The Vocabulary of Beginning Writers: Implications for Children with Complex Communication Needs

Core vocabulary for AAC practice from Mandarin Chinese-speaking Taiwanese without disabilities

The purpose of this study was to select a core vocabulary list obtained from Mandarin Chinese-speaking Taiwanese persons without disabilities. Mandarin Chinese is dominant and official language of Taiwan. A total of 28 participants, equally divided among seven age groups, were recruited for the study. In all, 112 samples across different communication contexts were collected. Results indicated that 100 core words selected had coverage of 66.7% of the entire composite sample. The proportion of function words versus content words in the top 100 core words was 11% and 89%, respectively. The core vocabulary was categorized into eight parts of speech, including nouns, pronouns, numbers, adverbs, determiners, prepositions, adjectives, and verbs. Implications, limitations, and further research are discussed.

Identifying the Core Vocabulary for Adults With Complex Communication Needs From the British National Corpus by Analyzing Grouped Frequency Distributions

Purpose This study is aimed to identify the high-frequency vocabulary (HFV), otherwise termed "core vocabulary" for adults with complex communication needs. Method Three major characteristics of the HFV-a relatively small number of different words (NDW), a relatively high word frequency, and a high word commonality across speakers-were examined so as not to lose any candidate words for the HFV. Specifically, instead of applying the traditionally used cutoff word frequency of 0.5‰, a grouped frequency distribution was used to examine the appropriate frequency ranges to determine the HFV candidates. To improve the representativeness of the HFV across ages, social backgrounds, conversation situations, and topics, 330,000 spoken words of 66 adults (29 men and 37 women; M _age = 45.47 years, SD = 16.07) were extracted from the British National Corpus database for analysis. Results A distinct pattern of NDW was observed from the frequency of 0.1‰ in the grouped frequency distribution. In total, 671 words were found to be candidates for the HFV, accounting for 90.94% of the total sample words. After the word commonality analysis indicated at least 80% commonality across speakers, 203 words were selected for the final HFV; accountability was calculated at 80.62%. Conclusions With the innovative word analysis approach, this study provided an HFV list that can be used for a wide range of conversation topics. This method provides a scientific and principled approach to identifying and organizing vocabulary for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention that does not exist in many AAC resources that promote "core vocabulary" with identifying the source for vocabulary selection.

Core vocabulary in written personal narratives of school-age children

This study aimed to describe core words of written personal narratives to inform the implementation of AAC supports for literacy instruction. Investigators analyzed lexical diversity, frequency of specific word use and types of words that made up 70% of the total words used in 211 written narrative samples from children in first grade (n = 94) and fourth grade (n = 117). Across grades, 191 different words made up 70% of the total words used in the 211 written narrative samples. The top 50 words were comprised of content words (64%) and function words (36%). Grade differences were noted in diversity and types of words, including differences in the number of words comprising the core (132 words for children in first grade and 207 for fourth grade) and a higher proportion of abstract nouns for children in fourth grade based on the 200 most frequently occurring words for each grade.

Vocabulary Selection in AAC: Application of Core Vocabulary in Atypical Populations

On the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Community for Special Interest Group 12, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), a community member introduced a discussion related to the selection and use of core vocabulary with students with severe intellectual or multiple disabilities. It was questioned whether or not core vocabulary determined in typically developing children was applicable to AAC intervention in these students. The present article reviewed a vast amount of language sample studies related to core vocabulary in both typical and atypical populations. It was concluded that core vocabulary is comparable for both populations in various contexts, with various communication partners, over various topics, and in various modalities of language use. Core vocabulary is thus of high importance for all AAC users, regardless of physical or intellectual disabilities.

Vocabulary Use Across Genres: Implications for Students With Complex Communication Needs

Purpose

This study examined the vocabulary words and multiword sequences used by 124 typically developing kindergarten and 1st-grade students when they wrote about self-selected topics. The study extends previous research by examining the vocabulary used in different genres.

Method

A total of 457 writing samples were analyzed. The samples were classified according to 9 genres and were analyzed using the Child Language Analysis (MacWhinney, 2006) software program.

Results

The authors found that 140 words represented 70% of the vocabulary produced. The most common genre types were narrative recounts and opinions. The patterns of frequency for words and multiword sequences varied across genres. The degree of variation was greater for particular vocabulary words. For instance, the word going was used predominantly in 1 genre. In contrast, the word mom was used in every genre except 3. The structure words tended to be used with high frequency across genres.

Conclusion

The word lists generated can be used to inform vocabulary selection, organization, and instruction for students with complex communication needs who are beginning writers.

Supplemental Material

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.6170273

Words needed for sharing a story: implications for vocabulary selection in augmentative and alternative communication

BACKGROUND

This study examined the narrative vocabulary of typically developing children for the purpose of guiding vocabulary selection for children with complex communication needs.

METHOD

Eight children in their first year of schooling (aged 5 years 0 months to 5 years 8 months) and 10 children in their second year of schooling (aged 6 years 0 months to 7 years 2 months) generated story retell, personal, and script narratives. These were analysed using the Child Language Analysis (MacWhinney, 2008 ) program.

RESULTS

Several words occurred with high frequency across all tasks. Other words were more specific to particular tasks and topics. In the story-retelling task, the majority of the unique words used were from the original story. However, of the total words available in the original story, only a small proportion was used.

CONCLUSIONS

Some of the high frequency words overlapped with those included in existing wordlists. However, other words were unique to this study. The wordlists generated will provide a useful resource that can be used alongside existing wordlists to guide decision making around vocabulary selection for children with complex communication needs.