SPEECH DEFECTS IN YOUNG CHILDREN. By Carolyn E.
Hibbing,
Morrison,
Minn.
If the worth of an ounce of prevention is to be realized in our the time must surely come soon when as careful examinations will be accorded every child as are now advocated for those who are "suspected" of social unfitness. In a study of some of the causes of retardation in the first grade, the attention of the writer was called to the presence of many
public schools,
defects among the children. Speech defects rarely receive much attention from either parents or teachers until the habits are so firmly fixed that' a long period of training is necessary for their
speech
correction. For this reason there was undertaken a careful examination of the speech habits of each of the two hundred eighteen children in four kindergarten and four first primary classes. The first At that time in the primary tests were made in October, 1913. classes there were but eight children who were over seven years of age and the
majority of them were a little over six. In the kinderwere only a very few over six and none under five The majority had just passed their fifth birthday. years of age. As most authorities agree that speech habits become fairly well
garten there
fixed at the age of four years, it seemed reasonable to suppose that incorrect habits persisting at five and six years of age might in many cases remain uncorrected if the child were given no assistance in' forming correct habits. The method employed in the analysis of the speech habits was that used in the A list of
vania.
Psychological Clinic nearly one hundred
at the
words
University of Pennsylchosen, containing
was
all the common combinations of the consonant sounds both as initial and final elements in syllabic formations. The words were such as could be illustrated by pictures which were pasted upon cards. Pictures of interest to small children were selected and arranged in such a way that either the picture itself or a question in regard to it would call forth from the child a response using the sound or comIn this way any imitation was bination of sounds to be tested. avoided and the child's habitual forms of articulation were secured. and responses were typical: "What is that?" "What color is that?" "Blue," or "Red". "What is the little girl doing?" "Smelling the flowers." The tests were given by two of the kindergarten assistants,
The following "A squirrel."
questions
(138)
SPEECH DEFECTS IN YOUNG CHILDREN.
139
Miss Olive Paine and Miss Grace McGee, and the writer, all of There was therefore no elewhom were known to the children. ment of strangeness for the children and the pictures were greatly enjoyed. Each child was removed from the class and tested alone. In recording results the word given incorrectly was written down, but minor defects, such as the weakened aspirate in "wheel", the of the final g in "ing", and others of a similar nature were not considered. Only those sounds that by omission or by substitution tended to mark the child by what is commonly known as "crooked" talking were recorded. "Dis" for "this", "gled" for "red", "poon" for "spoon", "fowers" for "flowers", and "tat" for
clipping
"cat"
were
the type of
errors
recorded.
No. of Errors
Subject 1
ch
1
g
2 3
ch
k
f
1
4
r
s
r
s
r
s
r
s
sh sh
sh
5
th
7
th th th th
4 7 3 3 1
6
7 8
ch ch
k
f f
1
r
10
s
22
s
4 2
sh
th
3
th th
3
1 s s
k k
ch ch
1 1 1 1
ch ch ch
k
f f
g
1
k
ch
25 26 27 28
s
r
s
th th
r
s
th
r
sh
th
s
r
s
r
s
r
sh sh
th th
s s
1 1
11
5
2
6
12
2 1
r
s
23 24
4
ch
13 14 15 17 18 19 20 21
sh
10
th th th
s
11
16
sh
s
1 1
9
12
s
th
s
13
23
9
18
y w
y
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
140
The results when tabulated showed that of the 218 children tested, 107, or 49 per cent, did not give the th sounds correctly. As this is one of the latest sounds to be correctly learned by young children and as about one-third of the children were from homes were languages that do not contain the sound were spoken, no further study of those children was undertaken, except that which will be mentioned under treatment. When the children failing only in the th sound were eliminated, there were left 28 children, or 12.8 per cent of all tested who showed marked defects of articulation. The errors and their frequency are shown in the accompanying table. This table shows that aside from the th incorrect habits were shown most often in the use of ch as in "chair", h or hard c, I, r, s and sh, all of which are among the more difficult sounds. The incorrect sounds used by any one child ranged from one to ten. Some of the worst talkers, however, were deficient in but a few sounds as in the case of No. 27. This boy gave "dink" for "drink",
"gled" for "red", "olange" for "orange", "bubbun" for "bubble", "bottun" for "bottle", and "Chlistmas" for "Christmas" which together with nasalizing and lack of force in pronouncing the throat sounds made his speech so defective that it was difficult to understand much of his ordinary conversation. A second test was made with these twenty-eight children by pronouncing for them the words that each had missed and having each repeat the word as best he could after having heard its correct form. Practically none of the sounds were corrected from simply hearing the correct forms. Many of the children of the group appeared below the normal in and there were many evidences of imperfect air channels of the mouth, nose, and pharynx which would be likely to initiate the improper use of the vocal organs. Each child, therefore,
physical vigor
was
given
a
physical
examination.
The table
following
shows the
results: Children examined
28
Adenoids
25 21
Enlarged tonsils Enlarged glands Tongue-tied Thickened tongue Very narrow and ill-formed throat Broadly separated and ill-formed teeth Clean bill of health
15 3 2 1 1 1
SPEECH DEFECTS IN YOUNG CHILDREN.
141
Five months later when the membership of these eight classes had been slightly changed by the dropping out of some pupils and the entrance of others, the teachers of the classes were asked to rank their pupils as nearly as they could according to general intel-
ligence. Rank 1 indicated children of exceptional ability, rank 2 bright children, rank 3 children of average ability, rank 4 dull or slow children, and rank 5 borderline children, or mental defectives. The following is the distribution: Rank.
6 per cent
1 2
22
3 4
38 31
5
3
ranking was made by the teachers for other purposes and reference at this time to the children with speech defects. From the list of rankings the rankings of the 25 of the 28 children who then remained in the classes were taken. None were found in the group ranked highest, two were in the second group, six were in the third group, fifteen were in the fourth group and two in the group ranked as lowest. As the whole group used in the This
with
no
ranking test was not precisely the same group as that used in the first speech test it is not fair to state the per cent of speech defectives in each of the groups of the ranking. There was, however but slight change in the group and there is no reason to suppose that the general character of the group was changed. It is, therefore, safe to say that approximately the 6 per cent of exceptional children showed no speech defects, the 22 per cent of those called bright furnished only 8 per cent of those with speech defects; the 38 per cent of average children, 24 per cent; the 31 per cent of dull or slow children, 60 per cent; and the 3 per cent of the lowest class, 8 per cent of those having speech defects. The ratios are as follows: Exceptional.
Bright.
0
.36
Average.
.63
Dull.
Defective.
1.93
2.66
The results of the examination of these 218 children showed that there were a considerable number who needed more or less attention to insure correct habits of speech and that there was a close correlation between speech defectiveness and physical defects and general mental ability.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
142
Treatment. and the physical examination had A list of familiar words involving the uses of th was selected and given to each of the eight teachers with the names of the children defective in those sounds alone. Instruction was given to these children as groups and the difficulties The remaining twenty-eight children were were quickly remedied. given individual instruction by the writer, each child receiving an average of ten lessons of about three minutes each, extending over a period of about three weeks. At the end of that time all but four of the children were able to place the vocal organs in correct position and to give the sounds correctly, but most of them were not yet As
been
soon as
the
given, training
speech tests was begun.
able to refrain from falling into incorrect habits when away from Of the four remaining children two were absent the instructor. No. 27 had not yet learned to give I and r because of illness. correctly in words, and No. 26 was still using sh for s because of the position of the teeth. At this time it was necessary to hand the Each teacher was given the to the classroom teachers. of the three or four of these children in her room with a list of words for each child containing the sounds in the use of which he Where possible the teachers also secured the was deficient. co-operation of the parents, which in many cases was hearty. Each work
over
names
teacher devoted but a very few moments per day to each child The time spent either within or outside of regular class periods. was relatively small but the work was directed toward the individual child needing it and not given in the form of the usual enunciation drill which includes both the children who do and the children who do not need it. At the end of four months, twenty-one of these children were Nine were practically cured, nine showed marked re-examined.
improvement, and three appeared unimprovable.
showed little or no improvement. None There is no evidence to indicate how much these children would in time have corrected their own speech, but there is every reason to believe that many of them would have continued in the faulty habits long enough to have seriously interfered with both the oral and written
language
work of the
early grades.
Hibbing,
Morrison,
Minn.
If the worth of an ounce of prevention is to be realized in our the time must surely come soon when as careful examinations will be accorded every child as are now advocated for those who are "suspected" of social unfitness. In a study of some of the causes of retardation in the first grade, the attention of the writer was called to the presence of many
public schools,
defects among the children. Speech defects rarely receive much attention from either parents or teachers until the habits are so firmly fixed that' a long period of training is necessary for their
speech
correction. For this reason there was undertaken a careful examination of the speech habits of each of the two hundred eighteen children in four kindergarten and four first primary classes. The first At that time in the primary tests were made in October, 1913. classes there were but eight children who were over seven years of age and the
majority of them were a little over six. In the kinderwere only a very few over six and none under five The majority had just passed their fifth birthday. years of age. As most authorities agree that speech habits become fairly well
garten there
fixed at the age of four years, it seemed reasonable to suppose that incorrect habits persisting at five and six years of age might in many cases remain uncorrected if the child were given no assistance in' forming correct habits. The method employed in the analysis of the speech habits was that used in the A list of
vania.
Psychological Clinic nearly one hundred
at the
words
University of Pennsylchosen, containing
was
all the common combinations of the consonant sounds both as initial and final elements in syllabic formations. The words were such as could be illustrated by pictures which were pasted upon cards. Pictures of interest to small children were selected and arranged in such a way that either the picture itself or a question in regard to it would call forth from the child a response using the sound or comIn this way any imitation was bination of sounds to be tested. avoided and the child's habitual forms of articulation were secured. and responses were typical: "What is that?" "What color is that?" "Blue," or "Red". "What is the little girl doing?" "Smelling the flowers." The tests were given by two of the kindergarten assistants,
The following "A squirrel."
questions
(138)
SPEECH DEFECTS IN YOUNG CHILDREN.
139
Miss Olive Paine and Miss Grace McGee, and the writer, all of There was therefore no elewhom were known to the children. ment of strangeness for the children and the pictures were greatly enjoyed. Each child was removed from the class and tested alone. In recording results the word given incorrectly was written down, but minor defects, such as the weakened aspirate in "wheel", the of the final g in "ing", and others of a similar nature were not considered. Only those sounds that by omission or by substitution tended to mark the child by what is commonly known as "crooked" talking were recorded. "Dis" for "this", "gled" for "red", "poon" for "spoon", "fowers" for "flowers", and "tat" for
clipping
"cat"
were
the type of
errors
recorded.
No. of Errors
Subject 1
ch
1
g
2 3
ch
k
f
1
4
r
s
r
s
r
s
r
s
sh sh
sh
5
th
7
th th th th
4 7 3 3 1
6
7 8
ch ch
k
f f
1
r
10
s
22
s
4 2
sh
th
3
th th
3
1 s s
k k
ch ch
1 1 1 1
ch ch ch
k
f f
g
1
k
ch
25 26 27 28
s
r
s
th th
r
s
th
r
sh
th
s
r
s
r
s
r
sh sh
th th
s s
1 1
11
5
2
6
12
2 1
r
s
23 24
4
ch
13 14 15 17 18 19 20 21
sh
10
th th th
s
11
16
sh
s
1 1
9
12
s
th
s
13
23
9
18
y w
y
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
140
The results when tabulated showed that of the 218 children tested, 107, or 49 per cent, did not give the th sounds correctly. As this is one of the latest sounds to be correctly learned by young children and as about one-third of the children were from homes were languages that do not contain the sound were spoken, no further study of those children was undertaken, except that which will be mentioned under treatment. When the children failing only in the th sound were eliminated, there were left 28 children, or 12.8 per cent of all tested who showed marked defects of articulation. The errors and their frequency are shown in the accompanying table. This table shows that aside from the th incorrect habits were shown most often in the use of ch as in "chair", h or hard c, I, r, s and sh, all of which are among the more difficult sounds. The incorrect sounds used by any one child ranged from one to ten. Some of the worst talkers, however, were deficient in but a few sounds as in the case of No. 27. This boy gave "dink" for "drink",
"gled" for "red", "olange" for "orange", "bubbun" for "bubble", "bottun" for "bottle", and "Chlistmas" for "Christmas" which together with nasalizing and lack of force in pronouncing the throat sounds made his speech so defective that it was difficult to understand much of his ordinary conversation. A second test was made with these twenty-eight children by pronouncing for them the words that each had missed and having each repeat the word as best he could after having heard its correct form. Practically none of the sounds were corrected from simply hearing the correct forms. Many of the children of the group appeared below the normal in and there were many evidences of imperfect air channels of the mouth, nose, and pharynx which would be likely to initiate the improper use of the vocal organs. Each child, therefore,
physical vigor
was
given
a
physical
examination.
The table
following
shows the
results: Children examined
28
Adenoids
25 21
Enlarged tonsils Enlarged glands Tongue-tied Thickened tongue Very narrow and ill-formed throat Broadly separated and ill-formed teeth Clean bill of health
15 3 2 1 1 1
SPEECH DEFECTS IN YOUNG CHILDREN.
141
Five months later when the membership of these eight classes had been slightly changed by the dropping out of some pupils and the entrance of others, the teachers of the classes were asked to rank their pupils as nearly as they could according to general intel-
ligence. Rank 1 indicated children of exceptional ability, rank 2 bright children, rank 3 children of average ability, rank 4 dull or slow children, and rank 5 borderline children, or mental defectives. The following is the distribution: Rank.
6 per cent
1 2
22
3 4
38 31
5
3
ranking was made by the teachers for other purposes and reference at this time to the children with speech defects. From the list of rankings the rankings of the 25 of the 28 children who then remained in the classes were taken. None were found in the group ranked highest, two were in the second group, six were in the third group, fifteen were in the fourth group and two in the group ranked as lowest. As the whole group used in the This
with
no
ranking test was not precisely the same group as that used in the first speech test it is not fair to state the per cent of speech defectives in each of the groups of the ranking. There was, however but slight change in the group and there is no reason to suppose that the general character of the group was changed. It is, therefore, safe to say that approximately the 6 per cent of exceptional children showed no speech defects, the 22 per cent of those called bright furnished only 8 per cent of those with speech defects; the 38 per cent of average children, 24 per cent; the 31 per cent of dull or slow children, 60 per cent; and the 3 per cent of the lowest class, 8 per cent of those having speech defects. The ratios are as follows: Exceptional.
Bright.
0
.36
Average.
.63
Dull.
Defective.
1.93
2.66
The results of the examination of these 218 children showed that there were a considerable number who needed more or less attention to insure correct habits of speech and that there was a close correlation between speech defectiveness and physical defects and general mental ability.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
142
Treatment. and the physical examination had A list of familiar words involving the uses of th was selected and given to each of the eight teachers with the names of the children defective in those sounds alone. Instruction was given to these children as groups and the difficulties The remaining twenty-eight children were were quickly remedied. given individual instruction by the writer, each child receiving an average of ten lessons of about three minutes each, extending over a period of about three weeks. At the end of that time all but four of the children were able to place the vocal organs in correct position and to give the sounds correctly, but most of them were not yet As
been
soon as
the
given, training
speech tests was begun.
able to refrain from falling into incorrect habits when away from Of the four remaining children two were absent the instructor. No. 27 had not yet learned to give I and r because of illness. correctly in words, and No. 26 was still using sh for s because of the position of the teeth. At this time it was necessary to hand the Each teacher was given the to the classroom teachers. of the three or four of these children in her room with a list of words for each child containing the sounds in the use of which he Where possible the teachers also secured the was deficient. co-operation of the parents, which in many cases was hearty. Each work
over
names
teacher devoted but a very few moments per day to each child The time spent either within or outside of regular class periods. was relatively small but the work was directed toward the individual child needing it and not given in the form of the usual enunciation drill which includes both the children who do and the children who do not need it. At the end of four months, twenty-one of these children were Nine were practically cured, nine showed marked re-examined.
improvement, and three appeared unimprovable.
showed little or no improvement. None There is no evidence to indicate how much these children would in time have corrected their own speech, but there is every reason to believe that many of them would have continued in the faulty habits long enough to have seriously interfered with both the oral and written
language
work of the
early grades.
