The Lee Assessment of Articulation and Phonology for African American Children Part 2: A Comparison of Typically Developing Children and Children With a Speech Delay

Purpose: The current study was undertaken to validate assessing African American English (AAE) articulation based on AAE rules and norms. The researchers explored whether an AAE articulation assessment tool, the Lee Assessment of Articulation and Phonology for African American Children (LAAPAAC), would contribute to accurate diagnostic outcomes for AAE speakers. Therefore, the study asked: Do typically developing AAE speakers and AAE speakers with an articulation disorder vary in their performance on the LAAPAAC. Method: The performance of typically developing AAE speakers and AAE speakers identified as having an articulation/phonological disorder were compared using the LAAPAAC, an articulation measure explicitly designed for AAE speakers. Results: There was a difference in scores on the LAAPAAC of total errors for Sounds-in-Words between typically developing participants and participants receiving speech services. There was limited variation in the occurrence of dialectal differences between the groups. Conclusions: The LAAPAAC has the potential to assist speech-language pathology clinicians in differentiating between a speech difference and a speech-sound delay/disorder among pre-K through first-grade students. Due to the limited sample size, further research is needed to strengthen the sensitivity, specificity, generalizability, validity, and reliability of the tool. Only assessing sounds in words' initial and medial positions strengthens the LAAPAAC's validity for AAE speakers.