Is Knowing Words Enough? Assessing Vocabulary in Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

PURPOSE

Vocabulary skills in children are typically measured with norm-referenced assessments of receptive and expressive vocabulary. Language sample analysis is an alternative method of examining vocabulary actually produced in communicative events and may be better suited to exposing subtle vocabulary weaknesses. Here, we examine the relationship between norm-referenced vocabulary testing and language sample analysis in preschool children, both children with typical hearing (CTH) and children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH).

METHOD

Expressive and receptive vocabulary and spontaneous language samples were collected. Language samples were analyzed for complexity (mean length of utterance in words [MLUw]) and variability (number of different noun and verb types produced).

RESULTS

CTH had significantly higher scores on both expressive and receptive norm-referenced tests and produced sentences with greater syntactic complexity and semantic variability. Relationships between expressive test scores and MLUw were seen in both groups; the number of noun/verb types produced was related for children who are DHH only. Receptive vocabulary was not related to spontaneous spoken language for CTH. Receptive vocabulary was significantly related to MLUw and noun/verb types for children who are DHH. However, when the DHH group was subdivided into performance above and performance below the 50th percentile, relationships held only for the group with below-average performance.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that single-word vocabulary, norm-referenced measures indicating performance above the 50th percentile may not be sufficient to capture nuanced difficulties with vocabulary in children who are DHH. For children who are DHH, performance in the "range of normal" on a norm-referenced test may not capture ways in which their language performance differs from that of peers with typical hearing.

The UK C-BiLLT: Validity and reliability of an online assessment of spoken language comprehension for children with severe motor disorders

BACKGROUND

Current UK measures of early spoken language comprehension require manipulation of toys and/or verbal responses and are not accessible to children with severe motor impairments. The Computer-Based Instrument for Low motor Language Testing (C-BiLLT) (originally validated in Dutch) is a computerized test of spoken language comprehension that children with motor disorders control using their usual response methods.

AIMS

To create a UK version of the C-BiLLT, evaluate its validity and reliability, and assess its practicability for children with motor disorders.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

The C-BiLLT was translated into British English and items were adapted to ensure familiarity to UK children. A total of 424 children (233 females, 191 males) aged 1:6-7:5 (years:months) without developmental disabilities were recruited from North East England. Children completed the UK C-BiLLT and Preschool Language Scales 5 (PLS-5) for convergent validity evaluation and either the visual reception subtest of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) (children aged 1:8-5:5) or Ravens Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) (ages 5:6-7:5) to assess divergent validity. A total of 33 children completed the UK C-BiLLT within 4 weeks of initial assessment for test-retest reliability assessment (intraclass correlation coefficient-ICC). Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and exploratory factor analysis examined structural validity. A total of 24 children (10 female, 14 male; aged 4-12 years) with non-progressive motor disorders who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), rated the UK C-BiLLT's ease of use and completed British Picture Vocabulary Scales (BPVS) and CPM as for convergent and divergent validity testing.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Internal consistency was high for children without motor disorders (α = 0.96). Exploratory factor analysis extracted two factors, together explaining 68% of the total variance. Test-retest reliability was excellent (ICC = 0.95; 0.90-0.98 95% confidence interval-CI). UK C-BiLLT scores correlated highly with PLS-5 (r = 0.91) and MSEL (r = 0.81), and moderately with CPM (r = 0.41); and increased across full-year age-bands (F(6, 407) = 341.76, p = < 0.001, η2 = 0.83). A total of 19 children with motor disorders rated the UK C-BiLLT as easy/ok to use; two judged it hard; three declined to rate the ease of use. Their UK C-BiLLT scores correlated highly with BPVS (r = 0.77) and moderately with CPM (r = 0.57).

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

The UK C-BiLLT is a valid, reliable measure of early spoken language development and is potentially practicable for children with motor disorders. It may facilitate international research on the language development of children with motor disorders and evaluation of intervention at the national level.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS

What is already known on the subject Young children with motor disorders have difficulties accessing standardized assessments of language comprehension that require children to handle objects or to speak a response. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This study demonstrates the validity and reliability of a UK translation of the C-BiLLT and suggests that the measure is feasible for children with motor disorders who use AAC and have a reliable method of response via computer access. What are the potential or clinical implications of this work? The UK C-BiLLT is a useful addition to the limited tools currently available to assess early spoken language comprehension of children with motor disorders.

Functional network collapse in neurodegenerative disease

Cognitive and behavioral deficits in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) result from brain atrophy and altered functional connectivity. However, it is unclear how atrophy relates to functional connectivity disruptions across dementia subtypes and stages. We addressed this question using structural and functional MRI from 221 patients with AD (n=82), behavioral variant FTD (n=41), corticobasal syndrome (n=27), nonfluent (n=34) and semantic (n=37) variant primary progressive aphasia, and 100 cognitively normal individuals. Using partial least squares regression, we identified three principal structure-function components. The first component showed overall atrophy correlating with primary cortical hypo-connectivity and subcortical/association cortical hyper-connectivity. Components two and three linked focal syndrome-specific atrophy to peri-lesional hypo-connectivity and distal hyper-connectivity. Structural and functional component scores predicted global and domain-specific cognitive deficits. Anatomically, functional connectivity changes reflected alterations in specific brain activity gradients. Eigenmode analysis identified temporal phase and amplitude collapse as an explanation for atrophy-driven functional connectivity changes.

Aphasia severity is modulated by race and lesion size in chronic survivors: A retrospective study

INTRODUCTION

In stroke survivors with aphasia (SWA), differences in behavioral language performance have been observed between Black and White Americans. These racial differences in aphasia outcomes may reflect biological stroke severity, disparities in access to care, potential assessment bias, or interactions between these factors and race. Understanding the origin of disparities in aphasia outcomes is critical to any efforts to promote health equity among SWA. In this study, we explore aphasia outcomes by examining the relationship between race, socioeconomic status, and neurological factors in SWA.

METHOD

Eighty-five chronic left-hemisphere SWA (31 Black, 54 White) participated in the study. The primary aphasia outcome measure was the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (WAB-R). Lesion size was measured based on manual lesion segmentations. FLAIR and T2 images were scored for severity of white matter disease. Independent sample t-tests were used to determine differences by race in education, age, income, aphasia severity, white matter disease, and lesion size. A linear regression model was used to explore factors that predicted aphasia severity on the WAB-R.

RESULT

Level of education and estimated income differed by race in our sample. For predictors of aphasia severity, the regression model revealed a significant effect of lesion size on WAB Aphasia Quotient and an interaction of race x lesion size, such that Black and White participants with small lesions had similar WAB scores, but in individuals with larger lesions, Black participants had lower WAB scores than White participants.

CONCLUSION

We suggest two explanations for the difference between Black and White SWA in the relationship between lesion size and aphasia severity. First, the impact of disparities in access to rehabilitation after stroke may be more evident when a stroke is larger and causes significant aphasia. Additionally, an assessment bias in aphasia outcome measures may be more evident with increasing severity of aphasia. Future studies should further discern the drivers of observed disparities in aphasia outcomes in order to identify opportunities to improve equity in aphasia care.

Neuroanatomical correlations of visuospatial processing in primary progressive aphasia

Clinical phenotyping of primary progressive aphasia has largely focused on speech and language presentations, leaving other cognitive domains under-examined. This study investigated the diagnostic utility of visuospatial profiles and examined their neural basis among the three main primary progressive aphasia variants. We studied the neuropsychological performances of 118 primary progressive aphasia participants and 30 cognitively normal controls, across 11 measures of visuospatial cognition, and investigated their neural correlates via voxel-based morphometry analysis using visuospatial composite scores derived from principal component analysis. The principal component analysis identified three main factors: visuospatial-executive, visuospatial-memory and visuomotor components. Logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia performed significantly worst across all components; nonfluent/agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia showed deficits in the visuospatial-executive and visuomotor components compared with controls; and the semantic variant primary progressive aphasia scored significantly lower than nonfluent/agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia and control in the visuospatial-memory component. Grey matter volumes over the right parieto-occipital cortices correlated with visuospatial-executive performance; volumetric changes in the right anterior parahippocampal gyrus and amygdala were associated with visuospatial-memory function, and visuomotor composite scores correlated significantly with the grey matter volume at the right precentral gyrus. Discriminant function analysis identified three visuospatial measures: Visual Object and Space Perception and Benson figure copy and recall test, which classified 79.7% (94/118) of primary progressive aphasia into their specific variant. This study shows that each primary progressive aphasia variant also carries a distinctive visuospatial cognitive profile that corresponds with grey matter volumetric changes and in turn can be largely represented by their performance on the visuomotor, visuospatial-memory and executive functions.

The Use of Peabody Tool in the Assessment of Passive Vocabulary in Preschoolers

<p style="text-align: justify;">The purpose of this study was to evaluate the experience of using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary tool to assess receptive vocabulary in preschoolers. The study involved 619 Russian-speaking children aged 3&ndash;7 years (M=67.80, SD=13.73), 48.3% of whom were boys. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary test-IV (form A) was used in the study. The article analyzed differences between children of different age groups from 3.5 to 7.5 years with a step of six months. It was found that there were significant differences in the ceiling items, the total number of errors, and the raw scores in children of different age groups. No gender differences were found. An analysis of the children's performance of series and individual tasks showed that the complexity of the tasks was unevenly distributed. As a result, the methodology in its current form does not work quite as it was intended by its creators: Moscow preschoolers go through a lot of series and spend a lot of time on the implementation of the methodology, which is due to differences in the lexical systems between Russian and English. In this regard, the tool is not optimal for use in its current form; the authors of the article propose to design a local tool for the assessment of the receptive vocabulary in Russian preschoolers.</p>

Fast mapping of verbs in Afrikaans-speaking children from low and mid socioeconomic backgrounds and children with language impairment

Children with LI are at a disadvantage because they typically have smaller vocabularies than their TD peers. However, children from low-SES households often also have smaller vocabularies and can thus be misdiagnosed with LI. The purpose of this study was to compare the fast-mapping (FM) skills of 3 groups of 4- to 9-year-olds: typically developing (TD) children with low socioeconomic status (SES) and mid SES, and mid-SES children with language impairment (LI), to ascertain whether FM is affected by SES. The FM items of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation were administered to 253 TD mid-SES children, 75 TD low-SES children, and 36 children with LI. On FM with novel verbs, the TD groups differed significantly (p = .001) as did the TD mid-SES and LI groups (p = .046), but not the TD low-SES and LI groups (p = 1.00). On a comparable task with real verbs, the TD mid-SES group also differed significantly from the TD low-SES (p < .001) and LI group (p = .018), with no significant difference between the latter two groups (p = 1.00). FM has been proposed as a non-SES-sensitive measure but, unlike previous studies, we found FM to be affected by SES, rendering it an insufficiently unbiased measure for our sample of children. Further thought should be given to measures that can successfully differentiate between children with LI, and children from low-SES backgrounds, possibly rendering scores adjusted for SES, so that targeted intervention can be offered.

Child, Parent, and Play - An Insight into These Dimensions Among Children with and without Receptive Expressive Language Disorder Using Video-Based Analysis

Purpose

Language development in children aged 3–6 years is shaped by their pre-linguistic abilities, communication patterns and play behaviors along with parental communicative roles. Little is known about how these aspects are distributed among children with receptive expressive language disorder (CWRELD) in comparison to typically developing children (CWTDL). The present research explores these differences between the two groups using a video-based analysis with a belief that an understanding of these aspects may facilitate age-appropriate speech and language acquisition in children with language delay.

Methods

A video-based analysis of parent–child interactions was carried out for 10 children each with receptive expressive language disorder and typical language development, respectively. The two groups were compared for the child’s turn-taking skills, eye contact span, autonomous instances, communication patterns, play behaviors and parental communication roles.

Results

Children with receptive expressive language disorder exhibited significantly fewer proportion of turns and autonomous instances along with a greater proportion of eye contact to objects than the parent. Majority of the children with language delay were at the “Requester” or “Early communicators” stage and demonstrated either “Exploratory” or “Functional play” behaviors. Most of the typically developing children were at the “Partner stage” of communication and exhibited “Functional”, “Constructive” or “Symbolic Play”. Parents of children with language delay mostly exhibited “Helper” type communicative roles while parents from typically developing groups showed “Partner” type communicative profile.

Conclusion

A quantitative planning and monitoring of pre-linguistic skills, determination of communicative patterns and play behaviors is important for clinicians working with children having a language delay. Assessing and modifying parental communicative roles are also crucial. Understanding the distribution of these research variables among CWRELD in comparison to CWTDL may help clinicians in planning precise treatment goals, monitoring specific linguistic progress, ensuring better parental participation and delivering better outcomes during language therapy.

The Classification Accuracy of a Dynamic Assessment of Inferential Word Learning for Bilingual English/Spanish-Speaking School-Age Children

Purpose

Educators often use results from static norm-referenced vocabulary assessments to aid in the diagnosis of school-age children with a language disorder. However, research has indicated that many of these vocabulary assessments yield inaccurate, biased results, especially with culturally and linguistically diverse children. This study examined whether the use of a dynamic assessment of inferential word learning was more accurate at identifying bilingual (English/Spanish-speaking) children with a language disorder when compared to static measures of vocabulary.

Method

Thirty-one bilingual Spanish/English school-age children—21 children with typical language and 10 children with a language disorder—ages 5;9–9;7 (years;months) were administered traditional static vocabulary assessments and a dynamic assessment of inferential word learning that used a test–teach–test design.

Results

Discriminant analysis and logistic regression indicated that the combined posttest scores and modifiability ratings from the dynamic assessment generated 90%–100% sensitivity and 90.5%–95.2% specificity, which were superior to the static vocabulary tests.

Conclusion

These preliminary findings suggest that dynamic assessment of inferential word learning may be an effective method for accurately identifying diverse children with a language disorder.

Survey of assessment and intervention practices for students who speak African American English

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) working with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are encouraged to be "familiar with nondiscriminatory testing and dynamic assessment procedures" (ASHA, 2003). Little is known, however, about the extent to which SLPs implement these methods into their clinical practice. The current study explores the assessment and intervention practices used by SLPs in two states in the US for students who speak African American English (AAE), including the types and frequency of clinical practices. 247 SLPs completed an online survey regarding clinical practices for students who speak AAE as well as a questionnaire regarding their knowledge of the linguistic features of AAE. Half of SLPs reported using modified or alternative assessment practices the majority of the time or some of the time for students who speak AAE; however, SLPs reported using modified or alternative treatment practices less often. Modified scoring of standardized assessments and selecting different intervention strategies were the most commonly reported clinical practices. Knowledge of linguistic features of AAE was a significant predictor of the frequency with which SLPs report implementing modified or alternative assessment and intervention practices and SLPs with the highest levels of knowledge of AAE utilize different clinical practices than those with lower levels of knowledge of AAE. Additional information is needed about the most effective clinical practices for students who speak AAE and the barriers SLPs face to implementing nondiscriminatory clinical practices.

An examination of cultural-linguistic influences on PPVT-4 performance in African American and Hispanic preschoolers from low-income communities

In this study, we examined potential influences of cultural and linguistic background on PPVT-4 performance in a community sample of preschool-age children from low-SES households. We did this by evaluating PPVT-4 item-level performance across African American and Hispanic children from low-income families. We compared PPVT-4 item-level performance for 332 Hispanic and African American children (M_age = 48 months) using Wald chi-square tests of independence. There were clinically significant differences in accuracy on 14 PPVT-4 test items with most favouring the African American group. We then looked at the relationship between African American English use and PPVT-4 scores for a subset of 113 African American children (M_age = 49.9 months). A correlational analysis with PPVT-4 standard scores and a dialect density measure (DDM) in narratives revealed no association between these measures. We concluded that there were potential cultural-linguistic biases in PPVT-4 items that were not explained by income alone for the young Hispanic children.

Item Bias: Predictors of Accuracy on Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition Items for Spanish-English-Speaking Children

Purpose This study examines the response patterns of 278 Spanish-English dual language learners (DLLs) on a standardized test of receptive English vocabulary. Method Investigators analyzed responses to 131 items on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition ( Dunn & Dunn, 2007 ) focusing on differential accuracy on items influenced by (a) cross-linguistic overlap in phonology, (b) part of speech, and (c) word frequency. Results The differential response patterns showed cross-linguistic overlap, part of speech, and word frequency were significant predictors of the likelihood of obtaining a correct response above and beyond the expected difficulty level of the item. Conclusions All 3 factors predicted DLLs' response patterns beyond expected difficulty. Items with the highest likelihood of error included words with few or no shared features between Spanish and English translation equivalents, verbs or modifiers, and words with low frequency of occurrence. Implications Researchers should consider a cross-linguistic overlap in addition to part of speech and word frequency when designing vocabulary assessments for DLLs or utilizing such tests in research and clinical practice. Recognizing potential bias, clinicians should triangulate the appraisal of DLLs' language skills across multiple sources or measures and use caution when interpreting vocabulary assessments.

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III: Normative data for Spanish-speaking pediatric population

OBJECTIVE

To generate normative data for the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT-III) in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations.

METHOD

The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the PPVT-III as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. PPVT-III scores were normed using multiple linear regressions and standard deviations of residual values. Age, age2, sex, and mean level of parental education (MLPE) were included as predictors in the analyses.

RESULTS

The final multiple linear regression models showed main effects for age in all countries, such that scores increased linearly as a function of age. In addition, age2 had a significant effect in all countries, except Guatemala and Paraguay. Models showed that children whose parent(s) had a MLPE >12 years obtained higher scores compared to children whose parent(s) had a MLPE ≤12 years in all countries, except for Cuba, Peru, and Puerto Rico. Sex affected scores for Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the largest Spanish-speaking pediatric normative study in the world, and it will allow neuropsychologists from these countries to have a more accurate interpretation of the PPVT-III when used in pediatric populations.

Modeling Floor Effects in Standardized Vocabulary Test Scores in a Sample of Low SES Hispanic Preschool Children under the Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling Framework

Researchers and practitioners often use standardized vocabulary tests such as the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 (PPVT-4; Dunn and Dunn, 2007) and its companion, the Expressive Vocabulary Test-2 (EVT-2; Williams, 2007), to assess English vocabulary skills as an indicator of children's school readiness. Despite their psychometric excellence in the norm sample, issues arise when standardized vocabulary tests are used to asses children from culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse backgrounds (e.g., Spanish-speaking English language learners) or delayed in some manner. One of the biggest challenges is establishing the appropriateness of these measures with non-English or non-standard English speaking children as often they score one to two standard deviations below expected levels (e.g., Lonigan et al., 2013). This study re-examines the issues in analyzing the PPVT-4 and EVT-2 scores in a sample of 4-to-5-year-old low SES Hispanic preschool children who were part of a larger randomized clinical trial on the effects of a supplemental English shared-reading vocabulary curriculum (Pollard-Durodola et al., 2016). It was found that data exhibited strong floor effects and the presence of floor effects made it difficult to differentiate the invention group and the control group on their vocabulary growth in the intervention. A simulation study is then presented under the multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) framework and results revealed that in regular multilevel data analysis, ignoring floor effects in the outcome variables led to biased results in parameter estimates, standard error estimates, and significance tests. Our findings suggest caution in analyzing and interpreting scores of ethnically and culturally diverse children on standardized vocabulary tests (e.g., floor effects). It is recommended appropriate analytical methods that take into account floor effects in outcome variables should be considered.

Increasing adolescents' depth of understanding of cross-curriculum words: an intervention study

BACKGROUND

There is some evidence that vocabulary intervention is effective for children, although further research is needed to confirm the impact of intervention within contexts of social disadvantage. Very little is known about the effectiveness of interventions to increase adolescent knowledge of cross-curriculum words.

AIMS

To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention programme designed to develop adolescents' knowledge of cross-curriculum words.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Participants were 35 adolescents aged between 12 and 14 years who were at risk of educational underachievement with low scores on a range of assessments. Participants received a 10-week intervention programme in small groups, targeting 10 cross-curriculum words (e.g., 'summarize'). This was evaluated using a bespoke outcome measure (the Word Knowledge Profile). The study involved an AABA design, with a repeated baseline, delayed intervention cohort and blind assessment. Intervention included both semantic and phonological information about the target words and involved the adolescents using the words in multiple contexts.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Results were promising and participants' knowledge of the targeted words significantly increased following intervention. Progress was demonstrated on the Word Knowledge Profile on the item requiring participants to define the word (for the summer intervention group only). This increase in depth of knowledge was seen on taught words but not on matched non-taught words.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

Cross-curriculum words are not consistently understood by adolescents at risk of low educational attainment within a low socio-economic context. A 10-week intervention programme resulted in some increases to the depth of knowledge of targeted cross-curriculum words.

Language Assessment With Children Who Speak Nonmainstream Dialects: Examining the Effects of Scoring Modifications in Norm-Referenced Assessment

Purpose

We compared outcomes from 2 measures of language ability in children who displayed a range of dialect variation: 1 using features that do not contrast between mainstream American English (MAE) and nonmainstream dialects (NMAE), and 1 using contrastive features. We investigated how modified scoring procedures affected the diagnostic accuracy of the measure with contrastive features.

Method

Second-grade students (N = 299; 167 White, 106 African American, 26 other) completed measures of language variation and ability (the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation-Screening Test and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition [CELF-4]). The CELF-4 was scored with and without the recommended scoring modifications for children who spoke African American English.

Results

Partial correlations controlling for socioeconomic status revealed small to moderate correlations between measures of language ability and the use of NMAE features. Modified scoring yielded higher scores for children who spoke African American English and a reduced association between the use of NMAE features and CELF-4 scores. Modified scoring also affected the diagnostic accuracy of the CELF-4, resulting in a lower positive likelihood ratio and a higher negative likelihood ratio.

Conclusions

The decision to apply scoring modifications affects both the false positive and false negative rates. Implications for language assessment for children who speak NMAE dialects are discussed, including the need for further investigation.

Does Rare Vocabulary Use Distinguish Giftedness From Typical Development? A Study of School-Age African American Narrators

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to examine rare vocabulary produced in the spoken narratives of school-age African American children.

METHOD

Forty-three children from general and gifted classrooms produced 2 narratives: a personal story and a fictional story that was based on the wordless book Frog, Where Are You? (Mayer, 1969). The Wordlist for Expressive Rare Vocabulary Evaluation (Mahurin-Smith, DeThorne, & Petrill, 2015) was used to tally number and type of uncommon words produced in these narratives. The authors used t tests and logistic regressions to explore classroom- and narrative-type differences in rare vocabulary production. Correlational analysis determined the relationship between dialect variation and rare vocabulary production.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that tallies of rare-word types were higher in fictional narratives, whereas rare-word density-a measure that controls for narrative length-was greater in personal narratives. Rare-word density distinguished children in general classrooms from those in gifted classrooms. There was no correlation between dialect variation and rare-word density.

CONCLUSION

Examining school-age African American children's facility with rare vocabulary production appears to be a dialect-neutral way to measure their narrative language and to distinguish gifted children from typically developing children.

The Woodcock Reading Mastery Test

This study examined the magnitude of differences in standard scores, convergent validity, and concurrent validity when an individual’s performance was gauged using the revised and the normative update (Woodcock, 1998) editions of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test in which the actual test items remained identical but norms have been updated. From three metropolitan areas, 899 first to third grade students referred by their teachers for a reading intervention program participated. Results showed the inverse Flynn effect, indicating systematic inflation averaging 5 to 9 standard score points, regardless of gender, IQ, city site, or ethnicity, when calculated using the updated norms. Inflation was greater at lower raw score levels. Implications for using the updated norms for identifying children with reading disabilities and changing norms during an ongoing study are discussed.

Validating the Use of D for Measuring Lexical Diversity in Low-Income Kindergarten Children

Purpose

Children from low–socioeconomic status families often perform poorly on standardized vocabulary assessments. The primary purpose of the study was to determine whether lexical diversity as measured by D (Malvern, Richards, Chipere, & Durán, 2004) serves as a valid measure of vocabulary in at-risk, low-income, predominantly African American kindergartners.

Method

Kane's (1992) argument-based approach was used to validate D. Six assumptions were examined. Kindergartners ( N = 210) from a high-poverty, low-achievement region of the United States were recorded narrating a wordless picture book and assessed using the Expressive Vocabulary Test, Second Edition (Williams, 2007), and the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition–Listening Comprehension subtest (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004).

Results

D was distributed normally and did not vary as a function of language sample length or child ethnicity. D was significantly but weakly related to the Expressive Vocabulary Test, Second Edition, indicating some distinction between D and the Expressive Vocabulary Test, Second Edition, scores. Further, D was only marginally related to the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition–Listening Comprehension subtest.

Conclusions

Although evidence was somewhat mixed, the study supported the view that D is a potentially valid measure of lexical diversity among low-income, predominantly African American kindergartners and could be a useful supplement to standardized vocabulary measures.

Developing a universal reading comprehension intervention for mainstream primary schools within areas of social deprivation for children with and without language-learning impairment: a feasibility study

BACKGROUND

Some children in areas of social deprivation in Scotland have lower reading attainment than neighbouring children in less deprived areas, and some of these also have lower spoken language comprehension skills than expected by assessment norms. There is a need to develop effective reading comprehension interventions that fit easily into the school curriculum and can benefit all pupils. A feasibility study of reading comprehension strategies with existing evidence of efficacy was undertaken in three mainstream primary schools within an area of social deprivation in west central Scotland, to decide whether further investigation of this intervention was warranted.

AIMS

Aims were to measure comprehension of spoken language and reading via standardised assessments towards the beginning of the school year (T1) in mainstream primary school classrooms within an area of social deprivation; to have teachers introduce previously-validated text comprehension strategies, and to measure change in reading comprehension outcome measures towards the end of the year (T2).

METHODS & PROCEDURES

A pre- and post-intervention cohort design was used. Reading comprehension strategies were introduced to staff in participating schools and used throughout the school year as part of on-going reading instruction. Spoken language comprehension was measured by TROG-2 at T1, and reading progress by score changes from T1 to T2 on the WIAT-II(UK) -T reading comprehension scale.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Forty-seven pupils in five classes in three primary schools took part: 38% had TROG-2 scores below the 10(th) centile. As a group, children made good reading comprehension progress, with a medium effect size of 0.46. Children with TROG-2 scores below the 10(th) centile had lower mean reading scores than others at T1 and T2, although with considerable overlap. However, TROG-2 did not make a unique contribution to reading progress: children below the 10(th) centile made as much progress as other children. The intervention was welcomed by schools, and the measure of reading comprehension proved responsive to change.

CONCLUSIONS

The outcomes suggest the reading intervention may be effective for children with and without spoken language comprehension difficulties, and warrants further investigation in larger, controlled, studies.

Spanking and child development during the first 5 years of life

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=3,870) and cross-lagged path analysis, the authors examined whether spanking at ages 1 and 3 is adversely associated with cognitive skills and behavior problems at ages 3 and 5. The authors found spanking at age 1 was associated with a higher level of spanking and externalizing behavior at age 3, and spanking at age 3 was associated with a higher level of internalizing and externalizing behavior at age 5. The associations between spanking at age 1 and behavioral problems at age 5 operated predominantly through ongoing spanking at age 3. The authors did not find an association between spanking at age 1 and cognitive skills at age 3 or 5.

Construct Validity and Measurement Invariance of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III Form A in the Performance of Struggling Adult Readers: Rasch Modeling

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to apply the Rasch model to an analysis of the psychometric properties of the PPVT-III Form A items with struggling adult readers. METHODS: The PPVT-IIIA was administered to 229 African-American adults whose isolated word reading skills were between third and fifth grades. Conformity of the adults' performance on the PPVT-III items was evaluated using the Winsteps software. RESULTS: Analysis of all PPVT-IIIA items combined did not fully support its use as a useful measure of receptive vocabulary for struggling adult readers who were African Americans. To achieve an adequate model fit, items 73 through item 156 were analyzed. The items analyzed showed adequate internal consistency reliability, unidimensionality, and freedom from differential item functioning for ability, gender, and age, with a minor modification. DISCUSSION: With an appropriate treatment of misfit items, the results supported the measurement properties, internal consistency reliability, unidimensionality of the PPVT-IIIA items, and measurement invariance of the test across subgroups of ability, age, and gender.

Language and disadvantage: a comparison of the language abilities of adolescents from two different socioeconomic areas

BACKGROUND

It is recognized that children from areas associated with socioeconomic disadvantage are at an increased risk of delayed language development. However, so far research has focused mainly on young children and there has been little investigation into language development in adolescence.

AIMS

To investigate the language abilities of adolescents from two different socioeconomic areas. The paper aims to determine if a higher proportion of adolescents from an area of socioeconomic disadvantage have low language scores when compared with adolescents from a relatively advantaged area.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Six standardized language assessments were used to measure expressive and receptive language skills across vocabulary, syntax and narrative in two cohorts of 13 and 14 year olds: one cohort attending a school in an area of socioeconomic disadvantage (103 participants) and the other cohort attending a school in an area of relative socioeconomic advantage (48 participants).

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

The cohort from the area of disadvantage performed significantly lower than the assessments' normative mean on all measures of language ability. There were significant differences between the two cohorts on four of the six language measures. More adolescents from the school in the area of socioeconomic disadvantage had standardized assessment scores that suggest hitherto undetected language difficulties.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

Results suggest that socioeconomic background is associated with language ability in adolescence as measured by standardized tests. In particular, adolescents from an area of socioeconomic disadvantage were at risk of low vocabulary scores. The advantages and disadvantages of using standardized language assessments are discussed and the implications for clinical and educational practice and for school level policies are highlighted.

Evaluation of speech and language assessment approaches with bilingual children

BACKGROUND

British society is multicultural and multilingual, thus for many children English is not their main or only language. Speech and language therapists are required to assess accurately the speech and language skills of bilingual children if they are suspected of having a disorder. Cultural and linguistic diversity means that a more complex assessment procedure is needed and research suggests that bilingual children are at risk of misdiagnosis. Clinicians have identified a lack of suitable assessment instruments for use with this client group.

AIMS

This paper highlights the challenges of assessing bilingual children and reviews available speech and language assessment procedures and approaches for use with this client group. It evaluates different approaches for assessing bilingual children to identify approaches that may be more appropriate for carrying out assessments effectively.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

This review discusses and evaluates the efficacy of norm-referenced standardized measures, criterion-referenced measures, language-processing measures, dynamic assessment and a sociocultural approach.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

When all named procedures and approaches are compared, the sociocultural approach appears to hold the most promise for accurate assessment of bilingual children. Research suggests that language-processing measures are not effective indicators for identifying speech and language disorders in bilingual children, but further research is warranted. The sociocultural approach encompasses some of the other approaches discussed, including norm-referenced measures, criterion-referenced measures and dynamic assessment.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

The sociocultural approach enables the clinician to interpret results in the light of the child's linguistic and cultural background. In addition, combining approaches mitigates the weaknesses inherent in each approach.

Morphological Awareness Skills of Fourth-Grade African American Students

Purpose

We examined the morphological awareness skills of fourth-grade African American children and the association between degree of African American English (AAE) use and performance on written measures of morphological awareness. Additional purposes were to determine whether performance on the morphological awareness tasks (a) was affected by the transparency of morphologically related words and the type of task administered, (b) was associated with other literacy and literacy-related skills, and (c) explained unique variance on these latter abilities.

Method

Thirty fourth-grade African American children from low-income backgrounds were administered 2 morphological awareness tasks and completed norm-referenced measures of word-level reading, reading comprehension, spelling, phonemic awareness, and receptive vocabulary.

Results

The degree of AAE use was not associated with students' performance on the morphological awareness tasks. On these tasks, significantly higher scores were obtained on items that represented a transparent relationship between a base word and its derived form. The students' performance on the morphological awareness tasks was significantly and moderately related to their performance on the word-level reading, spelling, and receptive vocabulary measures. Morphological awareness scores explained significant unique variance on measures of word-level reading and spelling, above that predicted by performance on measures of phonemic awareness and vocabulary.

Conclusion

As shown in previous investigations of Caucasian children’s morphological awareness skills, fourth-grade African American students' morphological awareness abilities are associated with select language and literacy skills. Professionals should capitalize on students' intact capabilities in morphological awareness during literacy instruction in an effort to maximize language and literacy performance for African American students.

Past tense marking by African American English-speaking children reared in poverty

PURPOSE

This study examined past tense marking by African American English (AAE)-speaking children from low- and middle-income backgrounds to determine if poverty affects children's marking of past tense in ways that mirror the clinical condition of specific language impairment (SLI).

METHOD

Participants were 15 AAE-speaking 6-year-olds from low-income backgrounds, 15 AAE-speaking 6-year-olds from middle-income backgrounds who served as age-matched controls, and 15 AAE-speaking 5-year-olds from middle-income backgrounds who served as language-matched controls. Data were drawn from language samples and probes.

RESULTS

Results revealed high rates of regular marking, variable rates of irregular marking, high rates of over-regularizations, and absence of dialect-inappropriate errors of commission. For some analyses, marking was affected by the phonological characteristics of the items and the children's ages, but none of the analyses revealed effects for the children's socioeconomic level.

CONCLUSIONS

Within AAE, poverty status as a variable affects past tense marking in ways that are different from the clinical condition of SLI.

First Nations English dialects in Canada: implications for speech-language pathology

The current study reports preliminary information gathered about First Nations English dialects in Canada and considers implications for speech-language pathology practice. Information was gathered from literature searches and forums of First Nations and non-First Nations speech-language pathologists, developmentalists, and linguists. The exploratory findings suggest that First Nations English dialects are shaped both by transference of features from the ancestral languages and by cultural patterns of communication. The dialects likely represent late stages of depidginization and decreolization. Examples of phonological and syntactic dialectal features illustrate the importance of recognizing non-standard varieties of English when assessing speakers of First Nations communities and setting up goals and strategies for treatment. Research is urgently needed to identify features of First Nations English dialects both for linguistic documentation and to help speech-language pathologists and other educators to distinguish between language impairments and dialect differences and to develop culturally relevant assessment and intervention practices.

Part of the problem or part of the solution? Communication assessments of Aboriginal children residing in remote communities using videoconferencing

The current article describes the results, inter-scorer reliability, and potential sources of bias in conducting speech-language assessments with Aboriginal children in remote Ontario communities using videoconferencing. A main focus of this pilot study was to examine scoring bias, an issue that might arise with videoconferencing for any population but that could potentially interact with test and cultural bias to negatively affect the diagnosis of Aboriginal children. Assessments were administered by a remote-site speech-language pathologist (SLP), while an on-site SLP served as an assistant. Responses were scored simultaneously by both SLPs and the results and their degree of correspondence were compared. Percentage agreement ranged from 96-100% for language tests and from 66-100% for the articulation measure. Results suggest that videoconferencing can be an effective complement to service provision when procedures are organized so as to minimize bias in test administration and in the interpretation of test performance.

A preliminary examination of vocabulary and word learning in African American toddlers from middle and low socioeconomic status homes

PURPOSE

This study examined the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on the early lexical performance of African American children.

METHOD

Thirty African American toddlers (30 to 40 months old) from low-SES (n = 15) and middle-SES (n = 15) backgrounds participated in the study. Their lexical-semantic performance was examined on 2 norm-referenced standardized tests of vocabulary, a measure of lexical diversity (number of different words) derived from language samples, and a fast mapping task that examined novel word learning.

RESULTS

Toddlers from low-SES homes performed significantly poorer than those from middle-SES homes on standardized receptive and expressive vocabulary tests and on the number of different words used in spontaneous speech. No significant SES group differences were observed in their ability to learn novel word meanings on a fast mapping task.

CONCLUSION

The influence of socioeconomic background on African American children's lexical semantic tasks varies with the type of measure used.

Measuring word learning: dynamic versus static assessment of kindergarten vocabulary

This preliminary study investigated the potential of using a dynamic approach to assessing expressive word mapping. Because measuring word mapping with productive language responses is much more difficult than measuring receptive word mapping, incorporating a dynamic measure allowed us to tap partial mapping and provided useful information on word learning. Participants were 24 typically developing African American children, from high-risk backgrounds and low-risk backgrounds, as determined by school and family demographics. Performance was compared on the PPVT-III and on the dynamic assessment of word mapping. The dynamic assessment of word mapping provided information about complete and partial mapping of words. Additionally, there was an interaction between risk and performance on the vocabulary and word learning measures. These data suggest that the use of the dynamic measure in conjunction with traditional vocabulary measures may have the potential to provide an estimate of word-learning ability.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Readers will (1) be able to identify the need for word-learning measures and (2) become familiar with the combined technique of using dynamic assessment and fast mapping.

Performance of African American Preschool and Kindergarten Students on the Expressive Vocabulary Test

Purpose

To examine the validity of the Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT; K. Williams, 1997) for assessing the expressive vocabulary skills of African American students.

Method/Results

One hundred sixty-five African American preschool and kindergarten students were administered the EVT. The mean EVT score for these African American students was 96.44 ( SD = 11.42), which is not appreciably lower than the standardized mean of 100 ( SD = 15).

Clinical Implications

Scores were normally distributed, indicating that the EVT is culturally fair and appropriate for use with some African American preschool and kindergarten children as part of an early screening battery. The importance of culturally fair vocabulary measures is discussed relative to this population.

Language Performance of Low-Income African American and European American Preschool Children on the PPVT–III

Purpose

The performance of low-income African American preschoolers (36 to 52 months old) on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Third Edition (PPVT–III; L. M. Dunn & L. M. Dunn, 1997) was examined to provide a norm for assessing the performance of this population and to explore the link between socioeconomic status (SES) and language scores on the PPVT–III.

Method

Four hundred and eighty-two African American and 52 European American children in a comparison group were individually administered the PPVT–III.

Results

On average, African American children performed approximately 1.5 SD below the expected mean based on national norms. Using standard cutoff scores, the PPVT–III identified more children as having language delays than did other measures of language abilities. Socioeconomic factors were related to PPVT–III scores, indicating that the degree of disadvantage within children with low SES was related to language abilities. Maternal education level, marital status, and the number of children in the household were uniquely associated with children’s performance on the PPVT–III.

Clinical Implications

The importance of supporting language development in preschool children from low-income families is discussed.

Performance on the PPVT–III and the EVT: Applicability of the Measures With African American and European American Preschool Children

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine whether two vocabulary measures were appropriate for the evaluation of African American children and children whose mothers have low education levels, regardless of gender.

Method

Data were collected for 210 high-risk, preschool children from a southeastern state in the United States on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Third Edition (PPVT–III; L. M. Dunn & L.M. Dunn, 1997) and the Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT; K. T. Williams, 1997).

Results

Results indicated that African American children and children whose mothers had low education levels tended to score lower on both measures than did children from European American backgrounds and children whose mothers had a high school or higher education; however, this effect was larger for the PPVT–III.

Clinical Implications

Data suggest that the EVT is a better indicator of a child’s “vocabulary” skill, and that the PPVT–III has a greater tendency than the EVT to place African American children and children whose mothers have low education levels at risk for being unfairly identified as presenting with a potential language disorder. These data indicate that practitioners should use alternative assessment methods such as nonstandard and dynamic assessments to test children’s vocabulary skill. In particular, if they use the PPVT–III, practitioners should take great caution in interpreting test results as evidence of a vocabulary problem in African American children and children whose mothers have low education levels.

Difference in standard scores of adults on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Revised and Third Edition)

Differences in the standard scores for the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R; L. M. Dunn and L. M. Dunn, 1981) and the PPVT-Third Edition (PPVT-III; Dunn and Dunn, 1997b) are known to exist for children, with typically higher scores occurring on the PPVT-III. However, these tests are administered into adulthood as well, and score equivalence must be evaluated for this age range. Analysis of data from the PPVT-R and PPVT-III tests from 76 adult participants revealed significant score differences. Participants with poor language skills scored significantly higher on the PPVT-III than on the PPVT-R. The control group showed no significant difference between the PPVT-R and PPVT-III scores. The results suggest that the two tests should not be considered interchangeable.

The performance of low-income, African American children on the Preschool Language Scale-3

This study examined the performance of 701 low-income African American preschoolers (36 to 52 months old) on the Preschool Language Scale-3 (PLS-3, I. L. Zimmerman, V. G. Steiner, & R. E. Pond, 1992). On average, African American children performed about 1 SD below the expected means for their ages on both the Expressive Communication and Auditory Comprehension subscales. Independent sample t tests showed no significant differences between African American children and a comparison sample of 50 European American children. Item analysis was used to examine the potentially problematic items of the PLS-3 for each age cohort of children. We found that 6 items appeared to be particularly difficult for the African American sample. The findings suggest that the PLS-3 is generally an informative language test for African American preschoolers; however, scores should be interpreted with caution.

Alternative Assessment of Language and Literacy in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations

Over- and underdiagnosis of language and literacy problems are common with low-socioeconomic status ethnically and racially diverse children. In recent years, a number of alternative assessment procedures have been developed that reduce some of the biases inherent in norm-referenced standardized tests. Problems and recent solutions to the use of norm-referenced testing will be discussed, with a focus on processing-dependent and dynamic assessment procedures.