Stuttering-Like Disfluencies in Phonological Words in Preschool Children Who Stutter

Chon, HeeCheong

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2010;15(3): 422-432.

HeeCheong Chon^`

전희정(HeeCheong Chon)

ABSTRACT

Background & Objectives
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the loci of stuttering in preschool children who stutter (CWS) and to determine whether the EXPLAN model could be applied to Korean.
Methods
Eighteen CWS participated in the present study and were separated into two groups: 2- to 3-year-olds and 4- to 5-year-olds. The participants’ speech samples were collected and transcribed, and stuttering-like disfluencies (SLD: single-syllable word repetitions, part-word repetitions, prolongations and blocking) were noted. Each word in the samples was classified as either a content word or a function word. Following Howell and colleagues, the rules of phonological words were applied to the speech samples. Stuttering rates of content and function words in overall speech samples, as well as those within the phonological words, were calculated.
Results
There were significantly higher rates of stuttering on content words compared to those of function words in overall speech samples regardless of age group. The most frequent type of phonological word was ‘content word (C) + function word (F).’ The younger-age group revealed a higher stuttering rate for a ‘C’ structure, whereas the older-age group showed a higher rate for ‘C+F’ structure. There was no significant difference in stuttering rate between content words and function word(s) which preceded a content word in the structure of ‘Fpre+C+Fpost.’
Discussion & Conclusion
Significantly more stuttering episodes on content words may be related to different morphological and syntactic characteristics in Korean children. Additionally, the lack of significant differences in the stuttering rate between C and Fpre in the ‘Fpre+C+Fpost’form implies that the loci of stuttering may be among languages and that the EXPLAN model, may not be fully applied to Korean children. (Korean Journal of Communication Disorders 2010;15;422-432)