What is the importance of using both single-word and connected-speech tasks in AOS evaluation?

• A. To assess only articulation in isolation
• B. To measure lexical retrieval in connected speech
• C. To measure auditory perception accuracy
• D. To capture both isolated articulatory accuracy and real-world intelligibility

Answer: (D)

The key idea is that evaluating both isolated articulation and connected speech gives a complete picture of motor speech performance. Single-word tasks isolate each sound, revealing pure articulatory accuracy and consistency without the influence of surrounding context, coarticulation, or prosody. Connected-speech tasks place those sounds into continuous, natural speech, showing how well planning and execution hold up when sequencing, timing, and prosody come into play, and how intelligible the speaker is to listeners. Together, they show whether articulatory errors occur in isolation and how they impact real-world communication, which is essential for accurate diagnosis and planning effective therapy.