South African English Speech Development: Preliminary Data from Typically Developing Preschool Children in Cape Town

ABSTRACT

English is one of eleven official languages in South Africa, but there is limited information on children’s acquisition of English and other languages in this context. This paper describes speech development in 308 children aged 3;0–5;11 acquiring South African English in Cape Town. The study focused on English speech acquisition, although children were grouped by language background into monolingual, isiXhosa bilingual, Afrikaans bilingual and trilingual groups. The primary objective was to describe phonetic and phonological acquisition (percentage consonants and vowels correct (PCC and PVC); phonetic inventory and phonological processes) by children’s age and language background. As a secondary objective we described the prevalence of speech disorders in the sample using Dodd’s (2005) framework. The Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology was used to assess participants with modified scoring criteria appropriate for the context. Phonological processes and inventories were broadly comparable to normative data for English speech acquisition documented in the literature, and a progression was observed with increasing age. PCC and PVC were similar for children within age bands despite different language backgrounds. Bilingual children showed aspects of English phonological development linked to their L1, and some differences in phonological processes were observed. Approximately 9% of children (n = 28) had speech difficulties, with 75% of this group having a speech delay. The study highlights the importance of adapting speech assessments for use with populations that differ from the originally intended audience. This work contributes to knowledge of typical speech development in South Africa and in multilingual contexts more generally.     

The acquisition of Setswana segmental phonology in children aged 3.0–6.0 years: A cross-sectional study

Purpose: This paper describes typical speech development of Setswana. Although there is information on Setswana phonology, very little is known about the acquisition of segmental phonology in this language.

Method: An assessment tool was devised to collect speech samples from 36 first language Setswana-speaking children aged 3.0–6.0 years in the North-West Province of South Africa. This study describes the acquisition of consonants, vowels, syllable structures and phonological processes at various ages.

Result: Findings indicate a relatively early acquisition of consonants, although trill /r/ continues to develop after 6.0 years, particularly in the penultimate syllable. Phonological features such as rounding develop in the later pre-school years. Findings also suggest that girls may achieve accuracy before boys. The older group of children presented with fewer phonological processes. Processes found in the speech of younger children included deletion of syllables, gliding, assimilation and simplifying complex words.

Conclusion: These findings are discussed in relation to normative data from other languages, in particular to those belonging to the same language group. Knowledge of Setswana development will help Speech-Language Pathologists working with Setswana-speaking children to identify and manage phonological difficulties in this population. The results contribute to an increasing body of locally relevant information on typical phonological development.