Spontaneous Speech Samples Research Articles

Осознание языковой нормы студентами-логопедами как фактор готовности к работе в инклюзивной образовательной среде

<p>The work is aimed at studying the formation of language reflection and the peculiarities of awareness of the language norm by speech therapy students as an indicator of their readiness to work with children with disabilities. The research materials obtained from a sample of first-year students of the Faculty of Defectology of the Moscow State University (N=450; EG=100) are presented. The study was conducted in 2 stages, including the analysis of video recordings of samples of spontaneous speech and reading texts of varying complexity. The results obtained show the insufficient formation of language reflection and the difficulty of understanding the language norm by future speech therapists. The influence of the complexity of the text on the number and prevalence of errors in the reading test has been determined (with a significance of p<0,001 there are differences in the groups). Purposeful attention to their own speech and the speech of others, recording self-observations helped to increase the number of students who completed the tasks without errors (from 15% to 40%). At the same time, with a significance of p<0,001, it was revealed that students are better at detecting errors during self-control than testing others. The study proposes ways of improving the language reflection of the students for their better formation for working in an inclusive environment.</p>

The High Rising Terminal in the Intonation System of the Modern English Language

Introduction. The article examines changes taking place in the intonation systems of modern varieties of the English language by analysing the use of the High Rising Terminal (HRT). Received pronunciation (RP), which is recognised as standard pronunciation in the United Kingdom, Australian English accents and Northern Irish English accents (accents of Belfast) have been chosen as the subject for this study. Intonation contours containing the HRT are compared in order to reveal any similar features regarding their realisation and functions. The results of this comparative analysis will show to what extent other varieties of English may be attributed to the changes in the intonation system of the modern RP. The present study is unique in that the material for the comparative analysis of the functions of the HRT includes recordings of spontaneous speech of the speakers of modern English accents. This study is relevant due to the growing interest in the modern changes in the intonation systems of different modern English dialects. The results of the comparative analysis show whether these changes can be considered universal across different English dialects.Methodology and sources. The material for the present study includes audio samples of spontaneous speech represented by dialogues between native speakers of Standard British English, Australian English and Belfast English. The samples containing the HRT have been acoustically analysed. The lexical and communicative context of the samples have been evaluated in order to determine the functions of the phonetic contour.Results and discussion. One of the main findings of this study is a new function of the HRT in RP that has not been found in the classical descriptions of the accent. The acoustic analysis of the realisations of the HRT has also revealed a number of similar features between the modern accents of English analysed in this study.Conclusion. Many changes taking place in modern varieties of English have been caused by globalisation. Even though RP accent is considered to be the standard accent of British English, it is also subject to change.

Speech Disfluencies in Bilingual Lebanese Children Who Do and Do Not Stutter.

Prior studies have shown that bilingual children who do not stutter (CWNS) exhibit a high number of disfluencies in both languages, increasing the risk of misidentification by speech-language pathologists as children who stutter (CWS). Conversely, there is a risk of misidentifying CWS with a relatively low incidence of disfluencies as CWNS. This study aims to explore the qualitative and quantitative distinctions in speech disfluency profiles between CWNS and CWS. The assessment covers both the dominant and nondominant language to examine the impact of language dominance on disfluency patterns. A total of 92 Lebanese bilinguals (70 CWNS and 22 CWS) from 4;06 to 7;06 (years;months) were included. Language dominance was determined based on parental assessments. Spontaneous and narrative speech samples were collected for each child in both languages and all stuttering-like disfluencies (SLD) and other disfluencies (OD) were coded. On average, CWNS showed a significantly lower percentage of total SLD, weighted SLD, SLD subtypes, and iterations compared to CWS. However, the number of disfluencies of CWNS exceeded monolingual clinical standards. Language dominance did not impact SLD and OD percentages, but some differences for SLD subtypes emerged. Binary logistic regression analyses showed that repetitions and dysrhythmic phonations are good predictors for correct CWS or CWNS classification, in contrast to OD. A combination of predictors from both languages led to better classification than using predictors from either language alone. The current study shows that speech disfluency percentages in bilingual CWNS typically surpass monolingual standards and can be at par with those of CWS. However, through careful consideration of disfluency characteristics, ideally in both languages, an accurate differential diagnosis of stuttering in bilingual children can be achieved.

Longitudinal observational cohort study: Speech for Intelligent cognition change tracking and DEtection of Alzheimer’s Disease (SIDE-AD)

IntroductionThere is emerging evidence that speech may be a potential indicator and manifestation of early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. Therefore, the University of Edinburgh and Sony Research have partnered to...

Word-Final Disfluency: Clinical Data From a Single Therapy Protocol

Purpose: Word-final disfluency (WFD), also referred to as end-word repetition and echo dysphemia , takes the form of a final rhyme repetition involving a whole or partial syllable (e.g., “lock-ock” and “ca-ake”). Although WFD has been documented in case studies, therapeutic programs have not yet been reported. Our purpose was to report therapy data for 20 cases of WFD using a single therapy protocol called Structured Awareness Therapy for Word-Final Disfluency. The authors report the effects of therapy in routine clinical practice and describe the therapy program to contribute practice-based evidence that may narrow the research–practice gap and improve service delivery for those with WFD. Method: The participants included 20 children (13 boys and seven girls; age range: 5–11 years). Parents reported a diagnosis of autism in five of the 20 participants. The children and their families participated in weekly and biweekly therapy sessions. Pre- and posttherapy spontaneous speech samples were analyzed and compared. Parents' responses to follow-up surveys were reported. Results: All 20 children had successfully reduced (to less than 1.5% WFD) or eliminated WFD in their spontaneous speech with short-term therapy (average, 9 weeks). Parental follow-up surveys confirmed the long-term durability of the therapy. Conclusions: Therapy data support the functional and long-term outcomes of the reduction or elimination of WFD in routine clinical practice. The authors described the therapy program and offered perspectives on the causes or functions of WFD. Suggestions for future directions include research needs and a call for treatment efficacy studies to broaden trusted therapy options for WFD.

Frequency and characteristics of echoes and self-repetitions in minimally verbal and verbally fluent autistic individuals.

Nongenerative speech is the rote repetition of words or phrases heard from others or oneself. The most common manifestations of nongenerative speech are immediate and delayed echolalia, which are a well-attested clinical feature and a salient aspect of atypical language use in autism. However, there are no current estimates of the frequency of nongenerative speech, and the individual characteristics associated with nongenerative speech use in individuals across the autistic spectrum are poorly understood. In this study, we aim to measure and characterize spontaneous and nongenerative speech use in minimally verbal and verbally fluent autistic children and adolescents. Participants were 50 minimally verbal and 50 verbally fluent autistic individuals aged 6 to 21 years. Spontaneous and nongenerative speech samples were derived from SALT transcripts of ADOS-2 assessments. Participants' intelligible speech utterances were categorized as spontaneous or nongenerative. Spontaneous versus nongenerative utterances were compared between language subgroups on frequency of use and linguistic structure. Associations between nongenerative speech use and a series of individual characteristics (ADOS-2 subscale scores, nonverbal IQ, receptive vocabulary, and chronological age) were investigated over the whole sample and for each language subgroup independently. Almost all participants produced some nongenerative speech. Minimally verbal individuals produced significantly more nongenerative than spontaneous utterances, and more nongenerative utterances compared to verbally fluent individuals. Verbally fluent individuals produced limited rates of nongenerative utterances, in comparison to their much higher rates of spontaneous utterances. Across the sample, nongenerative utterance rates were associated with nonverbal IQ and receptive vocabulary, but not separately for the two language subgroups. In verbally fluent individuals, only age was significantly inversely associated with nongenerative speech use such that older individuals produced fewer nongenerative utterances. In minimally verbal individuals, there were no associations between any of the individual characteristics and nongenerative speech use. In terms of linguistic structure, the lexical diversity of nongenerative and spontaneous utterances of both language subgroups was comparable. Morphosyntactic complexity was higher for spontaneous compared to nongenerative utterances in verbally fluent individuals, while no differences emerged between the two utterance types in minimally verbal individuals. Nongenerative speech presents differently in minimally verbal and verbally fluent autistic individuals. Although present in verbally fluent individuals, nongenerative speech appears to be a major feature of spoken language in minimally verbal children and adolescents. Our results advocate for more research on the expressive language profiles of autistic children and adolescents who remain minimally verbal and for further investigations of nongenerative speech, which is usually excluded from language samples. Given its prevalence in the spoken language of minimally verbal individuals, nongenerative speech could be used as a way to engage in and maintain communication with this subgroup of autistic individuals.

Digital markers of motor speech impairments in spontaneous speech of patients with ALS-FTD spectrum disorders

Objective To evaluate automated digital speech measures, derived from spontaneous speech (picture descriptions), in assessing bulbar motor impairments in patients with ALS-FTD spectrum disorders (ALS-FTSD). Methods Automated vowel algorithms were employed to extract two vowel acoustic measures: vowel space area (VSA), and mean second formant slope (F2 slope). Vowel measures were compared between ALS with and without clinical bulbar symptoms (ALS + bulbar (n = 49, ALSFRS-r bulbar subscore: x¯ = 9.8 (SD = 1.7)) vs. ALS-nonbulbar (n = 23), behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD, n = 25) without a motor syndrome, and healthy controls (HC, n = 32). Correlations with bulbar motor clinical scales, perceived listener effort, and MRI cortical thickness of the orobuccal primary motor cortex (oral PMC) were examined. We compared vowel measures to speaking rate, a conventional metric for assessing bulbar dysfunction. Results ALS + bulbar had significantly reduced VSA and F2 slope than ALS-nonbulbar (|d|=0.94 and |d|=1.04, respectively), bvFTD (|d|=0.89 and |d|=1.47), and HC (|d|=0.73 and |d|=0.99). These reductions correlated with worse bulbar clinical scores (VSA: R = 0.33, p = 0.043; F2 slope: R = 0.38, p = 0.011), greater listener effort (VSA: R=-0.43, p = 0.041; F2 slope: p > 0.05), and cortical thinning in oral PMC (F2 slope: β = 0.0026, p = 0.017). Vowel measures demonstrated greater sensitivity and specificity for bulbar impairment than speaking rate, while showing independence from cognitive and respiratory impairments. Conclusion Automatic vowel measures are easily derived from a brief spontaneous speech sample, are sensitive to mild-moderate stage of bulbar disease in ALS-FTSD, and may present better sensitivity to bulbar impairment compared to traditional assessments such as speaking rate.

A Greek Pediatric Word Recognition Test by Picture Identification.

(1) Background: The study aimed to construct a clinically valuable closet-set WRS test with a picture identification task for young Greek-speaking children. (2) Methods: The test material was meticulously designed based on specific criteria. To determine which parts of speech are used more frequently by preschool children, a spontaneous speech sample (250 words per child) was acquired from three hundred children aged 3 to 6 years (M = 4.56, SD = 0.90). The study involved the development and application of two phonemically balanced 50-word lists suitable for young children, as well as the creation of picture representations for each response set. All testing was accomplished in an audiometric booth that exceeded the audiometric rooms' ambient noise level standards. The speech signal was routed from a laptop computer to a GSI 61 audiometer, and all test items were delivered from the audiometer to the subject. (3) Results: The results indicated that materials for a WRS test for young children are developed with high face validity and are applicable for children as young as three years old. The test satisfies the essential components needed for a WRS test. It consists of two phonemically balanced 50-word lists with low-redundancy bisyllabic words, with each list containing 227 phonemes. (5) Conclusions: This novel closed-set WRS test presents a valuable tool for assessing speech perception skills in young Greek-speaking children. The test results have various applications, including diagnosis, research, and (re)habilitation.

How Much Speech Data Is Needed for Tracking Language Change in Alzheimer’s Disease? A Comparison of Random Length, 5-Min, and 1-Min Spontaneous Speech Samples

Introduction: Changes in speech can act as biomarkers of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While shorter speech samples would promote data collection and analysis, the minimum length of informative speech samples remains debated. This study aims to provide insight into the effect of sample length in analyzing longitudinal recordings of spontaneous speech in AD by comparing the original random length, 5- and 1-minute-long samples. We hope to understand whether capping the audio improves the accuracy of the analysis, and whether an extra 4 min conveys necessary information. Methods: 110 spontaneous speech samples were collected from decades of Youtube videos of 17 public figures, 9 of whom eventually developed AD. 456 language features were extracted and their text-length-sensitivity, comparability, and ability to capture change over time were analyzed across three different sample lengths. Results: Capped audio files had advantages over the random length ones. While most extracted features were statistically comparable or highly correlated across the datasets, potential effects of sample length should be acknowledged for some features. The 5-min dataset presented the highest reliability in tracking the evolution of the disease, suggesting that the 4 extra minutes do convey informative data. Conclusion: Sample length seems to play an important role in extracting the language feature values from speech and tracking disease progress over time. We highlight the importance of further research into optimal sample length and standardization of methods when studying speech in AD.

Gender Attributions by Cisgender and Gender Diverse Listeners Rating Vowels, Reading, and Monologues

To determine if listeners' attributions of speakers' gender vary by linguistic context and/or the listeners' gender identity. Seventeen self-identified transgender adults assigned male at birth were audio-recorded prolonging /a/, reading sentences, and saying spontaneous monologues. Eighteen adults (10 cisgender and 8 gender-diverse individuals) listened and used a 1-5 scale (1: very masculine, 2: somewhat masculine, 3: androgynous, 4: somewhat feminine, and 5: very feminine) to rate the gender attribution of each speech sample. The intra-rater reliability was moderate to excellent (0.62-1.00). Ratings by cisgender and gender-diverse listeners were not significantly different. Ratings were not significantly different between different speech contexts of vowel, reading, and spontaneous monologue speech samples. Transwomen have many variables available to consider and use in their communication. The linguistic context (eg, reading a speech versus spontaneous monologue) or listener's gender does not appear to be highly influential factors in how listeners attribute gender.

A comparative and acoustic analysis of phoneme /g/ in spontaneous speech in Basque Country, Andalusia and Madrid

In this work, we perform the acoustic analysis of the features of harmonicity, sonority, duration and intensity of each /g/ sound extracted from a sample of spontaneous speech from a corpus collected from recordings of local television programs in Andalusia, Madrid and the Basque Country. This corpus consists of 1292 utterances, in which the velar appears on 151 occasions in different contexts. These sounds are described and categorized thanks to the Praat spectrographic analysis program and a comparison of their features among the three dialectal communities that the corpus contains. The most relevant results allow us to conclude that undescribed realizations of [ɣ] occur in spontaneous speech; that the intensity curves of these approximant sounds yield significant figures for their characterization; and that the frequency of production of the approximant [ɣ] is greater in Andalusia than in Madrid or Euskadi.

Speech and Music Therapy in the Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech: An Introduction and a Case Study.

Speech-Music Therapy for Aphasia (SMTA), a method that combines speech therapy and music therapy, is introduced as a treatment method for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). SMTA will be evaluated in a proof-of-principle study. The first case study is presented herein. SMTA was evaluated in a study with a single-subject experimental design comparing 10 weeks of treatment with 2 months of no treatment. The research protocol included a pretest, baseline phase, treatment phase, posttest, no-treatment phase, and follow-up test. The participant was a boy with CAS aged 5;8 (years;months). Outcome measures were selected to reflect both intelligibility in daily communication as well as features of CAS and speech motor planning and programming. Results on the Intelligibility in Context Scale-Dutch (ICS-Dutch) and in the analysis of a spontaneous speech sample suggest generalization of treatment effects. Improvements were found in measures that reflect complex speech motor skills, that is, the production of consonant clusters and consistency. This case study showed that speech production of the participant improved after treatment with SMTA. Although intelligibility as measured with the ICS-Dutch improved over the study period, objectifying changes at the level of intelligibility in daily communication proved to be difficult. Additional measures may be necessary to gain more insight into treatment effects at this level. Overall, the results of this first case study provide sufficient support and important leads for further evaluation of SMTA in the treatment of CAS in a proof-of-principle study.

Pragmatic analysis of the phraseological unit ¡calla ho!

Certain areas of the language don’t attain a complete characterization until they are analyzed through the pragmatic perspective: phraseology is an example of this. This is why we decided to do a phraseopragmatic analysis of the idiomatic expression ¡calla ho!. At first, we pay attention to that expression as a phraseological unit, that is, as a completely institutionalized segment that shows fixation and semantic specialization. Next, we analyze the elements that compose it and the individual meaning of each of them in order to discern the motivation shown by the union of the two elements and the translating meaning that derives from it. Finally, the pragmatic analysis is developed taking into account the contexts of use through Austins’s speech acts theory, that is, in some cases the speech constitutes an exercitive act and in others a behabitive act. For this purpose, we use spontaneous speech samples that represent the contexts in which this phraseological unit can be found, with the aim of providing a description of the different uses and communicative values that it shows. These samples are taken from WhatsApp conversations, since this type of communication channel, like other chats, is characterized by communicative immediacy, regardless of the elapsed time between the emission and reception of the message, in contrast to other media that a priori may seem similar, such as email.

The Generalizability of Longitudinal Changes in Speech Before Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis.

Language impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been widely studied but due to limited data availability, relatively few studies have focused on the longitudinal change in language in the individuals who later develop AD. Significant differences in speech have previously been found by comparing the press conference transcripts of President Bush and President Reagan, who was later diagnosed with AD. In the current study, we explored whether the patterns previously established in the single AD-healthy control (HC) participant pair apply to a larger group of individuals who later receive AD diagnosis. We replicated previous methods on two larger corpora of longitudinal spontaneous speech samples of public figures, consisting of 10 and 9 AD-HC participant pairs. As we failed to find generalizable patterns of language change using previous methodology, we proposed alternative methods for data analysis, investigating the benefits of using different language features and their change with age, and compiling the single features into aggregate scores. The single features that showed the strongest results were moving average type:token ratio (MATTR) and pronoun-related features. The aggregate scores performed better than the single features, with lexical diversity capturing a similar change in two-thirds of the participants. Capturing universal patterns of language change prior to AD can be challenging, but the decline in lexical diversity and changes in MATTR and pronoun-related features act as promising measures that reflect the cognitive changes in many participants.

Syllable- and word-based measures of stuttering in speech samples of Turkish-speaking school-aged children

ABSTRACT Linguistic factors influence the likelihood of occurrence of stuttering instances on a certain word within an utterance. However, studies on the relationship between stuttering instances and linguistic factors of Turkish-speaking individuals are scarce. This study aimed to determine the syllable- and word-based measures of stuttering speech samples of Turkish-speaking school-aged children who stutter. Stuttering-like disfluencies (SLDs) and lexical categories were identified after transcription of 61 children’s spontaneous speech samples (age range = 6–16). Syllable-, word- and utterance-level measures were employed. Syllable-based and word-based stuttering frequency findings were significantly different (p < .001); SLDs were more likely to occur at the utterance-initial (p < .001) and word-initial (p < .001) positions; content words were more likely to be stuttered and, there was a relation between the occurrence of SLDs and utterance length (p = .001). Since there is great variability between word-based and syllable-based measures, and SLDs tend to occur at word onsets, using word-based measures in Turkish would provide a measure of stuttering frequency that is comparable to the literature. Moreover, findings support that phrases requiring greater demands on utterance planning increase the possibility of occurrence of stuttering instances.

Influence of noise on perception of different types of dysarthric speech

Disturbances in the central nervous system may lead to changes in the speech muscle system, which impact muscle strength, tone, and coordination as well as movement speed, resulting in different types of dysarthria, each impacting respiration, phonation, articulation, resonance, and prosody differentially. Bilateral upper motor neuron damage leads to spastic dysarthria, cerebellar damage ataxic dysarthria, and damage to basal ganglia hypokinetic dysarthria. In estimating the severity of speech impairment, and measuring speech intelligibility, both reading and spontaneous speech samples are routinely used by speech-language pathologists. However, noise levels in acute and rehabilitation hospitals often exceed the World Health Organization guidelines (Busch-Vishniac et al., 2005) which may impact the clinical outcomes. In this study, 100 graduate student clinicians in Speech-Language Pathology measured speech intelligibility and estimated the severity of speech impairment of speech samples produced by three types of dysarthric speakers: spastic, ataxic, and hypokinetic, in two different noise conditions (quiet, and hospital noise). The differential impact of noise on different types of dysarthria is examined, and its implication on clinical outcomes is discussed.

Tratamiento psicológico de la tartamudez crónica: estudio descriptivo de cinco casos clínicos

Persistent stuttering is defined by the permanence of disfluencies and the presence of cognitive, behavioral, and communication factors that contribute to maintaining and aggravating it. Therefore, clinical treatment should focus on improving speech fluency, ensuring generalization of the new prosodic pattern, and managing dysfunctional thoughts and social and communicative avoidance behaviors that help maintain the problem and cause significant loss of quality of life in patients. ObjectiveThe main objective is to measure the efficacy of a standardized treatment focused on speech fluency and psychological aspects for adult patients with persistent stuttering. Material and methodsAnalytical clinical study of the results of the psychological intervention. An evaluation of all aspects involved in persistent stuttering was carried out using validated instruments and speech recording. The protocol of a clinical treatment for chronic stuttering was applied. ResultsSpeech fluency in spontaneous speech and reading samples and the OASES questionnaire subscales from five stuttering patients aged 21-25years were assessed. The treatment reduced the percentage of stuttered syllables in all cases, both in speaking and reading, as well as a reduction in scores on all OASES subscales. ConclusionClinical results obtained indicate the efficacy of the protocol used to modify the frequency of stuttering and other associated behaviors. Some considerations of interest for therapists of chronic stuttering are exposed.

Phonetic transcription of spontaneous children's speech with the aid of software: a systematic review

The aim of the study was to identify, synthesize and classify the software currently available that can help in the task of phonetic transcription of the spontaneous speech of pre-school children to evaluate the development of children's language. A systematic review was performed for articles published, for the 10-year period (June 2010 to June 2020), without restrictions as to location and language, using the Cochrane, Pubmed and Web of Science databases. The terms used in the search strategies were "phonological", "phonetic", "transcription", "computer" and "software". The studies were selected by two independent reviewers using pre-defined search strategies. In the initial search, after the exclusion of duplicates, 534 articles were found. By reading their titles and abstracts, 46 articles related to the theme were left, which were then read in full. After reading, 24 articles were included in the study. The results revealed a total of seven software available for the phonetic transcription of spontaneous speech from preschoolers used for different analyses: LENA and Timestamper (for babbling and pre-linguistic vocalizations), ELAN (for gestural communication, extralinguistic elements and the situational context), Phon (for phonetic and phonological analyses), CLAN and SALT (for morphosyntactic, grammatical and semantic aspects) and Praat (for acoustic measurements). Through this systematic review, it can be concluded that there are advantages to using software for phonetic transcription, sample storage, and child language analysis, especially concerning standardization and reliability for spontaneous speech samples. Phonetic transcription still relies on the ability and subjectivity of a human transcriber. The tools found in the software provide support to facilitate using phonetic symbols, audio segmentation and pairing to writing, and analysis of speech data.

Phonetic transcription of spontaneous children's speech with the aid of software: a systematic review

The aim of the study was to identify, synthesize and classify the software currently available that can help in the task of phonetic transcription of the spontaneous speech of pre-school children to evaluate the development of children's language. A systematic review was performed for articles published, for the 10-year period (June 2010 to June 2020), without restrictions as to location and language, using the Cochrane, Pubmed and Web of Science databases. The terms used in the search strategies were "phonological", "phonetic", "transcription", "computer" and "software". The studies were selected by two independent reviewers using pre-defined search strategies. In the initial search, after the exclusion of duplicates, 534 articles were found. By reading their titles and abstracts, 46 articles related to the theme were left, which were then read in full. After reading, 24 articles were included in the study. The results revealed a total of seven software available for the phonetic transcription of spontaneous speech from preschoolers used for different analyses: LENA and Timestamper (for babbling and pre-linguistic vocalizations), ELAN (for gestural communication, extralinguistic elements and the situational context), Phon (for phonetic and phonological analyses), CLAN and SALT (for morphosyntactic, grammatical and semantic aspects) and Praat (for acoustic measurements). Through this systematic review, it can be concluded that there are advantages to using software for phonetic transcription, sample storage, and child language analysis, especially concerning standardization and reliability for spontaneous speech samples. Phonetic transcription still relies on the ability and subjectivity of a human transcriber. The tools found in the software provide support to facilitate using phonetic symbols, audio segmentation and pairing to writing, and analysis of speech data.

Acquisition of stress in the speech of Ammani Arabic-speaking children

ObjectivesThe aim of this research is to examine the developmental stages of acquiring stress in the speech of Ammani Arabic-speaking children (henceforth AASC). MethodsElicited and spontaneous speech productions of 48 typically developing children were transcribed and coded with the primary stress. Words were also analyzed according to their metrical shapes. The children were divided into four age groups: (1; 0–1; 6), (1; 7–2; 0), (2; 1–2; 6), and (2; 7–3; 0). Data were collected through spontaneous speech samples and picture-naming tasks. ResultsAcquisition of stress goes through the four developmental stages until they become adult-like at the age of 3. Children misplace stress in the first two age stages, using an iambic foot in forms having a trochic shape. Thus, they place stress on a syllable with a geminate irrespective of the weight of other syllables. The stress shift stopped when children reached 30 months. Results support the neutral-start hypothesis which shows that children have no bias for any stress type; instead they use both trochaic and iambic feet at the outset of speaking. ConclusionIt was shown that adult weak forms are more likely to be omitted in children's production, and stressed and final ones are often preserved. This conforms with the widely accepted Perceptual Salience.