An Investigation of Effect of Non-word Length and Syllable Structure on Frequency of Disfluency in Adults with Stuttering

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 MSc in Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD Student in Speech Therapy, Academic Member, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Rehabilitation Research Center, Department of Rehabilitation Management, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Abstract

Purpose:
Stuttering is one of the most prevalent speech and language disorders. Etiology of stuttering has been surveyed from different aspects such as biological, developmental, environmental, emotional, learning and linguistic. Literature shows that word length and syllable structure as linguistic features may influence frequency of disfluency in this disorder. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of non-word length and syllable structure on frequency of disfluency in adults with stuttering.
Methods:
This cross- sectional descriptive- analytic study was performed on 18 adults who stutter with the age ranged between 20 to 39 years. Disfluency frequency was evaluated by asking the subjects to read a list contained 24 non- words. The non-words were selected based on word length (two and five syllables) and syllable structure (simple and difficult). The obtained data were statistically analyzed through paired t-test using SPSS statistical software.
Results:
The results showed that there was a significant difference between the frequency of disfluency in two and five syllable groups of non-words list (p=0.000). There was a significant difference in the frequency of disfluency between simple and difficult syllable structure in two and five syllable groups of non- words list (p=0.000).
Conclusion:
The findings of this study indicate that speech motor system performance in adults who stutter is affected by certain linguistic features such as word length and syllable structure.

Keywords

References

1. Shafiei B, Rezaei- rad A. Cluttering. Isfahan: Isfahan University of Medical Sciences; 2003:10-29. [Persian]
2. Watkins K, Smith S, Davis S, Howell P. Structural and functional abnormalities of the motor system in developmental stuttering Brain. 2008; 131(1): 50-9.
3.  Azimi T, Pooladi SH, Mahmoodi Bakhtiari B, Haghani H. Effects of the Utterance Length on Fluency of Conversational Speech in Stuttering Persian-Speaker Children and Adults. Rehabilitation Journal 2013; 14(3): 41-46. [Persian]
4.  Howell P, Au- Yeung J, Sackin S. Internal structure of content words leading to lifespan differences in phonological difficulty in stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders 2000; 5: 1-20.
5. Howell P, Au-Yeung J. The EXPLAN theory of fluency control applied to the diagnosis of stuttering. In: Fava, E., editor. Clinical Linguistics: Language Pathology, Speech Therapy, and Linguistic Theory Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science Series 4 2002; 227: 75-94.
6. Howell P. Assessment of some contemporary theories of stuttering that apply to spontaneous speech. Sci Disord 2004; 31(Contemp Issues Commun): 122–39.
7. Smith A, Sadagopan N, Walsh B, Weber-Fox C. Increasing phonological complexity reveals heightened instability in inter-articulatory coordination in adults who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders. 2010; 35(1): 1-18.
8. Bajaj A. Working memory involvement in stuttering: exploring the evidence and research implication. Journal of Fluency Disorders 2007; 32: 218-238.
9. Baddeley AD. Working memory and language: an overview. Journal of Communication Disorders 2003; 36: 189-208.
10. Wingate ME. Stuttering and word length. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 1967; 10: 146-152.
11. Eriksen CW, Pollack MD, Montague WE. Implicit speech: Mechanism in perceptual encoding. Journal of Experimental Psychology1970; 84(3):502-507.
12. Danzger M, Halpern H. Relation of stuttering to word abstraction part of speech, word length, and word frequency. Perceptual and Motor Skills 1973; 37(3): 959-962.
13. Byrda T, Anderson M, Sussman H. NNonword repetition and phoneme elision in adult who do and donot tutter. Journal of Fluency Disorder 2012; 37(3): 188-201.
14. Ludlow C, Siren K, Zirkria M. Speech production learning in adult with chronic developmental stuttering. Journal of Speech Production: Motor Control, Brain Research and Fluency Disorders 1997: 221-230.
15. Riecker A, Brendel B, Ziegler W, Erb M, Ackermann H. The influence of syllable onset complexity and syllable frequency on speech motor control. Brain and Language 2008; 107:102–113.
16. Howell P, Au-Yeung J, Yaruss S. Phonetic difficulty and stuttering in English. Clin Linguist Phon 2006; 20(9): 703-716.
17. Dayalu VN, Kalinowski J, Stuart A. Stuttering frequency on meaningful and non-meaningful words in adults who stutter. Folia Phoniatr Logop 2005; 57: 193-201.
18. Guitar B. Stuttering: an integrated approach to its nature and treatment.3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Wilkiam & Wilkins; 2006:185-195.
19. Masumi E, Arani Kashani Z, Ghorbani A, Kamail M. A study of effect word/ non-word length and syllable structure on frequency of non- fluency in adult with developmental stuttering [Thesis], Rehabilitation Faculty, Iran University of Medical Sciences, 2013:58-102.[Persian]
20. Farazi M, Tehrani L, Khodabakhshi A, Shemshadi H, Ranjbar M. Compile cognitive and speech approach protocol and determine its effectivence in treating of the adult Persian speaker who stuttering (PWS) [thesis], University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, 2011. [Persian]
21. Weber- Fox C, Spencer R, Spruill J, Smith A. Phonologic orocessing in adult who stutter: Electrophysiological and behavioral evidence. Journal of speech, Language, and Hearing Research 2004; 34: 311- 334.
22. Au-Yeung J, Howell P. Non-word reading, lexical retrieval and stuttering: Comments onPackman, Onslow, Coombes and Goodwin (2001). Clinical Linguistics& Phonetics 2002; 16(4): 287–293.
23. Brocklehurst P. A review evidence for the covert repair hypothesis of stuttering. Sci Disord 2008; 35(Contemp Issues Commun): 25-43.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Journal of Paramedical Sciences & Rehabilitation
Volume 4, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
September 2015
Pages 51-58

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics