Language Sampling Flashcards
Representative Language Sample (Owens, 2014)
Problems with Formal tests
Problems with Formal tests:
◉ Formal tests are inadequate for determining therapeutic goals
◉ Formal tests: cutoff for services (i.e. -1.5/-2.0 SD below mean)
◉ Highly restricted measure of language–not functional!
**Language Sampling done right can assist all these problem areas
–can give more specific information for planning therapeutic intervention
–can provide representative sample of child’s functional language–generalization
–naturalistic overview of child’s real-life abilities
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Representative Language Sample (Owens, 2014)
Important Issues to consider when planning/collecting language sample:
Important Issues to consider when planning/collecting language sample:
1. Representative of the sample
2. Effect of conversational intent
3. Evocative techniques
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Representative Language Sample (Owens, 2014)
◉ Typical language sample: indicative of child’s real language
What is LCC 3?
Typical language sample: indicative of child’s real language
◉ (LCC)3 –less clinician control, less clinician contrivance, less conscious child
○ More ‘child-directed’–Don’t want child to be a passive
communicator
○ Follow child’s lead, clinician speaking less
○ Naturalistic; child engaged in spontaneous language
◉ Clinician offers only minimally invasive reponses
○ Wow, I see, Tell me more about that
◉ Clinician asks open-ended questions
○ What else happened?, “And then, what happened next?”
◉ Topic continuing questions on the content of child’s previous utterance
◉ Caregivers/parents can elicit; can be communication partners (SLPs observers),
or can give suggestions to SLPs to obtain sample.
◉ Caregivers/parents can comment on sample: typical? representative?
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Various Contexts
Context and variables
Context: the circumstances that form the setting for an event
Variables: task/purpose of activity, opportunities to use language, amount of joint
attention, responsiveness of the partner
◉ Sampling environment: dynamic, complex, varied!
◉ Different children→different contexts, toys…
◉ Task provided by SLP can affect number and length of conversational interaction
◉ 2 aspects of context:
○ Structure: amount of adult manipulating materials, evoking utterances
○ Predictability: familiarity of overall materials and overall task
◉ Greater frequency/diversity of language in low structure & high predictability
◉ Low structure: child may think adult knows less and needs explanation
◉ High structure: child thinks adult knows more, so he/she can say less
◉ Free play: low structure, low predictability
Structure vs Predictability
Structure: amount of adult manipulating materials, evoking utterances
○ Predictability: familiarity of overall materials and overall task
Various Contexts (Owens, 2014)
◉ Variety–many different situations
Variety–many different situations
◉ Samples from various interactions and situations
○ Naturalistic
○ Different types of interaction with different partners
○ An atypical situation will not be sole sampe
◉ Variety–goal, but not always practical
○ Audio language samples from classroom, parent may suffice
◉ Various contexts (classroom, home, office); different communication partners
(i.e. teacher, parent, peer)
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Various Context
Script play, Conversation, free play, elicited description, story retailing
Various Contexts (Owens, 2014)
◉ SLP: Decision to get typical or optimal production (least→most directive)
◉ Typical utterances–more utterances (less directive)
◉ Complex sentence structure (more directive)
○ Free play: naturalistic play (cars, trucks, dollhouse, dolls)
○ Script play: free talk within familiar task, enacting familiar experience
(grocery store shopping, McDonald’s restaurant)
○ Conversation: child-directed; adult following child’s lead, given prompts
(“Tell me more,” “What happened next?”)
○ Elicited description: describe ongoing action sequence; clinician ‘can’t see
action’ (describing picture that he/she is drawing, action doing)
○ Story retelling: recounting story from a picture book, previously read story
(non-present books/stories: more open-ended and naturalistic)
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Contexts: Settings and Tasks
Why naturalistic settings and what about narratives ?
Naturalistic setting:
○ Most desirable; functional
○ Unpredictable
◉ *Familiar routines:
○ Meaningful activity–more familiar, more representative of child’s skill
○ Linguistic/non-linguistic script–helps guide child’s behavior
○ Language as a natural part of routine
◉ Eliciting Conversation:
○ Tell me about your…
○ Do you have any….. Tell me about how you take care of….
○ Tell me about the things you do….
◉ Narratives: more challenging
○ Elicit longer utterances–elicit extended discourse
○ Prior planning needed/information must be organized
Contexts: Settings and Tasks
Real settings and SLP’s challenge
Contexts: Settings and Tasks (Owens, 2014)
◉ Real settings (not contrived):
○ Meaningful, familiar settings (snack time, show and tell)
○ School activities (class presentations, field trips, conversations with
peers)
○ **2 different settings is key
◉ SLP’s challenge:
○ Too structured–contrived and not representative
○ Too unstructured–unreliable data? Can be time consuming
◉ How effective is the child in communicating in the setting? How fluent?
◉ Is the child’s message form appropriate?
Narratives
What is story generation ?
Narratives: more challenging
○ Elicit longer utterances–elicit extended discourse
○ Prior planning needed/information must be organized
○ Story generation: Retelling a story; wordless picture books
○ Pictures in narrative elicitation tasks help increase utterance length for
adolescents with Down syndrome, gives extra input (Miles, Chapman, &
Sandburg, 2006; Schneider & Dube, 2005)
Narratives Elicitation:
○ Do you know the story of….? Tell me the story.
○ Your mom said that you really liked the …..? I didn’t see it! Can you tell me about
it?
○ Look at this (wordless picture book) for a minute. Do you understand the story?
Tell me the story.
■ Wordless picture books; make your own
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Use of Toys
What toys elicit what type of language ?
Selection of appropriate toys is not random!
○ Based on child’s age, preferences, skills, abilities
○ Variety of settings to play: floor/table, home, clinic…
◉ No Toys: can initiate memory-related topics
◉ Construction based toys (Legos, Play Doh)
○ May elicit other, displaced topic, rather than present, here-and-now
topics; open-ended can elicit a lot of conversation
◉ Role-play toys (dollhouse, firehouse, hospital)
○ Discussion of here-and-now
○ Socio-dramatic play, verbal representations
○ Fantasy topics
Specific linguistic structures: choose specific toys
○ Spatial terms (box with different items, bus with people..)
○ Manipulation of toys in various ways–missing pieces, incorrect
items
◉ Eliciting Specific Language Structures:
○ SLP must increase probability of occurrence by adding structure
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Other Ways to Elicit Language
Direct Questions:
○ Wh Questions more than other questions (Rowe et al., 2016)
○ Conversationally open-ended questions (i.e. What should we do next?)–more
multi-word utterances
○ Topic continuing questions (‘Responsiveness’)–elicits more language
◉ Topics:
○ Use child’s interests–most language during initiation, reporting on interests
○ SLP–shift topics as needed ‘client-directed’
■ Holidays, movies, video games…
○ Children–spontaneous, produce more language when they choose topics
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Conversational Partners: Children & Adolescent (Owens, 2014)
◉ Dyad:
Dyad: partner and child
○ Younger child, under 3: familiar communication partners (i.e. parent)
○ Naturalistic communication–most telling
○ Preschool/School age: familiar communication partners (i.e. friend,
teacher)–Typical spontaneous language sample in familiar setting
(classroom)
○ Adolescent: peer communication–shift more topics, use figurative
expressions, more attempts to entertain; partners influence
communication
◉ SLP; not as authority figure; engaging communication partner
○ Not directive! Interested, responsive, excited, interesting….
○ Comments on/participates in shared activity
○ Child-directed–crucial: “Our goal is collecting, not correcting” (Owens,
2014, 158)
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Conversational Partners: Children & Adolescent (Owens,
2014)
◉ Responsiveness
What is the child doesn’t want to talk to the slp?
Responsiveness–meeting child on his/her terms, level
○ Following child’s lead
◉ Manipulating situation, clinical skill to determine child’s language skills
◉ SLP: Child that doesn’t want to attend/communicate with SLP
○ Puppet, doll, toy characters, animals
○ Observing child with familiar communication partner from afar (i.e. over
computer)
◉ Overall goal: Representativeness of Language Sample
○ Various communication partners
○ Various tasks/various settings
○ Various topics in a variety of contexts
○ LCC3–less clinician control, less clinician contrived, less conscious child
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Evocative Conversational Techniques
Limitations of free structured
Limitations of free structured, naturalistic sample–missing certain linguistic
features/conversational behaviors
○ Unobserved–does not mean lacking!
◉ Evocative Conversational Techniques: Elicit specific features of language
○ Preplanned! Toys/tasks to elicit specific language features
○ SLP: Conversational openers/replies (memorize?); can model form needed
○ SLP: Cloze sentences during play to elicit specific language form
○ Ex. Story starters, mock birthday party
■ The girl asks, “Can I play?” The girl wants…You finish the story. The
girl…?
○ SLP: Questions–Assessing formulation of questions
■ Let’s play a question game. This is Mr. Silver. I want you to ask Mr.
Silver some questions about his house. I wonder…. You ask him…
◉ Various language functions elicited with variety of toys/tasks/games–structured!
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