A 6-year-old girl consistently produces /l/ → [w]. In this case, the type of segment error that she produces is ...

A 6-year-old girl consistently produces /l/ → [w]. In this case, the type of segment error that she produces is ...

• A. Typical because 90% of 6-year-old girls produce this type of substitution.
• B. Nondevelopmental because it has persisted past the normal limit of acquisition for /l/.
• C. Developmental because she is younger than the expected age of acquisition for the /l/ phoneme.
• D. Atypical because fewer than 5% of children age 3 to 8 years produce this kind of error.

Answer: (B)

The key idea is how we classify errors based on age and persistence. Substituting the liquid /l/ with a glide like [w] is a common simplification in early speech development, often called gliding. But when a child continues to produce /l/ as [w] beyond the age when most children have mastered /l/, that pattern isn’t just a typical developmental stage—it’s considered nondevelopmental because it persists past the normal window for acquisition. In this case, a 6-year-old showing this substitution indicates that the /l/ sound has not reached typical, age-expected mastery, so the error fits the nondevelopmental category. This isn’t best described as typical, since most children have either mastered /l/ or are near mastery by this age. It isn’t developmental for the same reason: the pattern is beyond the usual age range for acquiring /l/. And while we could discuss rarity, the defining criterion here is retention past the normal acquisition timeline, which is why the nondevelopmental label is the most accurate.

The key idea is how we classify errors based on age and persistence. Substituting the liquid /l/ with a glide like [w] is a common simplification in early speech development, often called gliding. But when a child continues to produce /l/ as [w] beyond the age when most children have mastered /l/, that pattern isn’t just a typical developmental stage—it’s considered nondevelopmental because it persists past the normal window for acquisition. In this case, a 6-year-old showing this substitution indicates that the /l/ sound has not reached typical, age-expected mastery, so the error fits the nondevelopmental category.

This isn’t best described as typical, since most children have either mastered /l/ or are near mastery by this age. It isn’t developmental for the same reason: the pattern is beyond the usual age range for acquiring /l/. And while we could discuss rarity, the defining criterion here is retention past the normal acquisition timeline, which is why the nondevelopmental label is the most accurate.