ABSTRACT
A traditional and essential component in the clinical practice of speech pathology and therapy is the assessment and evaluation of an individual’s speech. The phonetic dimension of speech assessment is concerned with the description and classification of the sounds produced by the movements of the vocal organs. The phonological dimension of speech assessment is concerned with describing and evaluating the use of speech sounds in spoken language. The developmental dimension of speech assessment is essential in the evaluation of children’s pronunciation abilitis. Pronunciation problems may be associated with anatomical anomalies and/or physiological restrictions. Assessment of articulatory mobility and movements focuses primarily on the lips, the tongue and the soft palate. The primary purpose of a phonetic assessment is to investigate the type and range of speech sounds used by an individual in speech production. Assessment of speech production based on a speech sample provides information about individuals’ use of speech sounds.
