Browsing by Author "Nonis, P.D.M."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Developing and validating a Sinhala phonology assessment for children aged between 3 to 6 years: trends observed and lessons learnt
(Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, 2014) Nonis, P.D.M.; Ranaweera, M.; Saleem, S.; Udugama, K.L.L.G.; Lokubalasuriya, T.; Hettiarachchi, S.
Clinical experience of speech and language therapists working in Sri Lanka has put into question the current reliance on norms for English (Grunwell, 1985) to determine a child’s speech skills and phonological acquisition in Sinhala. Cross-linguistic studies have revealed differences in ‘universal principles’ and ‘language-specific’ aspects (Amayreh & Dyson, 1998). At present, there is an urgent need to develop and validate formal language-specific standardized assessments for speech and phonology for Sinhala. The aims of the study were; 1)to develop and validate test items for a Sinhala speech and phonology assessment for children aged between 3;0 to 6;0 years, 2)to document the typical phoneme acquisition and typical phonological processes in Sinhala-speaking children aged between 3;0 to 6;0 years. The ‘Sinhala Speech and Phonology Assessment’ was devised based on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (Dodd et al. 2002) and administered to 250 Sinhala-speaking children between the ages 3;0 to 6;00 years. The use of test items were determined by measures of content validity, test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability. The trajectory of Sinhala speech sound acquisition showed universal sound acquisition sequences and language-specific features in both the order and rate of speech sound development. The sequence of speech sound acquisition for Sinhala showed early acquisition of plosives and some nasals with comparatively later acquisition of fricatives, the palatal nasal and flap/tap sound. Language-specific phonological processes of lateralization and denasalisation of prenasalised stops were also evident. The test items demonstrated effectiveness at generating target speech data and typical phoneme and phonological development in children between 3;0 to 6;0.
A study of phonetic and phonological development of Sinhala speaking children in the Puttalam district age 3:0-3:11 years
(University of Kelaniya, 2013) Nonis, P.D.M.; Hettiarachchi, S.
Introduction: Normative data on speech development are essential to differentiate children with speech difficulties from typically developing children. Due to the lack of normative data on Sinhala, currently, clinicians depend on norms established for English. But the normative data for English cannot be applied to Sinhala speaking children due to language specific features. Objectives: The main objectives of the study are to document the sounds in the phonetic inventory and phonological processes used by Sinhala speaking children between 3:0- 3:11 years. It also focused on identifying whether gender or maternal education has any impact on the development of speech. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used in this study. 80 monolingual Sinhala speaking children from five different areas in the Puttalam district participated. They were selected from the two age bands (3;0-3;5 and 3;6- 3;11 years). Children’s speech abilities were assessed using an informal picture based assessment tool developed for Sinhala, based on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (Dodd et al 2003). Results: Sinhala speaking children have acquired all vowels by 3:0 years. The order of acquisition of consonants is consistent with that of English speaking children. Stop sounds, approximants, lateral sounds and nasals including /m/ and /n/ emerged first in Sinhala- speaking children. Fricatives and trills were found to be later sounds. However, none of the pre-nasalised stop sounds were used by 3:11 year olds. The phonological processes used by children showed universal and language - specific patterns. Denasalisation of pre-nasalised stops and lateralisation were found as language specific error patterns in Sinhala speakig children. Conclusions: The study revealed significant effects of age and maternal education on phonological development. The findings of this study can be used to make tentative, yet clear diagnoses of Sinhala – speaking children with speech difficulties, and in planning and implementing intervention.
A study of phonetic and phonological development of Sinhala speaking children in the Puttalam district aged 3;0-3;11 years
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2014) Nonis, P.D.M.; Hettiarachchi, S.