Bunta Ferenc:

Phonological acquisition from a whole-word perspective  

Phonological acquisition is a complex phenomenon that warrants investigation form various angles. Traditional segmental, suprasegmental and phonological feature analyses have long been the mainstay of phonological research, but recently, phonological whole-word analyses have gained momentum and have become more commonplace in investigating the acquisition of sound systems. This presentation focuses on recent advances in investigating phonological acquisition from the perspective of the whole word. Measures such as the Phonological Mean Length of Utterance and Proportion of Whole-Word Proximity, their application, and recent results will be discussed (cf. Ingram, 2002; Bunta, Fabiano-Smith, Goldstein, & Ingram, 2009; Goldstein & Bunta, in press). The presentation will be informative and interactive, demonstrating the use of phonological whole-word measurements, discussing research results, and involving the audience in interactive activities to illustrate the calculation and possible applications of phonological whole-word measures.  

References

Bunta, F., Fabiano, L., Ingram, D., & Goldstein, B. (2009). Phonological whole-word measures in three-year-old bilingual children and their monolingual peers. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 23(2), 156-175.

Goldstein, B., & Bunta, F. (in press). Positive and negative transfer in the phonological systems of bilingual speakers. The International Journal of Bilingualism.

Ingram, D. (2002). The measurement of whole-word productions. Journal of Child Language, 29, 713-733.