ABSTRACT
Nasality, an abnormal voice quality, is generally considered the major deviation in cleft palate speech. The assessment of this problem is necessary for the appropriate management. The study aimed to design the standard speech test to measure nasality : hypernasality, hyponasality (cul-de-sac) and nasal emission. The test was directed to the production of the phonetic criterion for selecting words that evidence the problem. The hypernasality and hyponasality are judged in three levels : sound, word, and connected speech. But the nasal emission is separately judged from nasality in only two levels : sound and word. The speech test was also analyzed by nasometer to check whether it could measure nasality of cleft palate speech and the result agreed well with purpose of the test. This suggests that test can be clinically used as a standard pattern to identify nasality.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to investigate the articulation characteristics of Thai children. Subjects were 560 students aged 3-10 years in Bangkok Metrolitan area. They were divided into 8 groups according to their age. Every subject was assessed his/her articulation characteristics by using the Thai Articulation Test (TAT)4, which consisted of 69 black-white drawing pictures. Each picture represents Thai phonemes: tonal features, vowels, consonants and clusters. Results of this study indicated that all subjects mastered every tonal feature and vowel within the age 3 years. At 3 years of age, the children produced all consonants correctly, except the /r/ sound. There were 15% of 10 years old children acquired accurately. There was a significant correlation between articulation abilities and ages. This study revealed that there was no different between two genders. As a result, the TAT appeared to be a valid and reliable test for clinical and research uses for the dynamic present situation.