Clinical linguistics

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Clinical linguistics is a sub-discipline of applied linguistics involved in the description, analysis, and treatment of language disabilities, especially the application of linguistic theory to the field of Speech-Language Pathology. The study of the linguistic aspect of communication disorders is of relevance to a broader understanding of language and linguistic theory.

Contents

The International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association is the unofficial organization of the field and was formed in 1991. The Journal of Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics is the major research journal of the field and was founded by Martin J. Ball.

Practitioners of clinical linguistics typically work in Speech-Language Pathology departments or linguistics departments. They conduct research with the aims of improving the assessment, treatment, and analysis of disordered speech and language, and offering insights to formal linguistic theories. While the majority of clinical linguistics journals still focus only on English linguistics, there is an emerging movement toward comparative clinical linguistics across multiple languages. [1]

History

The study of communication disorders has a history that can be traced all the way back to the ancient Greeks. Modern clinical linguistics, however, largely has its roots in the twentieth century, with the term ‘clinical linguistics’ gaining wider currency in the 1970s, with it being used as the title of a book by prominent linguist David Crystal in 1981. [2] Widely credited as the ‘father of clinical linguistics’, Crystal's book Clinical Linguistics [2] went on to become one of the most influential books of the field, as this new discipline was mapped out in great detail. [3]

The application of linguistic science to the analysis of speech and language disorders has always been necessary but understudied. Roman Jakobson, a Russian structural linguist, was one of the first to try to apply linguistic theory to the study of Speech-Language Pathology. [3] Published in 1941, his book Kindersprache, Aphasie und allgemeine Lautgesetze [4] recorded the results of his analysis of language use in child language acquisition and in adults with acquired aphasia. Although Jakobson's book only gained influence in the Anglophone world following the publication of the translated version Child language, Aphasia and Phonological Universals in 1968 [5] its impact was felt in the United States [6] and the United Kingdom, [7] among others, where changes of approach were adopted for phonological, grammar, semantic and other areas of language impairment. His observation that deviant sound patterns obeyed similar rules to those of regular language systems remains a guiding principle in clinical linguistics even today. [2] Most notably, the same approach was also adopted by Crystal and his colleagues in their development of a set of language ‘profiling’ procedures. [3] [8] [9]

Disciplines

These are the main disciplines of clinical linguistics:

Clinical phonetics

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies the sounds of human speech. Clinical phonetics involve applications of phonetics to describe speech differences and disorders, including information about speech sounds and the perceptual skills used in clinical settings.

Clinical phonology

Phonology is one of the branches of linguistics that is concerned with the systematic organization of sounds in spoken languages and signs in sign languages. Unlike clinical phonetics, clinical phonology focuses on the application of phonology on interpretations of speech sounds in a particular language and how it deals with phoneme.

Clinical prosody

In linguistics, prosody is concerned with elements of speech that are not individual phonetic segments (vowels and consonants) but are properties of syllables and larger units of speech. Prosody is essential in communicative functions such as expressing emotions or affective states.

Clinical morphology

Morphology is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. It analyses the structure of words and part of words, such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes.

Clinical syntax

Syntax is the set of rules, principles and processes that govern the structure of sentences in a given language, usually including word order. Every language has a different set of syntactic rules, but all languages have some form of syntax.

Clinical semantics

Semantics is the study of the interpretation of signs or symbols used in agents or communities within particular circumstances and contexts . [10]

Clinical pragmatics

Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics and semiotics that studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning. It refers to the description and classification of pragmatic impairments, their elucidation in terms of various pragmatic, linguistics, cognitive and neurological theories, and their assessment and treatment. [11]

Clinical discourse

In corpus linguistics, discourse refers to the study of language expressed in corpora (samples) of “real world” text, the codified language of a field of enquiry, or a statement that determines the connections among language and structure and agency.

Applications

Linguistic concepts and theories are applied to assess, diagnose and administer language disorders. These theories and concepts commonly involve psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. [2] Clinical linguists adopt the understanding of language and the linguistic disciplines, as mentioned above, to explain language disorders and find approaches to treat them. Crystal [2] pointed out that applications of linguistics to clinical ends are highly relational. In his book ‘Clinical Linguistics’, Crystal [2] references many commonly known disorders with linguistic knowledge. Some examples from his book are as follows: [2]

  1. Voice orders - involves sub- and supra-laryngeal settings involved in dysphonia; syllabic vs polysyllabic distinction to account for volume and timbre dimensions in voice; synchronic vs diachronic distinction should be used for more recognisable voice quality; interaction between non-segmental phonetic and phonological variables (p. 192-193).
  2. Cleft palate syndrome - phonological variable and statement must be interpreted in perceptual and production terms; distribution of segments in an utterance (p. 193).
  3. Fluency - segmental phonetic level (taking into consideration prolongations, abnormalities in muscle tension) can affect the production of speech phonologically; transition smoothness at the prosodic level (tempo, pause etc.); semantic factors including avoidance of particular lexical terms, coupled with grammatical structure between and adult vs child (p. 194).
  4. Aphasia - speech comprehension and production requires non-segmental organization of language involving; Notions of segment, feature and process would aid in the analysis of phonological problems (p. 194).
  5. Dyspraxia - requires multiple analysis in terms of segments, features and processes for phonological realization; more serious cases would require the analysis of disturbances in non-segmental phonology (p. 195).
  6. Deafness - systematic analysis of segmental and non-segmental phonological organizations, and phonetic abilities; semantic, the grammatical structure as well as sociolinguistic interaction studies are vital dimensions that cannot be neglected for the oral production and comprehension for the deaf (p. 195).

Some broad linguistics methods that are commonly used in the treatment of patients mentioned by Cummings (2017) include: [12]

Linguistics sets the foundation of many speech and language diagnostic tests. More specifically, some speech and languages assessments include the test of articulation, which assesses phonetic articulation based on the pronunciation of certain phonemes such as Malayalam articulation test and the Kannada articulation test etc. The language age of a minor is determined by looking at linguistic aspects (i.e. case markers, synonyms etc.). The Early Reading Skills Test examines the Phoneme-Grapheme correspondence for diagnosing learning disability, whereas tests like Test of Emergent Expressive Morphology (TEEM) evaluates one's understanding of morphemes. Other examples of speech-language pathology (SLP) testing instruments like the Bracken Basic Concept Scale (BBCS) and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) evaluate a broad range of language skills which include children's acquisition of basic concepts of colours, letters, numbers, formulation of words and sentences, among other language and cognitive skills. Tests such as Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) assesses instead the receptive vocabulary of children, and even adults. [13]

The future of clinical linguistics

The past works of linguists such as Crystal were applicable to a wide range of communication disorders at every linguistic level. However, with the influx of new insights from disciplines such as genetics, cognitive neuroscience and neurobiology (among others), it is no longer sufficient to just focus on the linguistic characteristics of a particular speech impairment. [2]

In today's context, one of the challenges in clinical linguistics includes identifying methods to bridge the knowledge of different fields to build a more holistic understanding. The translation of general research that has been done into effective tools for clinical practice is another aspect that requires future work.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to linguistics:

In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme is a unit of phone that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.

Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their phones or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a particular language variety. At one time, the study of phonology related only to the study of the systems of phonemes in spoken languages, but may now relate to any linguistic analysis either:

A communication disorder is any disorder that affects an individual's ability to comprehend, detect, or apply language and speech to engage in dialogue effectively with others. The delays and disorders can range from simple sound substitution to the inability to understand or use one's native language.

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. See also the Outline of linguistics, the List of phonetics topics, the List of linguists, and the List of cognitive science topics. Articles related to linguistics include:

Specific language impairment (SLI) is diagnosed when a child's language does not develop normally and the difficulties cannot be accounted for by generally slow development, physical abnormality of the speech apparatus, autism spectrum disorder, apraxia, acquired brain damage or hearing loss. Twin studies have shown that it is under genetic influence. Although language impairment can result from a single-gene mutation, this is unusual. More commonly SLI results from the combined influence of multiple genetic variants, each of which is found in the general population, as well as environmental influences.

In linguistics, linguistic competence is the system of unconscious knowledge that one knows when they know a language. It is distinguished from linguistic performance, which includes all other factors that allow one to use one's language in practice.

In linguistics, a segment is "any discrete unit that can be identified, either physically or auditorily, in the stream of speech". The term is most used in phonetics and phonology to refer to the smallest elements in a language, and this usage can be synonymous with the term phone.

In linguistics and social sciences, markedness is the state of standing out as nontypical or divergent as opposed to regular or common. In a marked–unmarked relation, one term of an opposition is the broader, dominant one. The dominant default or minimum-effort form is known as unmarked; the other, secondary one is marked. In other words, markedness involves the characterization of a "normal" linguistic unit against one or more of its possible "irregular" forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speech</span> Human vocal communication using spoken language

Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words, and using those words in their semantic character as words in the lexicon of a language according to the syntactic constraints that govern lexical words' function in a sentence. In speaking, speakers perform many different intentional speech acts, e.g., informing, declaring, asking, persuading, directing, and can use enunciation, intonation, degrees of loudness, tempo, and other non-representational or paralinguistic aspects of vocalization to convey meaning. In their speech, speakers also unintentionally communicate many aspects of their social position such as sex, age, place of origin, physical states, psychological states, physico-psychological states, education or experience, and the like.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet</span> Disordered speech additions to the phonetic alphabet

The Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet for Disordered Speech, commonly abbreviated extIPA, are a set of letters and diacritics devised by the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association to augment the International Phonetic Alphabet for the phonetic transcription of disordered speech. Some of the symbols are used for transcribing features of normal speech in IPA transcription, and are accepted as such by the International Phonetic Association.

Language disorders or language impairments are disorders that involve the processing of linguistic information. Problems that may be experienced can involve grammar, semantics (meaning), or other aspects of language. These problems may be receptive, expressive, or a combination of both. Examples include specific language impairment, better defined as developmental language disorder, or DLD, and aphasia, among others. Language disorders can affect both spoken and written language, and can also affect sign language; typically, all forms of language will be impaired.

Speech perception is the process by which the sounds of language are heard, interpreted, and understood. The study of speech perception is closely linked to the fields of phonology and phonetics in linguistics and cognitive psychology and perception in psychology. Research in speech perception seeks to understand how human listeners recognize speech sounds and use this information to understand spoken language. Speech perception research has applications in building computer systems that can recognize speech, in improving speech recognition for hearing- and language-impaired listeners, and in foreign-language teaching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speech–language pathology</span> Disability therapy profession

Speech-language pathology is a healthcare field of expertise practiced globally. Speech-language pathology (SLP) specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of communication disorders, cognitive-communication disorders, voice disorders, and swallowing disorder across the lifespan. It is an independent profession that is sometimes considered a "related health profession" or allied health profession by professional bodies like the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and Speech Pathology Australia. Allied health professions include audiology, optometry, occupational therapy, rehabilitation psychology, physical therapy and others.

Lise Menn is an American linguist who specializes in psycholinguistics, including the study of language acquisition and aphasia.

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. It entails the comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language — cognitive, social, environmental, biological as well as structural.

Speech and language impairment are basic categories that might be drawn in issues of communication involve hearing, speech, language, and fluency.

Sara Howard is a British speech therapist and Professor Emerita of Clinical Phonetics at the University of Sheffield.

Social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SPCD), also known as pragmatic language impairment (PLI), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication. Individuals with SPCD struggle to effectively engage in social interactions, interpret social cues, and use language appropriately in social contexts. This disorder can have a profound impact on an individual's ability to establish and maintain relationships, navigate social situations, and participate in academic and professional settings. Although SPCD shares similarities with other communication disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is recognized as a distinct diagnostic category with its own set of diagnostic criteria and features.

Yiya Chen is a linguist and phonetician specializing in speech prosody. She is professor of phonetics at Leiden University as well as senior researcher at the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition.

References

  1. ↑ Crystal, David (2013-04-01). "Clinical linguistics: Conversational reflections". Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics. 27 (4): 236–243. doi:10.3109/02699206.2012.726312. ISSN   0269-9206. PMID   23339337. S2CID   29314498.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Crystal, David (1981). Arnold, G.E; Winckel, F.; Wyke, B.D (eds.). "Clinical Linguistics". Disorders of Human Communications. 3. doi:10.1007/978-3-7091-4001-7_1.
  3. 1 2 3 Perkins, M. (2011). "Clinical linguistics: Its past, present and future". Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics. 25 (11-12) (Nov-Dec 2011): 922–927. doi:10.3109/02699206.2011.599471. PMID   21787145. S2CID   44942567 . Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Jakobson, Robert (1941). Kindersprache, aphasie und allgemeine lautgesetze. Uppsala, Sweden: Almqvist and Wiksell.
  5. ↑ Jakobson, Robert (1968). Child language, aphasia and phonological universals. The Hague: Mouton.
  6. ↑ Ingram, D (1976). Phonological disability in children. New York: Elsevier.
  7. ↑ Grunwell, P (1982). Clinical phonology. London: Croom Helm.
  8. ↑ Crystal, D; Fletcher, P; Garman, M (1982). Grammatical analysis of language disability. London: Arnold.
  9. ↑ Crystal, D (1982). Profiling linguistic disability. London: Arnold.
  10. ↑ Neurath, O; Carnap, R; Morris, Charles F.W., eds. (1955). "International Encyclopedia of Unified Science". Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ Perkins, Michael (2007). Pragmatic Impairment. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge University Press. pp. 8–30. ISBN   978-0-521-79070-3.
  12. ↑ Cummings, L. (2017). "Clinical linguistics". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.337. ISBN   978-0-19-938465-5.
  13. ↑ "SLP Resource Guide: Standardized Assessment Resource List". Indiana Institute on Disability and Community. Indiana University, Bloomington. n.d. Retrieved 11 April 2019.

Bibliography

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