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The title of this doctoral research is "Voice Onset Time and Phonological Processing in Reading Impaired Children." The research aims to use experimental methods to investigate the relationship between phoneme detection, speech perception and reading ability in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). This will be achieved by varying key elements of elementary phonemes, notably the voice onset time (VOT). VOT denotes the time interval between the release of the consonant sound and the onset of the rhythmic vocal cord vibrations (voicing). Language problems may arise if the timing of VOTs is not precisely represented by the listener and in order to examine this hypothesis, synthesised VOTs will be varied in order to identify the optimal VOT for language impaired subjects. This research will then examine the overall contribution modified VOTs make to reading and speech performance. This aspect of the research aims to explore the value of artificial VOT adjustment in training corpora as a prospective remedy for impaired phonemic analysis. The research will commence with the administration of general tests of language and cognitive ability to children with SLI in the west of Ireland with a view to profiling the subgroups which exist under the umbrella term SLI.

This work is supervised by Dr. Mark Elliott and Dr. Ian Stewart and is supported by EMBARK Initiative funding from the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology (IRCSET).

Conference Presentations

• Martyn, C. (2008, April). Parental and teacher ratings of the emotional, behavioural and peer relationships of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Paper presented at the Psychological Society of Ireland, 30th Annual Congress of Psychology Students in Ireland, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.
• Martyn, C. (2007, March). The characteristics of children with Specific Language Impairment in Ireland. Award winning paper presented at the Psychological Society of Ireland, 29th Annual Congress of Psychology Students in Ireland, University College Dublin.
• Martyn, C., & Stewart, I. (2006, April). Using a computer-based model to train symmetry and re-combinative generalisation in children. Award winning paper presented at the Psychological Society of Ireland, 28th Annual Congress of Psychology Students in Ireland, NUI Maynooth.

Links

• Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD 33)
• Reading the signs of dyslexia (Irish Times, Tuesday, September 30, 2008)
• Dyslexia Association of Ireland
• NCBES Annual Report 2006
• SLI Research Group
• Afasic
• The International Society for Psychophysics
• Neuroscience Cluster NUIG
• Society for the Scientific Study of Reading