A Five-Year Longitudinal Study of Development of Articulation Proficiency in Elementary School Children

This paper reports the results of a five-year longitudinal study of the spontaneous development of articulation proficiency in 60 elementary school children. The subjects received no remediation in speech other than that which occurred in connection with regular classroom instruction. Articulation was tested at the beginning of each school year in Grades 1 through 5. The results indicate that 47 children developed adequate articulation during the five years. Clinical implications and the need for further research in the development of predictive tests of articulation are discussed.