Language disorders Flashcards
What is language?
Language is a shared code that represents concepts conveyed
through the use of arbitrary symbols and rules that govern those
symbols.
Language is a system that
consists of the development,
acquisition, maintenance, and
use of complex systems of
communication used by humans
(www.asha.org)
Arbitrary means that there is not a direct relationship
between a particular symbol or word and its meaning (an example is English speakers label “apple” as apple while French speakers label it as “pomme”
Communication
The process of exchanging information:
-ideas
-thoughts
-feelings
-needs
-desires
We are able to communicate through verbal, written, gesture, pantomime, drawing, or through
sign language
Receptive vs Expressive Language
Receptive language is the ability to understand others
Expressive language is the ability to express and share thoughts, ideas, feelings
Speech
Speech is the verbal means of communicating through:
Articulation: The process of speech sounds
Voice: The use of the vocal folds and breath support to produce sounds
Fluency: The rhythm of speech
Explain a language difference, a language disorder and how the
two overlap
Language difference: Language behaviors and skills are within the norms of the
individual’s primary speech community or native language, but not within
the norms of standard English
Language disorder: Any disruption in the learning of language in the absence of
primary intellectual, sensory, or emotional deficits”
What steps can you take to reduce biases in assessment
- DIFFICULT!
- Read the manual
- Dynamic assessment
- Adaptations based on stakeholder feedback
- “Culture-free” language assessment (DELV:
https://www.ventrislearning.com/wp-
content/uploads/DELV-flyer-2022.pdf - Language sampling with good linguistic referents
- Consider language/dialect preference, dominance,
and density
The evaluation process
Assessment reports
Language Sampling
A language sample often consists of 50 to 100 utterances spoken by the child, but it can have as many as 200 utterances.
The SLP writes down exactly what the
child says, including errors in grammar.
Errors in articulation or speech sounds are not recorded.
Important when conducting a
comprehensive speech-
language assessments.
Samples can be taken in different
settings(in the child’s home, at pre-school, and in the clinic) with different communicative partners(the child talking to his/her parent(s), sibling(s), peer(s), teacher or SLP)
Different types of assessment tools( interview, standardized,
dynamic, etc.)
Dynamic -
Pretest - intervention - post-test
* Observe learning process and leverage the process to generate change
* Can be used to identify how a child approaches a task (self-monitoring, error patterns)
* If child will respond to specific intervention
* Which intervention styles supports maximum change
* Data informed
Standardized-
Requires all test takers to
answer the same items/questions in the same way
and that is scored in a standard or consistent way
Criterion-referenced: Standardized tests that measure
an individual’s performance against a set of
predetermined criteria or performance standards
(e.g., descriptions of what an individual is expected to
know or be able to do at a specific stage of
development or level of education)
Norm-referenced: Standardized tests
designed to compare and rank test takers in relation
to one another (e.g., comparing to a normative
sample and obtaining a standard score and
percentile
interview- Structured, Ethnographic
Questionnaires (Can have standard questions and be
standardized) Criterion-referenced interactions, observations,
reports
Language Sample Analysis (Conversational, Narrative,
Expository)
Purpose of a language sample
Language sample is an informal assessment of language skills, and it provides speech and language
pathologists with valuable information about the child’s
morphology, sentence structure, syntax and pragmatics 10
How do I elicit a language sample?
Narratives
Open-ended questions Play
Observe interactions
Check Resources in Canvas
What norms to use for language sampling
Norms depend on the age of the child, child’s culture, and type of sample.
Ages 24-48 months, using Brown’s Stages is generally acceptable in practice and research.
MLU word and morpheme norms
* Semantic relationships
* Communicative functions
* Recall that semantic relationships especially
may look different if a child has an L1 other than English or is a simultaneous language
learner.
Older child? Brown’s Stages are likely not appropriate.
Language sampling programs
SUGAR
(Sampling
Utterances
and
Grammatical
Analysis
Revised
SALT
Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts
Big 5: syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, pragmatics
Syntax is the component of
language that involves the rules
for combining words to form
meaningful sentences
Morphology describes the
structure or organization of words
Phonology is the part of language
that is concerned with the
combination of speech sounds in
word formation.
Semantics is the component of
language that describes how
meaning is conveyed by words,
sentences, narratives, and
conversations
Pragmatics refers to the rules for
the use of language in social
interaction
types of dynamic assessments
interactive assessment
mediated learning experience
test-teach-test
dynamic assessment of phonological awareness
curriculum based dynamic assessment
