Comparison of Nasalance in Spanish-Speaking Bilinguals and English-Speaking Monolinguals Living in Eastern North Carolina: A Preliminary Investigation

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Katie Broadwell (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to obtain preliminary nasalance (percentage of air resonated in the nasal cavity) data for typically developing, Spanish-speaking bilinguals living in NC. A secondary aim was to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in nasalance between Spanish-English bilingual children and English monolingual children. Sixteen healthy children (8 monolingual English-speaking, 8 Spanish-English bilingual) with normal anatomy between 5 and 6 years of age at the time of the experiment completed the experiment. Between-group comparisons of the mean nasalance values were conducted using a paired samples t test. Independent samples t tests were used to compare bilingual participants' productions of the English and Spanish stimuli. A statistically significant difference was found in overall mean nasalance values between monolingual and bilingual groups. However, when analyses were separated by stimulus type, only the single-word productions of Spanish stimuli differed significantly between groups. The data from this study provide preliminary nasalance values for a population of Spanish-English bilingual children with normal anatomy.

Additional Information

Publication

Thesis

Language: English

Date: 2023

Subjects

bilingual;cleft palate;nasalance;resonance

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