The Effects of Word Length, Word Frequency, and Phonetic Complexity on Dyspraxic Speech Production

Author

Deanna Davis, Fontbonne College

Year of Award

1978

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

College

College of Education & Allied Health

Department

Communication Disorders and Deaf Education

First Advisor

Sherry Howard

Keywords

errors, polysyllabic, phonetic, phoneme, impairment

Abstract

There are several factors which influence error variability in dyspraxia. A review of the literature revealed that there are many unanswered questions regarding the variability of error production in dyspraxia. From the studies reviewed, the variables such as word length, phonemic complexity, and word frequency are usually combined with another factor in effecting error production. However, it has not been determined if any one of these factors alone is enough to influence the direction of errors, or whether there is a significant interaction of these factors. It should be determined which combination of variables produce the highest and lowest error production in dyspraxic patients. Determining these combinations may show whether errors are random or whether there are specific patterns which cause error variability. A study comparing the combination of word frequency, word length, and phonemic complexity on error variability has not been reported. Therefore, the present research was designed to test the following research hypothesis: There is a significant difference in the effect on dyspraxic speech production between the following factors: 1) high frequency and low frequency words 2) high complexity and low complexity words 3 ) monosyllabic and polysyllabic words.

Document Type

Restricted Thesis

Recommended Citation

Davis, Deanna, "The Effects of Word Length, Word Frequency, and Phonetic Complexity on Dyspraxic Speech Production" (1978). All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects. 40.
https://griffinshare.fontbonne.edu/all-etds/40