15 A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF BIUNGCTALISM AND STUTTERING IN FOUR JQHMNESBURCpSCHQOLS. (Summary of the original article.) By ERICA STERN, B.A., Dip. Log. (Rand.) 1.·. INTRODUCTION. Tho question as to the relationship between bilingualism and stuttering is still largely a matter of conjecture among Logopedical authorities. Both McAllister (4) and Smiley Blanton (1) quote cases of stuttering in which language conflict seems to be the chief etiological factor. From tho statement by FrSscliels and Jellinek (2) «of "the conflicts which arise within us" during the process of learning a foreign language, it is justifiable to infer that stuttering may result from such language conflicts. Burford Johnson (3) advises "unilingual development in early years'? to eliminate the confusion that necessarily results from the acquisition of two languages sim- ultaneously. The above authorities offer no statistical data to substantiate their beliefs. The only study offering statistical data bearing on the problem, that has come to the attention of the investigator, is that of Travis, Johnson ' and Shover (5). This investigation was conducted in East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.A. on 4,827 school children. Significantly more stuttering was found among bilingual than among unilingual children, the respective percentages being 2.80 and 1.80. It is the aim of this small, preliminary investigation to ascertain whether or not this tendency is observable in a bilingual country such as South Africa which has as its two official languages Afrikaans and English. 11. SUBJECTS. This investigation was carried out in four Johannesburg schools, (two Afrikaans and two English medium,) with a total population of 1,861 children, ranging in age from six to sixteen years. The standards in the four schools ranged from Grade 1 to Std. ¥11, inclusive, plu3 special classes for mentally retarded children. Each school contained approximately the same number of boys and girls. 111.' PROCEDURE. Each school child received a bilingual copy of the questionnaire which was filled in by his/her parents. Both children and parents wore kept in ignorance of the real purpose of the questionnaire, viz. to ascertain whether • ™ x Copy of questionnaire can be found at the conclusion of article. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) 16. there is any relation between bilingualism and stuttering. As time did not permit an individual speech examination of every child, only those children considered by their class teachers to be stutterers were interviewed. In a few cases the investigator's diagnosis did not agroe with that of the teacher. The children designated as stutterers in this study then, aro those considered to be stutterers both by their class teacher and by the investigator. The interview was standardised and was conducted in the language corresponding to the medium of the school. The stuttering children were classified according to an arbitary five- point severity scale ranging from SI (representing a child with only the primary symptons of stuttering)' to S5 (representing so bad a stutterer that for all practical purposes he is unable to communicate with society). Each questionnaire was then examined and classed under one of the following classifications: A Unilingual, Afrikaans speaking only before the age of six years. Ε Unilingual, English speaking only before the ago of six years. AE Bilingual, used both Afrikaans and English equally before the age of six years. Ae Bilingual, but used a great deal more Afrikaans than English before the ago of six years. Ea Bilingual, but used a great deal more English than Afrikaans before •the age of Bix years. EO Bilingual, used both English and another language e.g. French, Syrian or Jewish equally before the age of six years. IV. RESULTS. For the sake of convenience, the two Afrikaans medium schools are desig- nated as Ax and Ay respectively, and the two English medium schools as Ex and Ey. These four schools had a total population of 1,861 children, but the questionnaire was answered by only 1,035 children. However, there was good reason to assume that the number of questionnaires submitted from each school constituted a fair sampling of that school and the figures that follow are based on that assumption. The following table shows the number and percentage of stutterers in comparison with the general school population in each language group in each of the four schools. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) 17. Τ ABIE 1. Number and Percentage of Stutterers in Comparison with the General School. Population in each Language Group in each of tho four Schools. School Language Classifi- cation Number of !Pupils. Per cent Pupils Number of Stutterers Per cent Stutterers Ax A 572 82.0 2 0.54 Ε 6 1.3 0 0 Ae 78 16.7 2 2.65 Ay A 424 87.8 13 3.07 Ε 6 1.3 0 0 AE 20 4.2 0 0 Ae 22 4.5 1 4.6 Ea 11 2.2 0 0 EX A - 32 6.6 0 0 Ε 278 57e0 2 0.72 AE 72 14.7 0 0 Ae 23 4.8 0 0 Ea 69 14.2 4 5.79 EO 13 2.7 1 7.63 Ey A 6 1.2 0 0 Ξ 340 77.6 7 2.06 AE 24 5,4 0 0 Ae 18 4.2 0 0 Ea 46 10.5 1 2.16 SO 4 1.1 0 0 TOTAL 1861 33 1.77 R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) 18. The material of Table 1 is presented in summary form in the following table, the children being merely classified as either unilingual or bi- lingual before the age of six years. TABLE 11. PERCENTAGES OF UNILINGUAL AND BILINGUAL STUTTERERS. Language Classifi- Number of Number of Per Cent cation Pupils Stutterers Stutterers Unilingual 1444 24 1.66 Bilingual 417 9 2.16 R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) Table 111 shows the sex ratio among the stutterers in the two language groups, (unilingual and bilingual,) and their severity ratings. No stutterers were considered to belong to the S5 category; stutterers classified as belonging to'SI and S2 groups have been combined and_ regarded as "mild" stutterers, while those stutterers from groups S3 and S4 have been combined to form a group of "severe" stutterers. TABLE 111. SEX RATIO AND SEVERITY RATINGS OF THE STUTTERERS IN THE UNILINGUAL AND BILINGUAL GROUPS. Language Classifi- cation Severity Rating Number of Male Stutterers Number of Female Stutterers Total Number of Stutterers Per Cent Stutterors SI & S2 17 3 20 ' 83.33 Unilingual S3 & S4 1 3 4 16.67 SI & S2 3 .1 4 44.44 Bilingual S3 & S4 5 0 5 55.56 - Total 26 7 33 R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) 20. V. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS. This study contains some obvious weaknesses which must bo borne in mind with respect to any discussion of the results or conclusions pre- sented by the investigator. (1) Tho sample is very small and. tendencies noted may quite well be . due to the operation of chance factors. (2) Account had to.be made for a number of questionnaires which were not answered, (3) Tho questionnaire forms only supply information as to the language classification of the children before the age of six years while the examination of tho children for stuttering refers to the time tho survey was done. Of 1,861 school children, 1,444 were classified as being unilingual before the ago of six years, (speaking either Afrikaans or English only,) while 4.17 children were classed as being fully or partially bilingual before tho age of six yoars. The languages spoken by the bilingual children in- cluded Afrikaans and English in varying degrees, French, Jewish and Syrian. The results seem to indicate that there are more stutterers among bilingual children before the age of six years than among unilingual children, the respective percentages being 2.16 and 1.66. (Table 11.) Not only does there appear to be a slightly greater percentage of stuttering among bilingual children, but from Table 111 it would appear that there is a considerably greater proportion of severe stutterers among bi- lingual than among the unilingual stutterers. In the unilingual group of twenty-four stutterers, only four or 16.67 per cent wore considered to be severe stutterers; in the bilingual group of nine, on the other hand, five were classed as severe stutterers, giving a percentage of 55.56. Table 111 also shows the fact that of the thirty-three stutterers ex- amined, twenty-six wero boys and seven girls, giving a sex ratio of approx- imately 4:1 in favour of.the boys. The greater incidence of stuttering among boys than among girls is in agreement with all other investigations into the incidence of stuttering. In this survey of four elementary schools in Johannesburg! 1.77 per cent of the children were found to be stutterers (Table 1,) This figure is in close agreement with previous investigations into the incidence of stuttering among children attending schools in tho Transvaal, Prof, P, de V, Pienaar, University of the Witwatersrand, in 1936 conducted an investi- gation in the schools in the Witwatersrand area. Ho found 2 por cent of Rand school children to bo stutterers. According to tho report of the Trans- vaal Commission on Education (1939) 1.5 per cent of school children in the Transvaal'stutter. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) 21. ο The results of this investigation, via. tho slightly greater number of stutterers found among bilingual than among-unilingual children, are in accordance with the results obtained in a similar survey in the U.S.A. by Travis, Johnson and Shovor (5) reported earlier in this study. VI. SUMMARY. A preliminary survey was conducted in four Johannesburg schools to ascertain the relation between bilingualism and stuttering, if any. £>ut of a total school population of 1,861, 1.77 per cont of the children were found to be stutterers. The findings of this study appear to indicate: 1. More stuttering is found among bilingual than among unilingual children, the respective percentages being 2.16 and 1.66. 2. It would seem that there is a considerably greater proportion of severe stutterers among bilingual than among unilingual stutterers. The results of this study can by no means be taken as conclusive on account of the weaknesses inherent in a preliminary survey of this nature. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 1. Blanton, Smiley, A Survey of Speech Defect. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 7, 1916, page 581. 2. Froschels and Jollinek, Practice of Voice and Speech Therapy, page 168. Boston Mass., Expression Company, 1941. 3. Johnson, Burford. Child Psychology, page 223. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, 111., and Baltimore"," Maryland, 1932. 4. McAllister, Anne, Clinical Studio in Speech Therapy. Dago 309. London, University Press, 1937. 5. Travis, Johnson and Shover, Tho Rolation of Bilingualism to Stuttering. Journal of Speech Disorders, September, 1939, Vol. 2, page 185. R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) 22. APPENDIX 1. UNIVERSITY OF THE WmTATE3SR-^TD, JOHANNESBURG. Investigation into the Incidence of Stuttering. To the Parents of Schoolchildren:- Ladies and Gentlemen, For tho purpose of this investigation, wo wish to find out whether your child learnt one language first, and a second after beginning, or learnt two languages together, before going to school. It is of the utmost importance that the following questions be answered accurately. Even if you have more than one child at the jne school, please fill out a separate questionnaire for each child. To ensure that the information shall be strictly confidential, it is not necessary for your name to be signed to this questionnaire. Age of child years months School Sex: Male Std· Femalo List the ages of all the List tho ages of all tho child's brothers:-' child's sisters:- 1. Place a cross next to the language(s) spoken at homG by your child bofore the age of six years. English Afrikaans Othor Lang, (specify) 2. Place a cross next to the language most frequently spoken at home by your child before the age of six years. English Afrikaans ...... Other Lang, (specify) 3. State the age at which your child began speaking the following languages:- English years months. Afrikaans years months. Other Lang, (specify) years months. 4. Place a cross next, to the language,(s) spoken by your child with his/her playmates before the age of six years:- English ...... Afrikaans Other Lang, (specify) R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) £5. 5. Place a cross next to the language spoken most frequently by your child with his/her playmates before the age of six years. English Afrikaans Other Lang, (specify) 6. TO BE FILLED IN BY THE FATHER. Place a cross against the language(s) spoken by you at home before your child reached the age of six years. English Afrikaans Other Lang, (specify) 7. Place a cross against tho language you spoke most frequently at homo before tho child reached the age of six years. English Afrikaans Other Lang, (specify) 0. TO BE FILLED IN BY THE MOTHER. Place a cross against the language(s) spokon by you at home before your child reached the age of six years. English Afrikaans Other Lang, (specify) 9. Place a cross against the language you spoko most frequently at homo before your child reached tho age of six years. English Afrikaans Other Lang, (specify) 10. Does your child stutter (stammer?) UNIVERSITEIT VAN DIE WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG. Ondersoek Insake Stotter. Aan ouers van Skoolkinders:- Geagte Meneer/Mevrou, Wat ons met die ondersoek beoog is om vas to stel of u kind een taal magtig.was, en »n tweede aangeleer het na hy/sy skool' vir die eerste keer besoek het, of hy/sy reeds vertroud was met beide tale voor hy/sy skool begin besoek het. Ons sal dit waardeer as u die volgonde vrao baie noukeurig bo- antwoord. As u meer as een kind op dieselfdo skool het, vul dan assebliof vir elke kind *n aparte vorm in. Daar die inligting wat ons deurhierdie vraelyste inwin streng vertroulik behandel sal word, ag ons dit nio nodig dat u u naam op die vorm token nie. Ouderdom van kind Skool Std jare maande. Geslag: Manlik . Vroulik R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2) 24. Ouderdomme van kind se broers. Ouderdomme van kind se susters. 1. DUi met »n kruisie aan die t-al/'-ale wat deur u kind by die huis gebruik was voor die ouderdo.u van ses jaar. Afrikaans Engels Andertalo (meld) 2. Dui mot 'n kruisie aan die taal wat u kind tuis die meeste gebruik het voor die ouderdom van ses jaar. Afrikaans Engels Ander tale (meld) 3. Meld die ouderdomme wanneer u kind hom begin bodien het met die volgende tale: Afrikaans j'are maande Engels jare ......... maande Ander tale (meld) .... jare maande 4. Dui met *n kruisie aan die taal/tale deur u kind en sy/haar maats gebruik voor die ouderdom van ses jaar. Afrikaans Engels Ander tale (mold) 5. Dui met *n kruisie aan die taal wat u kind meeste met sy/haar maats gobruilc hot voor die ouderdom van 3es jaar, Afrikaans Engels ...... Ander tale (mold) 6. • OM DEUR DIE TAPER INGEVUL TE WORD: Dui met »n kruisie aan die taal/tale wat u in dio hais gebruik hot voordat u kind die ouderdom .van ses jaar boroik het. Afrikaans Engels Ander tale (meld) 7. Dui met »n kruisio aan die taal/tale waarmoo u u die meeste tuis bo- dien het voordat u kind dio ouderdom van ses jaar boreik hot. Afrikaans Engels Ander tale (meld) 8. OM DEUR DIE MOEDER INGSVUL TE WORD. Dui met »n kruisie aan die teal/tele deur u gebruik in die huis voor- dat u kind die ouderdom van rts jaar bereik het. Afrikaans Engels ...... Ander tale (mold) 1 9. Dui met 'n kruisie aan die taal/tale waarmee u u dio meeste bedien het voordat u kind die ouderdom van ses jaar bereik het. Afrikaans ...... Engels Ander tale (meld) 10. Hakkel (stotter) u kind? R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 2)