Effect of tongue reconstruction following hemiglossectomy on articulation and speech intelligibility

This study is aimed to investigate the articulatory functions of patients who have undergone tongue reconstruction following hemiglossectomy. The second aim of the study is to compare the speech intelligibility between hemiglossectomy patients who have undergone tongue reconstruction using pectoralis major myocutaneous with those hemiglossectomy patients who had undergone tongue reconstruction using radial forearm free flap.Fourteen patients who have undergone tongue reconstruction following hemiglossectomy as a treatment for oral cancer between the age of 30 to 60 years were taken up for this study. Tamil Articulation Test was used for assessing the articulatory functions of patients. The speech intelligibility of each patient was assessed using the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped intelligibility rating scale. Analysis of articulatory errors revealed linguoalveolar consonants were more impaired when compared to other consonants. Patients with radial forearm free flap had somewhat better speech intelligibility compared to patients with pectoralis major myocutaneous flap reconstruction.The type of reconstruction also impacts the speech intelligibility. Effective intervention can be planned based on the comprehensive speech evaluation and analysis of articulatory error relative to place and manner of production.

Velopharyngeal dysfunction

This chapter explores velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD), its impact, aetiology, assessment, and management. VPD may cause hypernasal, weak, and unintelligible speech, facial grimacing, nasal turbulence and nasal regurgitation, middle ear problems, and sinusitis. Such manifestations may be distressing for the patient, be associated with poor academic outcomes, be negatively perceived by others, lead to bullying and withdrawal, and result in relationship and employment difficulties. Like the effect of a visible difference on psychosocial confidence and self-esteem, the manifestations of VPD on emotional well-being and social interaction do not necessarily correlate with the amount of speech, language, or communication dysfunction. Normal anatomy, neuromotor function, and speech learning are prerequisites for effective velopharyngeal function. A problem with any of these components may result in a velopharyngeal mechanism that fails to efficiently and fully close throughout oral speech sound formation leading to VPD and an ensuing speech disorder. Perceptual speech evaluation is used to diagnose VPD. Lateral videofluoroscopy and nasoendoscopy are commonly deployed to assess velopharyngeal function and determine management strategies. Surgical interventions include pharyngoplasty, pharyngeal flaps, and velopharyngeal augmentation. Non-surgical interventions include speech prostheses and nasal obturators for speech improvement.

Evaluating Parameters of the Present-Day Public Discourse Linguistic Correctness and Communicative Efficiency

The article studies in linguo-philosophical and linguo-communicative angles the problem of speech ecology in the conditions of the present-day society along with the violations, caused by it, of linguistic and communicative norms of cooperative speech intercourse. Proceeding from the language-as-a-doer conception and also from the fact of limited linguistic censorship in the sphere of present-day mass communication, the author justifies possibility of all kinds of irregularities in public discourse and analyses how their appearance can affect the eventual communicative efficiency of the discourse as a whole. The article gives a chronological observation of the practice of discourse analysis acquiring the four basic criteria of evaluating linguistic utterances – grammaticality, acceptability, truth, and reference – which were gradually introduced in linguistics as the result of influence from adjacent areas of knowledge. On the basis of selected examples the author tries to find out whether appliance of these speech evaluation methods is justified inasmuch as they help to evaluate linguistic conventions implementation and ability of speech utterances to transmit communicator's intentions implicated in them. Having studied different kinds of speech deviations violating, to this or that extant, the norms of grammar, syntax, conceptualization processes, and communication canons, the author comes to the conclusion that violations of norms do not always cause ultimate communicative failures. According to the author, verbal communication can only be estimated as unsuccessful when it fails to receive adequate perception on the part of the addressee. Based on that, the conclusion is made that while evaluating discourse linguistic correctness and pragmatic consistency, one should, first of all, consider peculiarities of the extra-linguistic context and the category of the receptive audience rather than whether the discourse does or does not conform to the norms of usage and standard speech ethics.

Métodos de avaliação da apraxia de fala na infância: revisão sistemática

RESUMO Objetivos Revisar sistematicamente os protocolos e/ou avaliações que contribuem para o diagnóstico de apraxia de fala na infância (AFI) e classificá-los de acordo com a dimensão clínica avaliada. Estratégia de pesquisa Estudo de revisão sistemática da literatura nas bases de dados MEDLINE (acessado via PubMed), LILACS, Scopus e SciELO, com os descritores Apraxias, Childhood apraxia of speech, Evaluation, Assessment, Validation Studies, Evaluation Studies, Language Therapy, Rehabilitation of Speech and Language Disorders, Child e Child, Preschool. Critérios de seleção A busca nas bases de dados foi conduzida por três pesquisadores independentes. Foram incluídos estudos que avaliavam, de forma clara, sujeitos com suspeita ou diagnóstico de AFI. Os revisores realizaram a coleta de dados no que diz respeito às características metodológicas, intervenções e desfechos dos estudos, por meio de planilhas previamente elaboradas especificamente para o presente estudo. O dado principal coletado foi referente aos procedimentos de avaliação da AFI para crianças. Resultados A maior parte dos estudos (14 dos 21 incluídos) realizou a associação entre a avaliação de habilidades motoras e/ou articulatórias e segmentais. Cinco realizaram avaliação de todos os aspectos elencados: motor e/ou articulatória, segmental e suprassegmental e dois realizaram apenas avaliação motora e/ou articulatória. A idade dos sujeitos variou de 3 a 12 anos. Conclusão A maioria das pesquisas considerou a associação entre habilidades motoras e/ou articulatórias e segmentais para avaliação da apraxia de fala na infância. Sugere-se a realização de mais estudos, a fim de buscar evidências de validade.