Comparison of Phonemic Fluency Test Results Using Different Letters among Persian Speakers

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the results obtained from phonemic fluency test using “F”1 , “A”2 , “S”3 and “L”4 , “T”5 ,”M”6 among Persian Speakers aged between 20 and 30 years. Methods: In this applied study, 76 subjects were randomly chosen. The data was analyzed separately for each subject according to the three letters: “F”, “A”, and “S” by using the routine phonemic fluency subtest of verbal fluency test and then phonemic fluency performance was gathered by using the three letters: “L”, “T” and “M” and after scoring according to Troyer method, the resultant numbers were reported after statistical analyses. For statistical analysis using SPSS 19, the distribution of data was firstly evaluated. Due to the fact that the data distribution was normal, Bonferroni test was used to compare the scores of the letters. Results: No significant gender and educational level effects were found and therefore, all further analyses were conducted without taking gender and educational level into account. Also, when the results of the three letters: “F”, “A” and “S” as a group for phonemic fluency performance and “L”, “T” and “M” letters as a different group, were integrated, a significant difference was found between the mean cluster size and switching between these two groups, while there was no significant difference between the average cluster size and cluster number. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the results of phonemic fluency test in each of the six letters are significantly different. Therefore, when using the special letters in the Persian language, it is necessary to examine all the letters for phonological sub-tests and use the simplest letters to study this function

The Performance of Bilingual and Monolingual Children on Working Memory Tasks

Objectives: The purpose of this research was to explore the possible differences in the working memory of monolingual (Persian) and bilingual (Persian-Baluchi) children. We wanted to examine if there is a statistically significant relationship between working memory and bilingualism. Methods: Four working memory (WM) tests, assessing three WM components, were administered to 140 second grade school students, of whom 70 were monolinguals (35 girls and 35 boys) and 70 were bilinguals (35 girls and 35 boys). The tests used are the following: Forward Digit Span Test, Backward Digit Span Test, Non Word Repetition Test, Maze Memory Test. The results of the two groups were analyzed with multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, aiming to find out any differences in the working memory function of bilingual and monolingual children, and to determine which group has an advantage. Results: The multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to measure various WM factors across the two language groups. The findings showed that there were significant language effects on Forward and Backward Digit Span and Non Word Repetition Task (p‹0.001), and no significant language effects on Maze Memory (p›0.001). Discussion: This study revealed that bilingual children had a better WM, which holds processes and updates information over short periods of time, than monolingual children

The effect of bilingualism on the processing of clustering and switching in verbal fluency tasks

Background: This study examined the effect of bilingualism on the processing of clustering and switching in verbal fluency tasks in Farsi-Balochi bilinguals. Methods: Ninety participants entered this study, including 45 Farsi monolinguals and 45 Farsi-Balochi bilinguals. All participants were male university students between the ages of 18 to 24 years. Verbal fluency tests were performed and the clustering and switching scores were calculated. Data was analyzed in SPSS-16 software. Results: The monolingual group obtained a score of 32.84 in the total semantic fluency task and 24.13 in the phonemic fluency task, while the bilingual group obtained 30.70 in the semantic task and 29.37 in the phonemic task. The number of switches between the clusters and the mean cluster size were 35.82 and 2.6 in the monolingual group and 38.65 and 2.26 in the bilingual group, respectively. The difference between groups in phonemic fluency, phonemic switching, and semantic clustering was significant (p˂0.05). Discussion: The bilingual group performed better in phonemic fluency and switched more between the clusters. Meanwhile, the monolinguals produced more words in each cluster than the bilinguals

The Performance of Bilingual and Monolingual Children on Working Memory Tasks

Objectives: The purpose of this research was to explore the possible differences in the working memory of monolingual (Persian) and bilingual  (Persian-Baluchi) children. We wanted to examine if there is a statistically significant relationship between working memory and bilingualism. Methods: Four working memory (WM) tests, assessing three WM components, were administered to 140 second grade school students, of whom 70 were  monolinguals (35 girls and 35 boys) and 70 were bilinguals (35 girls and 35 boys). The tests used are the following: Forward Digit Span Test, Backward Digit Span Test, Non Word Repetition Test, Maze Memory Test. The results of the two groups were analyzed with multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, aiming to find out any differences in the working memory function of bilingual and monolingual children, and to determine which group has an advantage. Results: The multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to measure various WM factors across the two language groups. The findings showed that there were significant language effects on Forward and Backward Digit Span and Non Word Repetition Task (P0.001). Discussion: This study revealed that bilingual children had a better WM, which holds processes and updates information over short periods of time, than monolingual children

Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Dysphagia Handicap Index (DHI)

Introduction: The Dysphagia Handicap Index (DHI) is one of the instruments used for measuring a dysphagic patient’s self-assessment. In some ways, it reflects the patient’s quality of life. Although it has been recognized and widely applied in English speaking populations, it has not been used in its present forms in Persian speaking countries. The purpose of this study was to adapt a Persian version of the DHI and to evaluate its validity, consistency, and reliability in the Persian population with oropharyngeal dysphagia.   Materials and Methods: Some stages for cross-cultural adaptation were performed, which consisted in translation, synthesis, back translation, review by an expert committee, and final proof reading. The generated Persian DHI was administered to 85 patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia and 89 control subjects at Zahedan city between May 2013 and August 2013. The patients and control subjects answered the same questionnaire 2 weeks later to verify the test-retest reliability. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were evaluated. The results of the patients and the control group were compared.   Results: The Persian DHI showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficients range from 0.82 to 0.94). Also, good test-retest reliability was found for the total scores of the Persian DHI (r=0.89). There was a significant difference between the DHI scores of the control group and those of the oropharyngeal dysphagia group (P‹0.001).   Conclusion:  The Persian version of the DHI achieved Face and translation validity. This study demonstrated that the Persian DHI is a valid tool for self-assessment of the handicapping effects of dysphagia on the physical, functional, and emotional aspects of patient life and can be a useful tool for screening and treatment planning for the Persian-speaking dysphagic patients, regardless of the cause or the severity of the dysphagia

The effect of nasalization on /a/ vowel formants before and after nasal consonant in 4-9-year old normal Persian speaking children

Background and Aim : Nasalization of a vowel refers to the addition of nasal resonance to the vocal tract transfer function. Also, vowel nasalization occurs because of coarticulation. Coupling of the nasal resonating space to the oropharyngeal cavity alters the vocal tract formants in complex ways. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of nasalization on /a/ vowel formants in before and after nasal consonant.Methods: In current cross-sectional study, voice samples of 60 normal children ranging the age of four-nine years were investigated. Participants were asked to repeat / ʔ ama/ three times and vowel /a/ after presentation of an auditory model. Then, obtained samples were analyzed using Praat 5.3.13 . Average of F0, F1, F2 and F3 were calculated for /a/ comes before and after /m/ in production of / ʔ ama/ over three trials.Results: There were statistically significant differences of F1, F2 and F3 between / a/ which proceeds nasal consonant and /a/ follows nasal consonant , the before nasal consonant /a/ versus single /a/ and the after nasal consonant /a/ versus single /a/ (p=0.001 for all).Conclusion : F1, F2 and F3 in /a/ before nasal consonant affected by anticipatory nasal coarticulation and in /a/ after nasal consonant affected by carry-over nasal coarticulation . This study showed nasal coarticulation and nasalization result in decreasing F1, F2 and F3 in /a/ vowel

The Effects of Intensive Speech Therapy on Non-oral Cleft Speech Characteristics and Quality of Life in Children With Cleft Palate

Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the effects of speech intervention on Non-Oral Cleft Speech Characteristics (NCSCs), intelligibility, and Quality of Life (QoL), as well as the relationship between speech variables and QOL-related variables in intensive speech therapy among children with cleft palate. Methods: This single-group pre-test and post-test clinical trial study was performed on 12 Persian-speaking children with cleft palate and NCSCs aged 3-7 years. For this purpose, we used 30 sessions of speech therapy and the Persian version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PPedsQL). The pre-test and post-test assessments included perceptual assessment using the CAPS-A and QoL assessment using the Parent Proxy of the Persian version of the PPedsQL. The Wilcoxon’s test was applied to analyze group differences in the NCSCs, the intelligibility of speech, the total score of PPedsQL, physical, emotional, social, and school functions before and after providing the speech therapy. Results: The obtained results indicated that the frequency of NCSCs, the intelligibility of speech, the total score of PPedsQL, and its subscales significantly improved after the intervention (P<0.001). However, physical function presented no significant change after intensive treatment (P= 0.15). Additionally, the frequency of NCSCs had a significant negative c with a total score of PPedsQL and subscales. The intelligibility of speech was significantly and positively related to the total score of PPedsQL and its subscales. Discussion: This study demonstrated that intensive speech therapy was an effective approach in improving the intelligibility of speech and QoL in children with cleft palates. moreover, this study revealed that speech variables were significantly related to QoL variables