Speech Prosody in Atypical Populations: Assessment and Remediation edited by Vesna Stojanovik and...
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INT J LANG COMMUN DISORD, JULY –AUGUST 2012, VOL. 47, NO. 4, 471–472 Book Review Speech Prosody in Atypical Populations: Assessment and Remediation Edited by VESNA STOJANOVIK and JANE SETTER (Guildford, Surrey: J&R Press, 2011) [Pp. 172.] ISBN 978-1-907826-00-9. This edited volume provides a much-needed resource on the perception and production of prosody in a range of developmental and acquired disorders. The origins of the book date back to a workshop on ‘Speech Prosody in Atypical Populations’ held in Reading, UK, in 2007. The editors have weaved together research in the area with implications for therapeutic practice. It is suitable for students, researchers, and clinicians who work with children and adults with atypical prosody. The Preface provides a concise summary of prosody and its linguistic roles as well as an overview of how this aspect of speech has been largely overlooked in assessment and intervention. The book is divided into two sections: Developmental Disorders and Acquired Disorders, with chapters written by researchers and clinical experts. In the first chapter within the Developmental Disorders section, Sue Peppe discusses the importance of determining whether atypical prosody is a primary or secondary disorder. She points to the dearth of standard- ized assessment tools for examining prosody prior to an in-depth description of her PEPS-C (Profiling Elements of Speech Communication) battery. A key point is that the PEPS-C assesses both receptive and expressive prosody. While the PEPS-C was designed to assess prosody in children with high-functioning autism, it has been applied to a number of clinical populations including children with Williams syndrome and Down’s syndrome, which is the topic of the second chapter by Stojanovik and Setter. The authors demonstrate that although receptive abilities are comparable in both speaker groups, they differ in pragmatic aspects and production. Chapters 3 and 4 use conversational analysis techniques to examine both speaker and interlocutor patterns of prosody. Samuelsson, Plejert, Nettelbladt and Anward show that speech therapists use stereotypical and somewhat restricted prosodic patterns when administering assessment batteries and that children with language impairment adopt the clinician’s prosodic patterns which may not be ideal. The need to assess prosody in a variety of contexts with a variety of methods is echoed by Kelly and Beeke who analysed video recordings of spontaneous speech between a 7-year-old child with high-functioning autism and his mother. The authors call for clinicians to observe speech prosody in a variety of contexts and to use multiple levels of analyses. The final three chapters focus on atypical prosody in acquired disorders such as stroke. Verhoeven and Marien describe a patient with Foreign Accent syndrome whose speech rhythm changed post-stroke leading listeners to perceive her as a French speaker rather than a Dutch speaker. Yet despite this perceptual change, many prosodic features of this patient’s speech remained unchanged. In the second chapter in this section, Abberton and Fourcin illustrate differences in voice quality using direct measurement of vocal fold activity and acoustic analyses. Specifically, electroglottography signals are displayed alongside acoustic signals derived from a microphone. The authors discuss how these displays contribute to the scientific literature tying physiolog- ical changes to acoustics and how they can be used to provide real-time biofeedback during therapy. The final chapter of the book by van Nuffelen provides a general overview of assessment and treatment of prosodic disturbances in dysarthria, a neuromotor speech disorder. Although the author discusses the need to assess receptive prosody, the proposed interventions focus mainly on the role of prosody in improving intelligibility. Overall, this edited volume fills a clear void in the literature in the area of atypical prosody. Many of the authors are based in the UK and thus much of the cited literature is drawn from recent European sources and augmented with more classic works from North America. For some topics, the breadth of the literature could have been expanded and more current. On a positive note, there was a concerted effort on the part of almost all the authors to relate their work to clinicians. In many instances, assessment tools are surveyed and treatment strategies provided. A major International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders ISSN 1368-2822 print/ISSN 1460-6984 online c 2012 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-6984.2011.00110.x
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Transcript of Speech Prosody in Atypical Populations: Assessment and Remediation edited by Vesna Stojanovik and...
INT J LANG COMMUN DISORD, JULY–AUGUST 2012,VOL. 47, NO. 4, 471–472
Book Review
Speech Prosody in Atypical Populations: Assessmentand Remediation
Edited by VESNA STOJANOVIK and JANE SETTER
(Guildford, Surrey: J&R Press, 2011)[Pp. 172.] ISBN 978-1-907826-00-9.
This edited volume provides a much-needed resourceon the perception and production of prosody in a rangeof developmental and acquired disorders. The origins ofthe book date back to a workshop on ‘Speech Prosodyin Atypical Populations’ held in Reading, UK, in 2007.The editors have weaved together research in the areawith implications for therapeutic practice. It is suitablefor students, researchers, and clinicians who work withchildren and adults with atypical prosody.
The Preface provides a concise summary of prosodyand its linguistic roles as well as an overview of howthis aspect of speech has been largely overlooked inassessment and intervention. The book is divided intotwo sections: Developmental Disorders and AcquiredDisorders, with chapters written by researchers andclinical experts.
In the first chapter within the DevelopmentalDisorders section, Sue Peppe discusses the importanceof determining whether atypical prosody is a primary orsecondary disorder. She points to the dearth of standard-ized assessment tools for examining prosody prior to anin-depth description of her PEPS-C (Profiling Elementsof Speech Communication) battery. A key point isthat the PEPS-C assesses both receptive and expressiveprosody. While the PEPS-C was designed to assessprosody in children with high-functioning autism, ithas been applied to a number of clinical populationsincluding children with Williams syndrome and Down’ssyndrome, which is the topic of the second chapterby Stojanovik and Setter. The authors demonstratethat although receptive abilities are comparable in bothspeaker groups, they differ in pragmatic aspects andproduction.
Chapters 3 and 4 use conversational analysistechniques to examine both speaker and interlocutorpatterns of prosody. Samuelsson, Plejert, Nettelbladtand Anward show that speech therapists use
stereotypical and somewhat restricted prosodic patternswhen administering assessment batteries and thatchildren with language impairment adopt the clinician’sprosodic patterns which may not be ideal. The need toassess prosody in a variety of contexts with a variety ofmethods is echoed by Kelly and Beeke who analysedvideo recordings of spontaneous speech between a7-year-old child with high-functioning autism and hismother. The authors call for clinicians to observe speechprosody in a variety of contexts and to use multiple levelsof analyses.
The final three chapters focus on atypical prosody inacquired disorders such as stroke. Verhoeven and Mariendescribe a patient with Foreign Accent syndrome whosespeech rhythm changed post-stroke leading listenersto perceive her as a French speaker rather than aDutch speaker. Yet despite this perceptual change,many prosodic features of this patient’s speech remainedunchanged.
In the second chapter in this section, Abbertonand Fourcin illustrate differences in voice quality usingdirect measurement of vocal fold activity and acousticanalyses. Specifically, electroglottography signals aredisplayed alongside acoustic signals derived from amicrophone. The authors discuss how these displayscontribute to the scientific literature tying physiolog-ical changes to acoustics and how they can be usedto provide real-time biofeedback during therapy. Thefinal chapter of the book by van Nuffelen providesa general overview of assessment and treatment ofprosodic disturbances in dysarthria, a neuromotorspeech disorder. Although the author discusses the needto assess receptive prosody, the proposed interventionsfocus mainly on the role of prosody in improvingintelligibility.
Overall, this edited volume fills a clear void inthe literature in the area of atypical prosody. Manyof the authors are based in the UK and thus muchof the cited literature is drawn from recent Europeansources and augmented with more classic works fromNorth America. For some topics, the breadth of theliterature could have been expanded and more current.On a positive note, there was a concerted effort onthe part of almost all the authors to relate their workto clinicians. In many instances, assessment tools aresurveyed and treatment strategies provided. A major
International Journal of Language & Communication DisordersISSN 1368-2822 print/ISSN 1460-6984 online c© 2012 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-6984.2011.00110.x
472 Book Review
limitation, however, was the lack of attention on atheoretical framework of prosodic phonology. Giventhe discussions relating to perception and productionof prosody in several chapters, this framework wouldhave been useful. Further elaboration on the measure-ment of prosody perceptually, acoustically and throughthe use of physiological tools would have strengthenedthe clinical utility. That said, clinicians, students andresearchers now have a resource that serves as a starting-off point for issues related to atypical prosody which
had until now been tucked away in various diversefields.
RUPAL PATEL
Associate Professor of Speech LanguagePathology & Computer and Information Sciences
and Adjunct Professor of Electricaland Computer Engineering at Northeastern
University and Affiliate Faculty, Harvard-MIT,Health Science and Technology Program,
Boston, MA, USA
