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Purpose: This study reports on a cross-sectional investigation of lingual coarticulation in 57 typically developing German children (4 cohorts from 3.5 to 7 years of age) as compared with 12 adults. It examines whether the organization of lingual gestures for intrasyllabic coarticulation differs as a function of age and consonantal context. Method: Using the technique of ultrasound imaging, we recorded movement of the tongue articulator during the production of pseudowords, including various vocalic and consonantal contexts. Results: Results from linear mixed-effects models show greater lingual coarticulation in all groups of children as compared with adults with a significant decrease from the kindergarten years (at ages 3, 4, and 5 years) to the end of the 1st year into primary school (at age 7 years). Additional differences in coarticulation degree were found across and within age groups as a function of the onset consonant identity (/b/, / d/, and /g/). Conclusions: Results support the view that, although coarticulation degree decreases with age, children do not organize consecutive articulatory gestures with a uniform organizational scheme (e.g., segmental or syllabic). Instead, results suggest that coarticulatory organization is sensitive to the underlying articulatory properties of the segments combined.
The development of phonological awareness, the knowledge of the structural combinatoriality of a language, has been widely investigated in relation to reading (dis)ability across languages. However, the extent to which knowledge of phonemic units may interact with spoken language organization in (transparent) alphabetical languages has hardly been investigated. The present study examined whether phonemic awareness correlates with coarticulation degree, commonly used as a metric for estimating the size of children’s production units. A speech production task was designed to test for developmental differences in intra-syllabic coarticulation degree in 41 German children from 4 to 7 years of age. The technique of ultrasound imaging allowed for comparing the articulatory foundations of children’s coarticulatory patterns. Four behavioral tasks assessing various levels of phonological awareness from large to small units and expressive vocabulary were also administered. Generalized additive modeling revealed strong interactions between children’s vocabulary and phonological awareness with coarticulatory patterns. Greater knowledge of sub-lexical units was associated with lower intra-syllabic coarticulation degree and greater differentiation of articulatory gestures for individual segments. This interaction was mostly nonlinear: an increase in children’s phonological proficiency was not systematically associated with an equivalent change in coarticulation degree. Similar findings were drawn between vocabulary and coarticulatory patterns. Overall, results suggest that the process of developing spoken language fluency involves dynamical interactions between cognitive and speech motor domains. Arguments for an integrated-interactive approach to skill development are discussed.
The development of phonological awareness, the knowledge of the structural combinatoriality of a language, has been widely investigated in relation to reading (dis)ability across languages. However, the extent to which knowledge of phonemic units may interact with spoken language organization in (transparent) alphabetical languages has hardly been investigated. The present study examined whether phonemic awareness correlates with coarticulation degree, commonly used as a metric for estimating the size of children’s production units. A speech production task was designed to test for developmental differences in intra-syllabic coarticulation degree in 41 German children from 4 to 7 years of age. The technique of ultrasound imaging allowed for comparing the articulatory foundations of children’s coarticulatory patterns. Four behavioral tasks assessing various levels of phonological awareness from large to small units and expressive vocabulary were also administered. Generalized additive modeling revealed strong interactions between children’s vocabulary and phonological awareness with coarticulatory patterns. Greater knowledge of sub-lexical units was associated with lower intra-syllabic coarticulation degree and greater differentiation of articulatory gestures for individual segments. This interaction was mostly nonlinear: an increase in children’s phonological proficiency was not systematically associated with an equivalent change in coarticulation degree. Similar findings were drawn between vocabulary and coarticulatory patterns. Overall, results suggest that the process of developing spoken language fluency involves dynamical interactions between cognitive and speech motor domains. Arguments for an integrated-interactive approach to skill development are discussed.
Sprachbildung und Deutsch als Zweitsprache (DaZ) sind in der Lehrkräftebildung für die Sekundarstufe an der Universität Potsdam bislang nicht systematisch als Querschnittsaufgabe verankert. Vor diesem Hintergrund verfolgte das Projekt „Sprachliche Heterogenität als Herausforderung in der Lehrkräftebildung“ (Leitung: Prof. Christoph Schroeder, Teilprojekt 3.2. des Projekts PSI, Laufzeit 2015-2018) das Ziel, eine fachübergreifende Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Thema anzustoßen. Zu diesem Zweck wurden in Kooperation mit fachdidaktischen Arbeitsbereichen Lehrveranstaltungen zu den Themen „Sprachliche Heterogenität“ und „Sprachbildung im Fach“ durchgeführt. Auf der Basis dieser Lehrveranstaltungen sind diese fachspezifischen Handreichungen entstanden. Als frei zugängliche Dokumente stehen sie sowohl Lehrenden als auch Studierenden als Informationsquellen zur Verfügung: Jeder thematische Unterpunkt enthält ein zentrales Schaubild oder Zitat, das mit einer knappen Erläuterung versehen ist. Für die Lehre können einzelne thematische Unterpunkte wie aus einem Baukasten ausgewählt werden, ohne dass alle Unterpunkte behandelt werden. Insbesondere die abgedruckten und transkribierten Schülerprodukte stellen einen Materialfundus für eine kompetenzorientierte und anwendungsbezogene Lehrkräftebildung im Bereich Sprachbildung / DaZ dar.