Speech intelligibility in multilingual spaces

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Stochastic phonological grammars and acceptability

In foundational works of generative phonology it is claimed that subjects can reliably discriminate between possible but non-occurring words and words that could not be English. In this paper we examine the use of a probabilistic phonological parser for words to model experimentally-obtained judgements of the acceptability of a set of nonsense words. We compared various methods of scoring the goodness of the parse as a predictor of acceptability. We found that the probability of the worst part is not the best score of acceptability, indicating that classical generative phonology and Optimality Theory miss an important fact, as these approaches do not recognise a mechanism by which the frequency of well-formed parts may ameliorate the unacceptability of low-frequency parts. We argue that probabilistic generative grammars are demonstrably a more psychologically realistic model of phonological competence than standard generative phonology or Optimality Theory.Comment: compressed postscript, 8 pages, 1 figur

A summary of research relating to second and third grade reading

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston UniversityPURPOSE: To discover the reliability of the adjustment scale using two raters. This study was conducted to help determine whether the instrument used in this study gives a reliable measure of classroom adjustment. PROCEDURE: The teacher checklist of classroom adjustment devised at Boston University School of Education was the instrument used. The instrument was built to follow the activities of a normal classroom day [TRUNCATED

Children's naming and word-finding difficulties: descriptions and explanations

Purpose: There are a substantial minority of children for whom lexical retrieval problems impede the normal pattern of language development and use. These problems include accurately producing the correct word even when the word?s meaning is understood; such children are often referred to as having word-finding difficulties (WFDs). This review examines the nature of naming and lexical retrieval difficulties in these and other groups of children. Method: A review of the relevant literature on lexical access difficulties in children with word finding difficulties was conducted. Studies were examined in the terms of population parameters and comparison groups included in the study. Results and Conclusions: Most discussions of the cognitive processes causing lexical retrieval difficulties have referred to semantics, phonology and processing speed. It is argued that our understanding of these topics will be further advanced by the use of appropriate methodology to test developmental models that both identify the processes in successfully performing different lexical retrieval tasks and more precisely locating the difficulties experienced by children with such tasks

Test para la identificación de Señales de Dislexia: Evidencia de la Validez de Criterio

In Brazil, there is a lack of valid instruments for screening for Developmental Dyslexia (DD) and so the aim of this study was an in-depth investigation of evidence of validity based on the relations with external variables for the Identifying Signs of Dyslexia Test (TISD). More specifically, it seeks to investigate the validity of the criterion, i.e. whether such instruments would be capable of identifying this diagnosis. The research involved comparing two samples: (a) children with DD diagnosis (n = 15) and (b) children without complaints of reading and writing difficulties (n = 146). It was found that in all the subtests of which the instrument is made up (reading, writing, visual attention, calculation, motor skills, phonological awareness, rapid naming, short term memory) there were significant differences between the groups, and in the test total. The results suggest that the TISD was able to identify the group with DD, evidencing the validity of the criterion for this instrument.No Brasil há escassez de instrumentos validados para triagem da Dislexia do Desenvolvimento (DD), dessa forma, o presente estudo objetivou investigar mais profundamente evidências de validade baseadas nas relações com variáveis externas para o Teste para Identificação de Sinais de Dislexia (TISD). Especificamente, buscou-se investigar a validade de critério, ou seja, se tal instrumento seria capaz de identificar esse diagnóstico. A pesquisa envolveu a comparação de duas amostras: (a) crianças com diagnóstico de DD (n = 15) e (b) crianças sem queixas de dificuldades em leitura e escrita (n = 146). Verificou-se que em todos os subtestes que compõem o instrumento (leitura, escrita, atenção visual, cálculo, habilidades motoras, consciência fonológica, nomeação rápida, memória de curto prazo) houve diferenças significativas entre os grupos, bem como no total do teste. Os resultados sugeriram que o TISD foi capaz de indicar o grupo com DD, o que evidencia validade de critério para tal instrumento.En Brasil hay escasez de instrumentos validados para clasificar la Dislexia del Desarrollo (DD), de esta forma, el presente estudio objetivó investigar más profundamente evidencias de validez basadas en las relaciones con variables externas para la Prueba para Identificación de Señales de Dislexia (PISD). Específicamente, se buscó investigar la validez de criterio, o sea, si tal instrumento fuera capaz de identificar ese diagnóstico. La investigación incluyó la comparación de dos muestras: (a) niños con diagnóstico de DD (n = 15) y (b) niños sin quejas de dificultades en lectura y escritura (n = 146). Se verificó que en todas las subpruebas que componen el instrumento (lectura, escrita, atención visual, cálculo, habilidades motoras, conciencia fonológica, nombramiento rápido, memoria de corto plazo) hubo diferencias significativas entre los grupos, así como en el total de la prueba. Los resultados sugirieron que la PISD fue capaz de indicar el grupo con DD, que evidencia validez de criterio para tal instrumento