Production of word structures : a constraint-based study of 2;6 year old Finnish children at-risk for dyslexia and their controls

Abstract

This study investigates Finnish children's phonological acquisition from a constraint-based account. An aim was to construct a hierarchical model in which different levels from word, syllable, phonotactic through to phoneme level were taken into account. The model is implicatory indicating that prosodic elements govern phonotactical and phoneme level elements in the acquisition of word structures. Secondly, a purpose was to compare children at-risk for dyslexia (N=105) and their controls (N=91) in order to find possible early precursors of familial dyslexia. In addition, subgroups of late talkers were studied in order to explore the developmental aspect of acquisition of word structures. Cross-sectional naming task data at age 2; 6 were used to provide normative information and to compare the phonological skills of the different groups. The results showed that at-risk children had a lower number of target-like productions in several word-specific analyses, however, using a more general phonological scoring based on the same naming task data, at-risk children did not prove to be significantly weaker than controls. Late talkers were less advanced than other children in all analyses. The relationship between early phonological ability and later reading skills was further examined in a retrospective analysis of poor, middle and good readers, a division based on a test measuring word recognition skills at age 7. The results found that poor readers were significantly weaker in the prosodic as well as in some phonotactical analyses. This result indicates a correlation between early phonology and later reading skills and supports an analysis based on a hierarchical model of word structure

Pirjo Turusen väitöstutkimuksen mukaan lasten tuottamat sanarakenteet kehittyvät yksinkertaisista kaksitavuisista muodoista monimutkaisempiin rakenteisiin. Uutta tutkimuksessa on se, että lasten tuottamia sanoja tarkasteltiin usealta eri tasolta: Sanat eivät ole vain äänteiden jonoja vaan lapsen täytyy oppia kielen rakenteesta myös rytmi ja painotus, sanojen tavumäärä, tavurakenteet, diftongit ja konsonanttiyhtymät. Tutkimus antaa uutta tietoa sekä kielen kehityksen tutkijoille että lapsen kielen kehityksen parissa työskenteleville. Tutkimuksessa mallinnettiin suomalaisten lasten kielenomaksumista. Siinä selvitettiin myös erityisryhmien kielitaitoa kahden vuoden ja kuuden kuukauden iässä.