Presentation - ECV2024-526

Children’s speech development: English + Spanish

Brian A. GOLDSTEIN, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, USA (bgoldstein@usa.edu)
Raúl PREZAS, Lamar University, USA (rprezas@lamar.edu)

Abstract and slides only

Spanish and English as a language pair are spoken in a myriad of countries in which Spanish or English is the major or official language, including many other countries. Spanish is characterized generally as having 18 consonant and five vowel phonemes. Spanish also contains many syllable-onset consonant clusters and word-internal abutting consonant pairs. English generally has 24 consonants and 13 monophthong and diphthong vowel phonemes. English also contains many syllable-onset consonant clusters and word-internal abutting consonant pairs. Research studies of Spanish-English speech sound development of typically developing children indicate a similar acquisition timetable to cross-linguistic studies of English and Spanish. There are far fewer studies examining speech sound development in Spanish-English–speaking children with speech sound disorders. Formal and informal assessments are used to determine speech sound skills in Spanish-English–speaking children. Best practice intervention is the use of a bilingual approach.

Key words:
Spanish, English, bilingual, multilingual, communication, speech, language, children’s development, interdisciplinary, international communities, assessment, intervention

Book chapter:
Goldstein, B. A., & Prezas, R. (2025). English + Spanish 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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