Aquisição do onset complexo em crianças com desenvolvimento fonológico típico e atípico de Maceió-AL

Abstract

During the phonological acquisition path, the last syllabic structure to achieve stability within the child's phonological system in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) is the complex onset, around 5 years of age (MOTA, 1996; SCHEUER, BEFI-LOPES, WERTZNER, 2003; PAYÃO, 2004; RIBAS, 2006; CASTRO, 2015; CERON et al., 2017). In this course of acquisition, the child performs the phonological processes in order to achieve the target words of the adult (LAMPRECHT, 2004), both in typical and atypical phonological development. However, in atypical development, there is a delay in the stability of all elements of the phonological system and the persistence of phonological processes (RIBAS, 2006). This study aims to describe and analyze the acquisition of complex onset by children with typical phonological development between 3;0 and 8;11 years of age and atypical phonological development between 5;0 and 8;11, living in Maceió-AL. It was analyzed the influencing environments and phonological processes performed by 36 children with typical phonological development and 26 children with atypical development, students from public municipal schools in this city, without hearing, motor, and oral myofunctional impairments that would affect the production of speech sounds. The collection of speech data of children was performed through evaluations with the Child Language Test - ABFW (WERTZNER, 2004) and the Phonological Evaluation Instrument - INFONO (CERON, 2015). Then, the data were tabulated and analyzed through descriptive analysis, based on the Features Geometry Theory (CLEMENTS, HUME, 1995), Metric Theory (LIBERMAN, PRICE, 1977) and the Syllable Theory (SELKIRK, 1984). In typical phonological development, a greater amount of correct productions was observed as the age group increased; unlike children with atypical phonological development, whose percentages remained low in older children. It was observed that some contexts such as type of liquid, mode and point of obstruent and vowel belonging to the CCV syllabic structure directly influence the acquisition of complex onset by typical and atypical children. These phonological environments provide relevant evidence that the acquisition of this syllabic structure is guided by the segment - bottom-up acquisition. A tonic syllable influence was also observed, being favorable to the acquisition of the complex onset. With regard to phonological processes, the phonological process of simplification for C1V was more frequent. A significant occurrence of the processes of substitution of the liquid andmetathesis was observed, especially in atypical children. This study brings importante contributions to the understanding of the acquisition of this more complex syllabic structure with late acquisition. The two evaluation instruments provided complementary and refined analyses regarding the acquisition of complex onset, thus supporting the speech therapy approach for the selection of target words in the evaluation and also in the treatment of speech disorders of phonological nature.