This SIG 19 activity bundles four articles providing perspectives on a broad variety of topics in speech-language pathology. First, Bunta and Gósy discuss how speech-language pathologists and audiologists could utilize acoustic analyses in their clinical practice. They provide specific examples ranging from aphasia to speech sound disorders and various linguistic contexts to demonstrate the utility of these tools. The authors suggest acoustic analyses can be a valued supplement in clinical evaluations. Next, Diekhoff and Lulich examine speech-language pathology students’ conceptualization and description of American rhotic Sounds. They discuss the differences in descriptions of rhotic sounds by students who had experience with those sounds compared to those who did not have experience with those sounds. The role of direct instruction regarding rhotic shapes is highlighted. Then, Gurevich and Kim discuss quantifying allophonic coverage in commonly used reading passages. In summary, they suggest a need for new speech materials that could provide allophonic coverage. Finally, Jung, Jing, and Grigos investigate the accuracy and consistency of students’ perceptions/ratings of speech errors in children. They report that student clinicians’ ratings matched with expert speech-language pathologists’ ratings with training. The importance and need for listening training in speech-language pathology programs are also discussed.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• explain how acoustic analyses in clinical practice can help speech-language pathologists and audiologists
• describe how knowledge of rhotic tongue shapes can help student clinicians conceptualize American rhotic sounds
• summarize the importance of phonemic and allophonic coverage in standard reading passages
• detail how listening training can benefit clinicians' ratings of speech sound errors

Assessment Type
Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

Articles in This Course

1. Expanding the Clinical Toolset: Acoustic Analyses for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists in the 21st Century by Ferenc Bunta and Mária Gósy, published in SIG 19, Volume 7, Issue 6, December 2022
2. Conceptualizations of the Articulation of Rhotic Sounds in American English and the Role of Clinical Experience in Their Formation by Megan R. Diekhoff and Steven M. Lulich, published in SIG 19, Volume 7, Issue 4, August 2022
3. Examination of Consonantal Phonetic Coverage in Standard Reading Passages by Naomi Gurevich and Heejin Kim, published in SIG 19, Volume 7, Issue 5, October 2022
4. Graduate Student Clinicians' Perceptions of Child Speech Sound Errors by Seyoung Jung, Linye Jing, and Maria Grigos, published in SIG 19, Volume 7, Issue 4, August 2022