A Polish five-year-old with protracted phonological development

This case study examines the phonology of a five-year-old Polish-speaking boy with protracted phonological development. A multi-tier analysis of his phonology revealed that word length, stress patterns, vowels and most consonants were largely compatible with the adult target while coronal consonants requiring fine control of tongue shape (fricatives, affricates, liquids) and most consonant clusters posed difficulty for the child in all word positions. Labial and dorsal features were well-established; in fact, [Labial] outcompeted other places of articulation in problematic sequences of both singletons and clusters. The case profile demonstrates asynchronous development of individual phonological elements and tiers. A proposed treatment plan exploits the child’s strengths to address his needs and minimise the discrepancy between the tiers.