Phonological Analysis of the Speech of Children Attained of Bacterial Meningitis: The Case of 09 Patients in Yaounde, Cameroon

Bacterial meningitis is a life threatening infection that affects the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord often leading to neurological complications, including deficits in speech and language development in children. The main focus of this study is to analyze the phonological, syntactic and pragmatic elements of the language of children with meningitis in Yaoundé, Cameroon. It therefore gives an insight to the speech of children suffering from meningitis. This study was carried out at the National Center for the Rehabilitation of Handicap Persons (NCRHP) Etoug-Ebe, NADA Dominion Nursery and Primary School and Jumping Jack Nursery and Primary, which are all located in Yaoundé. The study involved 09 children whose ages ranged from 6 to 18 years with a history of bacterial meningitis. The research made use of the purposive sampling technique and the research design that was used was the qualitative technique. Observations, interviews and language tests were used to collect data; these observations were both active and passive. Interview sessions lasted several weeks and they were recorded using a Dictaphone and were transcribed by the researchers. These interviews were conducted in schools and in the homes of those patients. Speech samples were analysed so as to get the production fluency and accuracy. Results from the analyses revealed that patients had issues such as sound substitution, stopping, frication, devoicing. velarization, fronting, consonant insertion and deletion.