Presentation - ECV2024-532

Children’s speech development: French (Swiss)

Margaret KEHOE, University of Geneva, Switzerland (Margaret.Winkler-Kehoe@unige.ch)
Nathalie NIEDERBERGER, Lycée Français de San Francisco, USA (nniederberger@hotmail.com)

Swiss French is spoken in the western part of Switzerland and consists of many different varieties, including the dialect subgroups of Geneva, Vaud, Valais, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, and Jura. Swiss French is characterized by 20 consonants and 16 vowels as well as consonant clusters that occur in syllable-initial and -final positions. There are a few studies of children’s acquisition of Swiss French that document the percentage correct of consonants, consonant clusters, and vowels as well as phonological processes and common mismatches. There are no studies on the age of acquisition of consonants, consonant clusters, and vowels nor any studies of children with speech sound disorders. The Dépistage Rapide Articulation et Phonologie (DRAP) is a screening test designed to detect Swiss French (and other European French) monolingual and bilingual children at risk for having speech sound disorders.

Key words:
Swiss French, multilingual, communication, speech, language, children’s development, interdisciplinary, international communities, assessment, intervention

Book chapter:
Kehoe, M. & Niederberger, N. (2025). French (Swiss) speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press.

Language overview presentation:

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

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