ability and reduces the recognition time. The integration of artificial intelligence and special education is critical for special education groups’ education and healing.

Meta-analysis of clinical efficacy of acupuncture and moxibustion in rehabilitation treatment for post-stroke aphasia.

To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of traditional Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion in treating post-stroke aphasia through meta-analysis. Major Chinese and international databases were searched from their inception to December 2023. The search terms included "randomized controlled clinical studies on acupuncture treatment for stroke-related aphasia". After screening by specialists, the selected studies were analyzed using RevMan 5.3 software. A total of 1,900 documents were retrieved, of which 10 studies involving 848 cases met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The results indicated that traditional Chinese acupuncture could enhance the effectiveness of language rehabilitation training both as a standalone treatment and in combination with other assessment measures. Acupuncture improved the clinical effectiveness of language rehabilitation training for patients with post-stroke aphasia (RR = 3.75, 95% CI [2.54, 2.55], P < 0.00001). When combined with language rehabilitation therapy, acupuncture significantly improved patients' comprehension (MD = 0.95, 95% CI [0.89, 1.02], P < 0.00001), repetition (MD = 0.82, 95% CI [0.76, 0.88], P < 0.00001), reading (MD = 1.95, 95% CI [1.89, 2.01], P < 0.00001), and spontaneous speech abilities (MD = 10.90, 95% CI [9.56, 12.23], P < 0.00001), compared to the control group. Acupuncture improves the clinical efficacy of language rehabilitation training for stroke-related aphasia. It also enhanced patients' comprehension, repetition, and spontaneous speech abilities more effectively than monotherapy. However, the overall quality of the included studies was low, emphasizing the need for high-quality randomized controlled trials to further validate these findings.

The methodology of using mass media in developing oral speech abilities in English at high schools

The methodology of using mass media in developing oral speech abilities in English at high schools

Differences in Development of Activities, Participation during School Age (1st to 4th grade) According to Speech Sound Ability in Pre-school Age

Objectives: This study divided groups according to speech sound ability in the pre-school age and longitudinally examined the differences in the development patterns of activities from 1st grade to 4th grade.Methods: Longitudinal research data collected from the 7th to 11th year included in the Panel Study on Korean Child (PSKC) were used. The subjects of study were classified into three groups; Typically developing (TD), mild Speech Sound Disorder (SSD), and moderate SSD according to the results of the ‘Three Sentence Screening Test’ in the 7th year. Activities, participation are comprised of learning and applying knowledge, interaction and relationship, major life. A rating score based on the evaluation of each question by the teacher in charge of the child was used.Results: The average score of the TD group was high in all areas. The SSD group was found to show significant differences from the TD in learning and applying knowledge, major life.Conclusion: Children with speech sound disorders show difficulties not only learning skills such as literacy, mathematics, and attention, but also activities required for school education. In a clinical setting, areas that may present problems should be identified and included in the intervention plan in order to minimize not only speech problems but also related problems.