A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Swedish voiceless fricatives: A multidimensional investigation of adult and child productions

  2024. Carla Wikse Barrow.

  Thesis (Doc)

  Voiceless fricatives are articulatorily and acoustically complex, and relatively late acquired by children. There are a plenitude of descriptions of voiceless fricatives in other languages, which have revealed language-specific patterns in realisation and acquisition. However, studies of Swedish adult’s voiceless fricatives are dated and small-scale, and knowledge concerning Swedish children’s acquisition of these complex sounds is limited.

  This dissertation is based on four papers, three of which investigate acoustic characteristics of adult and child productions of Swedish voiceless fricatives /f, s, ɕ, ɧ/. Static and dynamic, individual and group-level acoustic patterns (primarily spectral features) are described, and between-fricative contrasts are quantified for individual speakers. The fourth paper explores the influence of lexical context and experience on perceptual ratings of children’s voiceless sibilant fricatives /s, ɕ/. Specifically, listeners with and without clinical experience of assessing child speech (i.e., speech-language pathologists and laypeople) provided gradient ratings of sibilants presented in lexical and non-lexical contexts (i.e., words or CV-syllables).

  This work contributes to a better understanding of the characteristics and variability of /f, s, ɕ, ɧ/, and provides new insights into children’s acquisition of voiceless fricatives. A number of spectral parameters and statistical models were utilised in this work. The results of the fourth study also have relevance for perceptual assessments of speech in the clinic.

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• Subjective ratings of age-of-acquisition: exploring issues of validity and rater reliability

  2019. Carla Wikse Barrow, Kristina Nilsson Björkenstam, Sofia Strömbergsson. Journal of Child Language 46 (2), 199-213

  Article

  This study aimed to investigate concerns of validity and reliability in subjective ratings of age-of-acquisition (AoA), through exploring characteristics of the individual rater. An additional aim was to validate the obtained AoA ratings against two corpora – one of child speech and one of adult speech – specifically exploring whether words over-represented in the child-speech corpus are rated with lower AoA than words characteristic of the adult-speech corpus. The results show that less than one-third of participating informants’ ratings are valid and reliable. However, individuals with high familiarity with preschool-aged children provide more valid and reliable ratings, compared to individuals who do not work with or have children of their own. The results further show a significant, age-adjacent difference in rated AoA for words from the two different corpora, thus strengthening their validity. The study provides AoA data, of high specificity, for 100 child-specific and 100 adult-specific Swedish words.

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• A survey of Swedish speech-language pathologists’ practices regarding assessment of speech sound disorders

  2021. Carla Wikse Barrow, Karin Körner, Sofia Strömbergsson. Logopedics, Phoniatrics, Vocology

  Article

  Purpose To explore Swedish clinical practice regarding assessment of suspected Speech Sound Disorders (SSD) in children.

  Methods A web-based questionnaire, regarding assessment of SSD in children 4;6–6;11 (years; months), was distributed to Swedish speech-language pathologists (SLPs) through social media and online forums. The questions concerned the frequency and manner of assessment for seven assessment components, chosen based on a review of international recommendations for SSD assessment.

  Results A total of 131 SLPs responded to the questionnaire. The results show that Swedish SSD assessment practices vary with regards to the frequency and manner of assessment for many components. Speech output is frequently assessed while speech perception, phonological awareness and oral-motor function are assessed less frequently. A variety of manners of assessment, for example, standardised tests, non-standardised material, and informal assessment procedures, such as observation, are utilized by respondents.

  Conclusions Swedish SSD assessment practices are variable. The present paper reveals areas for development within SLP practice and education programmes, and provides a new perspective on present praxis with regards to the assessment of suspected SSD in Sweden.

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Show all publications by Carla Wikse Barrow at Stockholm University