Research Articles (Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy)

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    Struikelblokke in kruislinguistiese en -kulturele pediatriese spraak-taalterapie en strategiee vir die bevordering van kultuurveilige praktyke : 'n omvangsbepaling
    (LitNet, 2021) Botha, Mariette; Gerber, Berna; Van der Merwe, Anita
    In ’n kultureel en linguisties diverse land soos Suid-Afrika bestaan daar ’n belangrike behoefte om spraak-taalterapiedienste te lewer wat kultuurveilig van aard is. ’n Omvattende lys van strategiee wat terapeute kan volg om hierdie behoefte te vervul, ontbreek egter. ’n Lys van verwagte struikelblokke in kruislinguistiese en -kulturele praktyke kan spraak-taalterapeute (STT’s) help om voor te berei vir kruislinguistiese en -kulturele interaksies en om begrip, eerbied en empatie vir hul kliente te ontwikkel. Met die doel om ’n raamwerk vir kultuurveilige spraak-taalterapie-praktyke voor te stel, het hierdie omvangsbepaling internasionale en plaaslike literatuur deursoek vir die struikelblokke wat verwag kan word asook doeltreffende strategiee wat STT’s wereldwyd ontwikkel het waar hulle kruislinguisties en -kultureel praktiseer. Die aard en omvang van die navorsing wat reeds op die gebied van kruislinguistiese en -kulturele pediatriese spraak-taalterapie gedoen is, is ook bepaal. ’n Soekstrategie is as metode ontwikkel om toepaslike artikelsin elektroniese databasisse uit te wys. Twaalf artikels is in die omvangsbepaling ingesluit. Primere struikelblokke tydens kruislinguistiese en -kulturele spraak-taalterapie wat geidentifiseer is, het taal- en kommunikasiestruikelblokke, tekorte aan toepaslike evaluasie- en terapiemateriaal, en tekort aan toepaslike opleiding behels. Voorgestelde strategiee vir goeie kruislinguistiese en -kulturele spraak-taalterapie het bestaan uit die uitbreiding tot ’n meer diverse werkerskorps, die vestiging van goeie verstandhoudings met versorgers, en aanpassings in kommunikasie. Hierdie omvangsbepaling bied die enigste opsomming van die strategiee vir kruislinguistiese en -kulturele pediatriese spraak-taalterapie wat STT’s wereldwyd in die afgelope twintig jaar ontwikkel het, asook moontlike struikelblokke wat verwag kan word. Die bydrae word vergroot deur verwysing na die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Bevindinge aangaande die aard en omvang van die literatuur stel ook ’n basislyn as vertrekpunt vir die beplanning van verdere navorsing.
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    Speech therapy students’ perceptions of authentic video cases in a theory module on child language disorders
    (AOSIS, 2019) Oosthuizen, Helena
    Background: Undergraduate speech-language therapy students often find it difficult to see the relevance of theoretical module content, which may negatively influence their motivation to learn. The real world of their future profession can be brought to life in the theory classroom by including authentic case study examples. Video case studies are well suited to illustrating communication disorders and may also be easier to remember and relate to information already in the long-term memory. Objectives: This article describes the perceptions of undergraduate students regarding the inclusion of authentic video cases in a theoretical module on developmental communication disorders. Methods: A qualitative, interpretivist research design was followed. Focus-group interviews were conducted with 22 second-year students in the programme B Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy. A modified contextualised content analysis approach was used to analyse interview data. Results: The use of authentic video cases was perceived positively by participants. Seeing a realistic example of a person with communication difficulties made it easier to understand, remember and engage with the module content. Participants also felt they could more easily imagine themselves in that clinical context, which seemed to (re-) awaken in them a sense of purpose and motivation. Being presented with real-life communication problems made them realise the relevance of their profession. However, participants experienced cognitive overload at times when the processing requirements of a task exceeded their available cognitive capacity. Conclusion: Video cases are valuable tools to enhance students’ engagement with theoretical content. To avoid cognitive overload, a scaffolded multimedia learning experience needs to be provided.
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    The persistence of language disorders in a group of disadvantaged Grade 3 learners
    (AOSIS, 2007) Klop, Daleen; Tuomi, Seppo K.
    A strong correlation between early language impairment and academic failure has been suggested by past research. This follow-up cohort study of 25 monolingual, disadvantaged grade 3 learners investigated whether the language impairments diagnosed in their preschool year were still evident after 3 years of school attendance, maturation and speech-language therapy. The results verified the persistence of preschool language impairments, which have been associated with poor reading and academic failure.
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    Segmental speech timing at the phoneme and syllable levels in English and Afrikaans speaking white South African children
    (AOSIS, 1989) Oosthuizen, Carol L.
    Two aspects of segmental timing were acoustically measured in the speech production of 30 English and 30 Afrikaans speaking white South African children. These were VOT and medial stop closure duration in VCV nonsense syllables. In addition, medial vowel duration in CVC nonsense syllables was measured in English speakers. Comparisons were made between younger (mean age 4.25 years) and older (mean age 6.5 years) subjects in each language group. Graphical statistical methods revealed certain trends in the data. English speakers employed short- and long-lag VOT for voiced and voiceless stops while Afrikaans speakers used two short-lag categories. Contextually determined right-to-left timing effects were identified which were in agreement with the literature, with different rates of acquisition of medial stop closure duration rules being observed between the language groups.
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    Learning new words from an interactive electronic storybook intervention
    (AOSIS, 2018) Klop, Daleen; Marais, Laurette; Msindwana, Amanda; De Wet, Febe
    Background: Children who enter school with limited vocabulary knowledge are at risk for reading failure. This study investigated the efficacy of an interactive e-book, implemented as a mobile application, to facilitate vocabulary learning in Grade 1 isiXhosa-speaking children (n = 65). Objective: The purpose was to measure if an e-book intervention, specifically developed for use in the South African context, could facilitate the acquisition and retention of new words at different levels of lexical representation. Method: A randomised pre-test and/or post-test between-subject design was used where an experimental group that received the e-book intervention was compared to a control group before the control group received a delayed intervention. Follow-up testing was performed to measure retention of the new vocabulary after eight weeks. Mixed-model repeated-measure Analysis of Variance (ANOVAs) were used to determine differences between the participants in the experimental and control groups. Results: The short-term e-book intervention not only facilitated fast-mapping of new words but enabled participants to develop more robust lexical representations of the newly acquired words. Follow-up assessment showed that they retained their newly acquired word knowledge. Conclusion: Multimedia technology can be used to provide explicit and embedded vocabulary training to young children at risk for academic failure. These findings are particularly relevant for South African environments where there is limited parental support and lack of educational resources to promote vocabulary learning in young children.