Application of the FrameContent Theory to Infant Speech Production Following Cochlear Implantation

1
Application of the Frame-Content Theory to Infant
Speech ProductionFollowing Cochlear Implantation
Jan Allison Moore1, Barbara Davis1, Emily
Tobey2 1The University of Texas at Austin, 2The
University of Texas at DallasCallier Center

• The Frame-Content Theory proposed by MacNeilage
  and Davis (1990, 2000) suggests that the serial
• organization of early speech patterns is
  determined by the motor constraints of the child.
  The dominant
• biomechanical component is the open-closed
  alternation of the jaw and a relatively static
  tongue
• posture.
• The open and closed cycles of the jaw constitute
  the Frame and the Content is determined by the
• tongue position during the cycle. This theory is
  in sharp contrast to Chomskys notion that early
• speech results from genetically predetermined
  repertoire of sounds based on the concept of
• Universal Grammar.
• The Frame-Content Theory proposed 4 patterns of
  intersyllabic organization labial consonants
  and
• central vowels, coronal consonants and front
  vowels, and dorsal consonants paired with back
  vowels.
• These patterns have been observed across infants
  learning 10 different languages therefore, the
• ambient language components are not felt to
  impact on these emerging patterns. These
  patterns of
• development are potentially universal.
• This theory pertains to typically developing
  infants.
• Normal or near normal hearing is assumed.
• This study will investigate the Frame-Content
  Theory as applied to children with profound
  hearing loss
• who have received cochlear implants.

• All children showed little pre-implant
  vocalization. Syllable shapes were dominated by
  V-only productions.

These patterns may reflect individual differences
inherent in the diversity of performance of
children with hearing impairment. The diversity
of patterns could be a reflection of the
development speech skills through intervention
pre- and post-implantation in contrast to the
natural development of speech that occurs in
typically developing children. These patterns
may reflect a desire of the child to establish a
more tactile feedback loop for speech production.
For example use of velar fricatives or /wu/
which contains considerable lip rounding.
Different patterns of speech production may
reflect that although the CI certainly provides
audibility, the signal is highly compromised and
childrens audition perception is simply not
normal enough to completely conform to the
expected patterns. Participant 6 was an outlier
compared to the other subjects in terms of the
volubility of productions. A number of issues
could contribute to the performance of
Participant 6 Age of implant was
significantly earlier than the other
subjects Unknown audiological factors
contributing to a better percept of
sound Gender Exceptional parental involvement
and ability to apply language stimulation
techniques naturally in the home
environment. Results suggest that intervention
should concentrate on the development of normal
patterns of speech acquisition, first
concentrating on words containing the
intersyllabic CV co-occurrence patterns predicted
in typically developing children with normal
hearing. Normal hearing children develop speech
primarily in the context of CV syllable
production. Techniques used with children with
hearing impairment should also use these
strategies. Techniques which emphasize V-only
productions (pairing ah with an airplane) is
inconsistent with patterns of normal speech
acquisition.
CV occurrence patterns for 5 of the children
showed statistically significant patterns
consistent with the Frame Content Theory. The
patterns predicted by the Frame Content Theory
are highlighted in red.
Intersyllabic CV co-occurrence patterns for the 6
children over their first year of implant use.
Chi-square tests of significance indicated that
for 5 of the 6 childrens speech utterances
showed significant patterns (p lt ,001) of
preference consistent with the Frame Content
theory. For the child marked with an , his
data also indicated a trend for these preferred
patterns. The observed-to-expected ratios
results marked in red with are consistent with
the Frame Content Theory. Results marked in blue
indicate a significant pattern of production not
consistent with the Frame Content Theory.

• Post-implant both vowel and consonant productions
  increased over time.
• Vowel only productions were common for these
  implanted children which is consistent with prior
  reports of infant vocalizations on single case
  studies of children with profound hearing
  impairments.
• Unlike hearing children who are typically
  developing, the implanted children MOST often
  started their babbling strings with a V instead
  of C.
• In contrast, at the word stage, more word
  approximations began with a consonant. Five out
  of the six children were at the word stage by one
  year post-implant

One hour digital audio and video recordings were
made pre- and post-implant. Monthly recordings
were obtained on 2 children, and the other 4
children were recorded at intervals corresponding
to their audiological appointments. Recordings
were made in both the home and in a laboratory
setting. Data up to 12 months post-implant are
included in this study. Speech-like tokens were
entered into the LIPP program. Vowel utterances
of prolonged duration were not included. 10 of
the data were re-coded for reliability. For the
purpose of our analysis, the term Babbling refers
to both vowel and consonant (m, n, s) singleton
productions of brief duration, as well as CV
productions. CV productions of /hV/ were
excluded from the analysis since there is no
vocal tract constriction for /h/ production. All
other consonant types were included.
This research is supported by the National
Institutes of Health research grant R-01
HD277733-03 (The University of Texas) and 2 P50
dc00242 (The University of Iowa Hosptials and
Clinics). Special thanks to Dr. Peter
MacNeilage, Dr. Christine Matyear, Andrea
Warner-Czyz, and Dr. Sandie Bass-Ringdahl. For
Copies of this poster please contact Jan Allison
Moore at jan-moore_at_mail.utexas.edu

• Six children with profound pre-lingual deafness
  participated. The sample included 3 boys and 3
  girls.
• All children received Nucleus 24 M or R cochlear
  implants. There were no surgical complications
  and all had full electrode insertions.
  Participants were initially programmed in the
  most current coding strategy available at the
  time of their initial activation.
• Pre-implant audiological information for the
  children 1-5 suggested PTA exceeding 100 dB at
  all frequencies. Audibility of the speech signal
  with appropriately fit hearing aids for two
  children was minimal (.12 and .01). For the
  other subjects pre-implant hearing aid data was
  not available.
• Participants 1-5 were activated between 19 and 25
  months of age. Participant 6 was activated at 12
  months of age.
• All children used sign supported speech initially
  following implantation to facilitate receptive
  language development. Participant 6 moved to
  oral only communication by 12 months
  post-implant. All other participants
  transitioned to oral-only communication by three
  years post-implant.

• CV occurrence patterns for 5 of the children
  showed statistically significant patterns
  consistent with the Frame Content Theory. The
  patterns predicted by the Frame Content Theory
  are highlighted in red.

• In addition to the predicted CV co-occurrence
  patterns, all the children with CIs showed
  preferences for other patterns of babbling and
  first word use.