Children’s comprehension of an unfamiliar speaker accent: a review

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dc.contributor.authorHarte, Jennifer
dc.contributor.authorOliveira, Ana
dc.contributor.authorFrizelle, Pauline
dc.contributor.authorGibbon, Fiona E.
dc.contributor.funder
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-15T09:17:36Z
dc.date.available2016-04-15T09:17:36Z
dc.date.issued2016-01-27
dc.description.abstractBackground: The effect of speaker accent on listeners’ comprehension has become a key focus of research given the increasing cultural diversity of society and the increased likelihood of an individual encountering a clinician with an unfamiliar accent. Aims: To review the studies exploring the effect of an unfamiliar accent on language comprehension in typically developing (TD) children and in children with speech and language difficulties. This review provides a methodological analysis of the relevant studies by exploring the challenges facing this field of research and highlighting the current gaps in the literature. Methods & Procedures: A total of nine studies were identified using a systematic search and organized under studies investigating the effect of speaker accent on language comprehension in (1) TD children and (2) children with speech and/or language difficulties. Main Contribution: This review synthesizes the evidence that an unfamiliar speaker accent may lead to a breakdown in language comprehension in TD children and in children with speech difficulties. Moreover, it exposes the inconsistencies found in this field of research and highlights the lack of studies investigating the effect of speaker accent in children with language deficits. Conclusions & Implications: Overall, research points towards a developmental trend in children's ability to comprehend accent-related variations in speech. Vocabulary size, language exposure, exposure to different accents and adequate processing resources (e.g. attention) seem to play a key role in children's ability to understand unfamiliar accents. This review uncovered some inconsistencies in the literature that highlight the methodological issues that must be considered when conducting research in this field. It explores how such issues may be controlled in order to increase the validity and reliability of future research. Key clinical implications are also discussed.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationHARTE, J., OLIVEIRA, A., FRIZELLE, P. & GIBBON, F. 2016. Children's comprehension of an unfamiliar speaker accent: a review. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. doi:10.1111/1460-6984.12211en
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/1460-6984.12211
dc.identifier.issn1460-6984
dc.identifier.journaltitleInternational Journal of Language & Communication Disordersen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/2453
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherJohn Wiley & Sons Ltden
dc.relation.urihttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1460-6984.12211/abstract
dc.rights© 2016 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: HARTE, J., OLIVEIRA, A., FRIZELLE, P. & GIBBON, F. 2016. Children's comprehension of an unfamiliar speaker accent: a review. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12211. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.en
dc.subjectChildrenen
dc.subjectLanguage comprehensionen
dc.subjectUnfamiliar accenten
dc.subjectSpeech and language therapyen
dc.subjectSpeech processingen
dc.titleChildren’s comprehension of an unfamiliar speaker accent: a reviewen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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