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Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

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Information Bulletin ACER Archives

1951

Pronunciation errors in the spontaneous speech of a group of pre- Pronunciation errors in the spontaneous speech of a group of pre- school children

school children

Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

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Part of the Early Childhood Education Commons, and the Language and Literacy Education Commons Recommended Citation

Recommended Citation

Australian Council for Educational Research. (1915). Pronunciation errors in the spontaneous speech of a group of pre-school children (ACER Information Bulletin No. 21). https://research.acer.edu.au/ib/21/

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AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH.

INFORMATION BULLETIN NO. 21.

PRONUNCIATION ERRORS IN THE SPONTANEOUS SPEECH OF

A

GROUP OF

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN,

The information contained in this bulletin may be reproduced and used in any form, subject to

suitable acknowledgments.

21

147

Collins Street,

Melbourne. March

1951.

Thlliiiifilf

_10010354

\

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AUSTR.!i.LIAN COUNCIL FGR EDUCATIONAL :d.ESE~\IlCH.

PRCNUNCL"i.TION EililORS IN THE SPONTANEOUS SPEECH OF A GROUP OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN.

Botwoon 20th November and ls~ December

1950,

a study was mado of tho spontaneous vocabulary of a group of twenty-four pre-school

children in an inner suburb of Melbourne. The main purpose of the study was to examine tho quantity and quality of vocabulary used by the

children in a variety of situations, together with as many related factors as possible. Through tho co-operation of a spooch therapist associated with a spooch clinic at tho Childron¹s Hospital in Melbourne, a phonetic record was made of samples of the spontaneous speech of each of the twenty-four children. Those records have boon analysed, and the results aro recorded below.

Before they arc examined, howevo·r, certain facts a.bout tho group and the study should bo noted. There were twelve boys and twelve girls in tho group; four of each sox came from tho Lady Gowrie Pro-

School Centro; four from other kindergartens and crechos in the district, and four had no pro-school exporionce. All wero of such an ago at the time of tho study (from

4

years 10 months to

5

years

8

months) that they could expect to be enrolled at tho nearby state primary school in

1951.

(All wore enrolled thoro in February

1951).

The records wore made while the children wore engaged in spontaneous play (both outdoor and indoor) or in the somewhat moro organised indoor activities of tho Lady Gowrie Centro, at which the complete study was conducted. No attempt was made to standardise tho situations, to ensure that oach child usod the same words or forms of speech, or to obtain the same length of record for each child. Tho therapist spent nine half-days, oach of about three hours, with the group.i and in that time recorded botweon twenty and 160 utterances for each child. Except for four children, more than fifty utterances were rocorded for each child. Tho average length of utterance was slightly noro than four words.

No check was made of the reliability of the records. The,.ro was no attempt to procure parallel records by another therapist. This, though desirable, did not seem ossontial in tho circumstances, and we are satisfied from tho internal consistency of tho records that they are re- liable.

CLASSIFICATION OF ERRORS.

This is not intended as a technical report. Tho errors wore classified simply as omissions, substitutions, and alterations, and in the tables below arc grouped in that form. It will be obvious that, as only a small sample of speech was recorded, not all children had tho opportunity to make certain errors, and many errors which wore recorded against only ono or two children may bo more general than tho records indicate.

INCIDENCE OF ERl\OR:

wron in sooo articular·

tho boys tho range is roo 2 to per cent., wit

for the girls tho range is from

16

to

39

per cent., with the median at

33

por cont. Thero do not appear to be many errors to which one sex alone is prono, although in this group, half of the girls, and one third or loss of tho boys, mado the following errors:

Ooission of finnl 'n' from 'int.

Omission of final 'm' froo 'I'@'.

Ooission of final 've¹ froo ¹givc1 •

E.g. 11 the tin.

E.g. I in the pit.

E.g. Gi¹ her tho rope.

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2.

SoLlo errors, such as tho substitution of ¹w¹ for an ¹r ¹ within tho word soooed ooro coooon noong tho boys than tho girls.

Both sexes had approxioatoly tho sarJo opportunity to oake those errors: i.o. there wore oxaLlplos of tho correct uso of thoso words in tho smw nuobor of records of each sex.

CONSISTENCY OF ER.ttOR.

One of the interesting features in the records is that with certain exceptions the children do not make the same type of error consistently. Tho child who says: ¹I ¹m-gonna do that .. ¹ may repeat him- self, but say ¹I'm going to~', or drop tho ¹g¹ from the participial 'ing' in most, but not all words. SoLle atteopt was made to see whether thoro was a consistont pattern in those soooing inconsistencies, but tho

records rarely yield sufficient oxaoplos for a pattern to bo discorniblo.

In those records whore there are oany exaoplos of a typo of error, tho error appears to bo oore firoly established, but even in those cases, inconsistoncios appear. Thero is, for exaoplo, the case of G--- A--- who dropped tho initial lh¹ in words like 'have^{1 ,} 'had', 'haven't',

in twenty-nino words, but used it in six others - such as 'house', ¹hole^{1 ,} and even, on one occasion ¹hnvo^{1 •}

Thero is ooro tendency to consistency in tho substitution type of error, particularly:

(al

tho substitution of ¹f1 or 'vt for 'th':

(b ¹¹ ¹¹ ¹¹ 'th' for ¹s¹ or ¹sst.:

(c ¹¹ ¹¹ ¹¹ 'd' for

't'

within a word:

(d) ¹¹ ¹¹ ¹¹ ¹w¹ for ¹r ^{1 •}

Evon in these errors, with the exception of (c), inconsistency is evident.

The oajority of errors classified as ¹alterations¹ occur rarely.

They show tho saoe inconsistencies as other types. Thus ¹my¹ oay appoar as ¹oe^{1 ,} or in its correct form i.o. ¹me biko¹ or ¹my bike!.

About one-half to one-third of the different errors mado occur olsewhore in the child's record in correct foro.

NUMBER OF ER.ROES.

In the following tables, the first of tho two nuri1bors ref rs to the number of children, out of twelve, who oade the error, and the second to the nuober of children who used words in which tho error could have been oade. Tho diffcronco between the two figures shows the nuober of children who used tho form consistently and correctly.

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TABLE

1.

OMISSIONS

IN

THE

RECORDED

UTTERANCES OF 12 PRE-SCHOOL GIRLS AND 12 PRE-SCHOOL BOYS.

3.

\

NUMBERS MAKING OMISSION

OMISSION EXAMPLE CURLS

BOYS

Final 'd' an' for and

11/12 11/12

II ! g' goin' for going

11/11 12/12

II I ti didn¹ for cl.idn' t 12/12

12/12

II Int in in 1• for in

7/11 3/12

II I TJ I in Ifm I' for I1 D

6/11 4/12

II f vol gi' for give

6/9 2/8

II I thf _wi1 for with

3/8 3/9

JI ! fl o' for of 4/10

1/6

ti

'P'

ut for up

3/12 1/12

II ₁sl it' for its

1/12

3/10

II I nt¹ do¹ for don't

2/10 1/10

II

'.ts

¹ lo

1

for let's

1/4 3/5

II f ftl lo' for left

1/3 0/2

Middle ¹t¹or ¹tt¹ bol¹ing for belting 1/5

1/9

II _Id ^I huri¹red for hunc1red

1/10 1/6

II I tt _i^I s for its

3/11 3/11

11

111

_on¹y for only

1/7 2/6

!I I r l c¹ying for crying

1/11 0/9

Ii

, rr

_a1tor for after 1/3

0/4

Initial 'h' ¹ave for have

12/12

II I thl r or.1 for thot1 4/10

5/9

If

'a'

¹^nothor for another

0/2 3/6

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4.

TABLE 2.

SUBSTITUTIONS IN THE rtECORDED UTTE:i.i.ANCES OF 12 PRE-SCHOOL GIHLS AND 12 PRE-SCHOOL BOYS.

SUBSTITUTION

Initial ¹d¹ for ¹th¹

II I f I for ^Ith ^I

II II II

II II II II II If

1v¹ for 'th¹

1w¹ for 'r¹

1th¹ for ¹s¹

1z¹ for 'th'

1d¹ for ¹n¹

'Y'

for '1¹

1 sh¹ for ^Ij'

1w¹ for ¹s¹

1t ¹ for ¹c¹

1thi for ¹sh¹

1t ¹ for ¹th'

1v1 for ¹w¹ Middle (¹d¹ for

't'

or

( I dd ^I for ^Itt ^!

If II II

II ll

If II

1v' for ¹th'

1w¹ for 'r¹

1w¹ for ¹1¹ or ¹11¹

1 i ^I for ^Ie¹

'f¹ or ¹ff¹ for

1th'

Id! for ¹th'

1r' for ¹v¹

NUMBERS MAKING SUBSTITUTION

EXAMPLE GIRLS BOYS

dat for that 9/12 11/12

free for three 6/11 6/12

vose for those wose for rose

·thee for see ze for the dod for nod

yiddle for little shump for jump wome for some tan for can

thould for should teo for them

Vendy for Wendy

5/12

4/9

3/12 1/11 1/11 1/11 1/3 1/12 1/12 1/12 1/12 1/12 budder for butter :12/12 Quver for mother

thwoo for three siwy for silly sit for sot

8/10 5/11 2/10 2/12 birfday for birthday

1/7

brodor for brother

1/7

seron for seven

5/12 5/10 1/12 0/12 1/9

0/9 0/5

0/12 0/12 0/12 1/12 1/12 12/12 9/10 9/12 5/11 0/12

II l GI for Ii ^I

Final ¹d¹ for tt1

or ¹y¹ betten for bitten nod for not

1/4

1/11 :12/12

2/9

2/7

1/3 2/12

11/12

11 1v' for ¹th'

11 1f¹ for ¹th'

II

II II

If II If

1th' for ¹s'

1th¹ for ¹x¹

r g' for 'k¹

1w¹ for 1111

1d¹ for 'th¹

1 sh¹ for ^Ich¹

wiv for with wif for with buth for bus thikth for six loog for look Biw for Bill bad for bath whish for which

2/7 2/7

2/12 1/10- 1/12 0/12

0/7

2/9

2/8 3/8

1/12

1/7

3/11

2 / 12

2 /8

1/8

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..,

5 .

TABLE

3.

\ PRINCIPAL ALTERATIONS IN THE RECORDED UTTER.t"l,NCES

OF

12

PRE-SCHOOL GirtLS AND

12

PRE-SCHOOL BOYS.

' _.^r

-

NUMBERS MAKING ALTERATION

ALTERATION and EXAMPLE GIRLS ^BOYS^{- -}

Gonna or gunna for going to

10/12 10/12

or gunner

wanna ^II want to

4/5 4/6

wanna ^II want a

1/4 3/5

yer ^II you

9/12 9/12

ya ^ti your

2/9 5/12

yar ^II you are

2/6 2/4

yer ^II your or you¹re

2/9 3/9

godda ^ti got to

5/6 2/ 4

me ^II my

9/12 5/12

orf ^II off

4/10 3 / 9

of ^H off

1/10 0/9

oim ^II I I tl.

2/12 4/11

oi ^II I

2/12 4/J.2

a ^II

an 1/1 2/ 2

a ^II of (bit a' wood )

3/9 1/3

cos ^II because

2/4 1/ 3

doncha ^II don't you

3/3 0/ 0

asn ^II hasn't

1/1 2/.1

de ^II to {goin ¹ de play) •

0/12 2/12

giti.me ^II give me

3/4

^0/0

gis ^fl give us

0/0 2/2

mush ^ti much

2/6 2/2

00 ^II who

3/ 5 1/4

whach

whad

~

) ^II what ^Is

1/8 2/8

) wash )

!

.,.

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..

i t •

6.

KINDERGARTEN EXPERIENCE.

There was no appreciable difference between the quality of the speech of tho Kindergarten and non~kindergarten children, although the boys from tho Lady Gowrie Centre wore slightly bettor than any other group

(24

por cont. orror as against

28

·por cent. for tho other boys¹ groups, and

30

por cont. for tho girls' groups).

NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ERRORS.

Tho minimum number of difforont errors recorded was fourteen and the maximum fifty-four. Both the.so cases were girls. For the boys tho range was from fifteen to thirty-sovon. The medians wore thirty for tho girls and twonty-oight for the boys. Somo of these, of course, were oade only once; others were made as many as twenty or thirty times.

Many of thoo, too, wore spoken correctly on other occasions as the notes on 'Consistency' indicate.

SPECIAL CASES.

Ono girl in tho group recorded fifty-tour different errors in a total of

542

words, tho total number of words spoken wrongly being

209.

Only twelve of those fifty-four errors were given correctly on other

occasions during tho period she was under observation. Apart from gross defects such as tho omission of the initial 'h' (twenty-nine times), the final ^Id¹ (eighteen tioos), and tho final I g¹ (fourteen tines) and the substitution of final ¹d' for ¹t ¹ (twenty-two times) and initial ¹d¹ for

1th¹ (sixteen tioos) her record was a congeries of onissions, substitutions, and mispronunciations such as 'lark¹ for 'look', learn' for ¹can^{1 ,}

1chioboroo¹ for ¹chinney¹ otc. Sho was fluent, but often unintellig- ible.

Ono girl and one boy lisped. They were friends before tho group was brought togothor, and it would be an interesting speculation whether tho lisp is simple imitative or duo to some physiological defect.

COMMENT AND SUGGESTED IMPLICATIONS.

Tho pro-school environQont, oven when it has included good kindergarten experience, has given to the children speech which includes about

25

per cont. of gross errors (this study is not concerned with pure

enunciation, or tho fino quality of vowels). Any work that the school does in this field must take account of the constant effect on the

child's speech of the environment which has already produced defect.

Will its spooch training work bo regarded by the children as unreal?

Can it be effective without tho co-operation of parents? Will it pro- duce the bilingual child whoso school speech is fair to good, and whose outdoor ·speech is likely to be in tho argot and with the accent of his locality? Perhaps tho bost way to teach good speech is to begin in the homo. Are schools prepared to put their aims before the parents and ask

for their holp and co-operation? If the subject is important enough to justify a specialist teacher, perhaps something of a speoialist¹s

approach is noodod.

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