Phonological and morphological impairment in the second language of two down syndrome case study subjects from Nakuru, Kenya

Abstract

This study set to identify and analyze the phonological and morphological impaired features of Down Syndrome subjects in their spontaneous speech, pictorials and repetition exercises. Samples of two Down Syndrome subjects; speakers of Kiswahili and their L1 Kikuyu and Kalenjin respectively were taken one from a home environment and another from a special school in Nakuru. This study had hypothesized that substitution errors would be the most frequent ones in the subjects’ speech in relation to phonological impairment and that omission errors would affect more agreement-marking morphemes than tense marking ones in the subjects’ speech in relation to morphological impairment. Collection of data was done using a tape recorder in capturing the subjects’ spontaneous speech, pictorial based and word repetition exercises. Important information regarding the subjects’ background and condition concerning the study was provided by family members and care-givers. The study’s hypotheses were both confirmed. The findings showed that substitution errors in phonological impairment were indeed many, compared to other phonological errors: omission and addition. Omission errors in morphological impairment affected more agreement-marking morphemes than tense marking ones in the subjects’ speech. No improvement was noted in the speech patterns of the subjects despite conducting the interviews in Time-1 and Time-2.