Technical Features of Sentence-Level Writing Curriculum-Based Measures and Language Sample Analysis for Emergent Bilingual Elementary Students

Picture-word writing curriculum-based measures (PW CBM-Ws) are technically sound, formative measures of descriptive, sentence-level writing but cannot estimate underlying linguistic skills. The purpose of this exploratory alternative scoring investigation was to apply metrics from language sample analysis (LSA) to PW CBM-Ws as a complementary measure of underlying language skills in beginning writers' sentence-level writing. LSA metrics were applied to 104 typically developing first through third graders' PW CBM-W samples across fall and spring semesters. Factorial analyses of variance with post hoc Bonferroni pairwise comparisons were applied after obtaining alternate-form reliability and criterion-related validity estimates. Analyses revealed reliable discrimination between grades and significant growth between fall and spring semesters for three LSA metrics: mean length of T-unit in words, mean length of T-unit in morphemes, and number of different words. While mean length of T-unit in words and morphemes demonstrated evidence of discrimination and growth in first grade only, number of different words showed evidence of reliable discrimination and growth in first and third grades. Mean length of T-unit in words, mean length of T-unit in morphemes, and number of different words showed evidence of adequate criterion-related validity, discrimination among grades, and sensitivity to growth when calculated using PW CBM-W samples to gauge underlying linguistic skills in first- and third-grade students. Implications and future directions for research are discussed. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25050290.

Given oral language's role in writing proficiency and to address measurement issues in oral and written language, we trialed complementary scoring metrics in language sample analysis (LSA) with the sentence-level Picture Word Writing Curriculum-Based Measure (CBM-W). Using the Picture Word CBM-W samples of 123 students with writing difficulties, we investigated (1a) alternate form reliability, (1b) criterion-related validity with existing Picture Word CBM-W metrics, (2) criterion-related validity with a standardized written expression measure, and (3) sensitivity to growth from fall to spring for LSA and Picture Word CBM-W scoring mechanisms. Pearson product-moment correlations, Spearman's correlations, and Bonferroni-corrected paired-samples t-tests revealed two promising LSA metrics with evidence of technical quality and sensitivity to growth as a complementary scoring mechanism for Picture Word CBM-W: mean length of T-Unit in morphemes (MLTU-M) using the mean of two forms in the fall, and number of different words (NDW) using the mean of two forms in fall and spring. Results support the role of oral language in sentence-level writing proficiency, as well as MLTU-M and NDW as complementary scoring mechanisms to provide more specific estimates of oral language skills in grammar/morphosyntax and semantics/lexical diversity not possible with current Picture Word CBM-W scoring mechanisms.

Purpose: Language sample analysis (LSA) is an essential part of evaluations for young children, but few studies have investigated whether instructional methods for teaching LSA are effective based on student outcomes. Furthermore, with the growth of online coursework, there is a need to understand whether student outcomes differ depending on instructional modality. This study examined the results of an LSA project from two classes, online and face to face. Research questions addressed whether the measures calculated by the students differed significantly from the values derived by the instructor and whether the results of each language sample measure differed between the two classes. Method: There were 39 total participants: eight online students and 31 face-to-face students. Students transcribed an audio sample of a mother conversing with her 3-year-old son. Students calculated the number of complete and intelligible utterances, mean length of utterance in words (MLU-w), MLU in morphemes (MLU-m), number of total words (NTW), number of different words (NDW), and type–token ratio (TTR). Results: When compared to the instructor's values, students' results were significantly different for measures that involved totals (complete and intelligible utterances, NTW, NDW). However, the students used these values to calculate MLU-w, MLU-m, and TTR numbers that were not significantly different from those of the instructor. Results also indicated that there were no differences between the class calculations for most measures. Conclusion: Results are discussed considering how they inform the evidence-based teaching practices of instructors who are teaching undergraduate courses in communication sciences and disorders.

Background/Aims: The number of different words (NDW), an essential measure of lexical diversity, is extremely valuable towards providing data regarding children’s language development. However, in Cyprus, practitioners are deprived of the opportunity to utilize NDW, as no normative data exist for toddlers who speak Cypriot Greek (CYG). Methods: The language samples of 36 monolingual CYG-speaking toddlers (aged 36, 40, 44, and 48 months) with a typical course of language development were collected and quantitatively analyzed. Based on the language sample analysis, we ascertained typical NDW values at the aforementioned ages and tested through a linear mixed-effects model whether gender and age affected NDW. Results: The results showed that age significantly predicted NDW increase; gender did not emerge as a significant predictor of NDW, but this may be due to the small statistical power. Conclusion: This study intends to provide the first step towards longitudinal investigation of the level of NDW for CYG-speaking children with a typical course of language development. The provided data, which could serve as preliminary norms, may be used – under some restrictions for the time being – during language assessment. Moreover, these acquired data could contribute to the development of an NDW database for diverse CYG-speaking populations of different age ranges in the future.

Language sample analysis (LSA) represents an ecologically valid method for diagnosing, identifying goals, and measuring progress in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). LSA is, however, time consuming. The purpose of this study was to determine the length of sample needed to obtain reliable LSA measures for children in kindergarten and first grade with typical language (TL) and DLD using automated analyses from the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts software. Play-based conversational language samples collected on kindergarten to first-grade children with TL (n = 21) and DLD (n = 21) from a community-based sample were analyzed. Eight LSA measures were calculated from 1-, 3-, 5-, 7-, and 10-min sample cuts and compared to 20-min samples for reliability. Reliability estimates were similar for the TL and DLD groups except for errors and omissions, which showed overall higher levels of reliability in the DLD group and reached acceptable levels at 3 min. Percent grammatical utterances were reliable at 7 min in the DLD group and not reliable in shorter samples in the TL group. The subordination index was reliable at 10 min for both groups. Number of different words reached acceptable reliability at the 3-min length for the DLD group and at the 10-min length for the TL group. Utterances and words per minute were reliable at 3 min and mean length of utterance at 7 min in both groups. Speech-language pathologists can obtain reliable LSA measures from shorter, 7-min conversational language samples from kindergarten to first-grade children with DLD. Shorter language samples may encourage increased use of LSA. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.19529287.

The purpose of this case series was to demonstrate a community-based sociolinguistic approach to language sample analysis (LSA) for the evaluation of Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers acquiring Black language (BL). As part of a comprehensive bilingual speech-language evaluation, we examined sociolinguistic variables in the context of the children's English language samples. Specific emphasis is placed on sociolinguistic information to account for all language(s) and dialect(s) in each child's environment, BL feature patterns, and appropriate scoring procedures for characterizing language use. This case series includes four monolingual English-speaking and four bilingual Spanish-English-speaking 4-year-olds in a linguistically diverse preschool program. Play samples were collected from each child and coded for morphosyntactic features across three categories: BL, Spanish-Influenced English, and shared. Measures derived from the language samples include percent grammatical utterances, mean length of utterance in words, and number of different words. The children's language is characterized within a community-based sociolinguistic approach that combines three culturally responsive methods for assessment found in the speech-language pathology literature in addition to a novel sociolinguistic questionnaire. We explain how conducting LSA using a community-based sociolinguistic approach yields diagnostically relevant information that is pertinent to conducting a comprehensive and accurate evaluation of preschoolers in linguistically diverse settings without the use of standardized assessments. A community-based sociolinguistic approach to LSA is a useful procedure for mitigating misdiagnosis in preschoolers reared in linguistically diverse environments.

Background: Important to the assessment of aphasia are analyses of discourse production and, in particular, lexical diversity analyses of verbal production of adults with aphasia. Previous researchers have used type-token ratio (TTR) to measure conversational vocabulary in adults with aphasia; however, this measure is known to be sensitive to sample size, requiring that only samples of equivalent length be compared. The number of different words (NDW) is another measure of lexical diversity, but it also requires input samples of equivalent length. An alternative to these measures, D, has been developed (Malvern & Richards, 1997) to address this problem. D allows for comparisons across samples of varying lengths. Aims: The first objective of the current study was to examine the relationships among three measures of productive vocabulary in discourse for adults with aphasia: TTR, NDW, and D. The second objective was to use these measures to determine in what ways, and to what degree, they each can differentiate fluent and nonfluent aphasia. Methods & Procedures: Eighteen adults with aphasia participated in this study (nine with nonfluent aphasia; nine with fluent aphasia). Participants completed the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) and produced language samples consisting of conversation and picture description. Samples were then subjected to the three lexical diversity analyses. Outcomes & Results: Results indicated that, although the measures generally correlated with each other, adults with fluent aphasia evidenced significantly higher D and NDW values than those with nonfluent aphasia when whole samples were subjected to analyses. Once samples were truncated to 100- and 200-word samples, groups differed significantly for all three measures. Conclusions: These findings add further support to the notion that because TTR and, although to a lesser extent, NDW are sensitive to sample size, length differences across samples tend to confound results. As an alternative to these measures, the use of D for the measurement of conversational vocabulary of adults with aphasia enables the analysis of entire language samples, so that discarding language sample data is not necessary. In the present study, D values differed for fluent and nonfluent aphasia samples.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate language growth in individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS) from early childhood to adolescence and the influence of maternal responsivity on language growth.MethodWe conducted a longitudinal analysis of language development in 55 youths (44 males, 11 females) with FXS. Data collection spanned the ages of 11–216 months. We measured expressive and receptive vocabulary with standardized tests. The number of different words and mean length of utterance were obtained from language sample analyses of mother–child interactions. We also measured maternal comments (responsivity indicator) produced during the language samples and child nonverbal IQ.ResultsGrowth models indicated that rates of number of different words and receptive vocabulary were related to maternal commenting. Mean length of utterance did not change significantly over time. Expressive vocabulary measured with a standardized test grew, but the growth was not related to maternal commenting. Nonverbal IQ was related to all language outcomes at age of 10 years and to changes over time in vocabulary. Visual analysis indicated that the highest scores on standardized tests were produced by girls; however, measures derived from language sample analyses appeared similar for boys and girls. Language models for boys only were similar to the total sample models with lower scores at age of 10 years for some outcomes.ConclusionResults of persistent language impairments for most youths with FXS suggest the need for continued, focused interventions aimed at improved language productions in addition to a responsive environment.Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13022825

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Introduction: Children with ASD display diverse developmental traits and face difficulties in communication and language abilities. Nonverbal communication functions are hypothesized to be a significant factor among the variables related to the diverse and complex nature of language and communication skills. Existing research has demonstrated these relationships; however, it has limitations, including a focus on specific language skills and communication functions, reliance on standardized language measures, and examination of only English-speaking children. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationships between initiating joint attention (IJA), responding joint attention (RJA), and initiating behavior regulation (IBR) nonverbal communication functions, as well as structural language skills (number of different words [NDW]), mean length of utterance [MLU]) and pragmatic language skills (taking turns in conversation [TTC]) in Turkish-speaking children with ASD. Method: This study employed a correlational design, a quantitative research method. The research group consisted of 102 children with ASD, with an average age ranging from approximately 34 to 98 months. Structured observational tasks were employed to evaluate the functions of nonverbal communication. Language sample analyses were utilized to assess language skills. Findings: The correlation analysis results indicated significant correlations between IJA, RJA, and IBR with NDW, MLU, and TTC. The analysis of hierarchical regression indicated that RJA and IJA significantly predicted NDW, MLU, and TTC, while IBR did not predict any language skills. Discussion: In Turkish-speaking children with ASD, the role of declarative communication is significant for the development of certain language skills within the structural and pragmatic domains.

Language sample analysis is widely regarded as the gold standard of language assessment. However, the uncertainty regarding the optimal length of sample and the limited availability of developmental language data for nonmainstream languages such as Afrikaans complicate reliable use of the method. The study aimed to provide guidelines on representative length of sample and concurrently provide a preliminary description of the spoken language skills of Afrikaans-speaking children. The study involved 30 typically developing Afrikaans-speaking children aged between 3;6 and 9;6 (years;months). A descriptive research design was used to transcribe and analyze 1-hr interactions collected in natural environments of participants who were recruited using referral sampling. Video and audio recordings of the samples were transcribed using adapted Sampling Utterances and Grammatical Analysis Revised analysis procedures. Results indicated that mean length of utterance in words per minute, number of different words per minute, and total number of words per minute stabilized at 30 min and no significant differences were found between 30 min and longer time segments. Morphology results concur with existing developmental findings in Afrikaans. Lexical diversity results correlated with the findings of the lexical specificity and accuracy in the Prutting and Kirchner Pragmatic Protocol (Prutting & Kirchner, 1987). The developmental trajectories for pragmatic and phonological development were consistent with existing guidelines. The study concluded that a 30-min interaction segment provides a representative language sample for Afrikaans-speaking children who are between 3;6 and 9;6. It provides promising preliminary developmental data and clinical guidelines, confirming the potential of language sample analysis (LSA) as a reliable component of language assessment in Afrikaans.

Adaptations of the widely used MLU measure have been developed in several languages. Such adaptations require numerous modifications, especially in languages that are highly inflected. This study involved the development of a systematic procedure for coding language samples from Icelandic toddlers. Results are reported in terms of mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLU), total vocabulary, total number of different words and type-token ratio (TTR). These measures are analogous to their English counterparts, though not directly comparable. The Icelandic MLU measure was found to be developmentally sensitive in the age range of the study, which included a cross- sectional sample of 36 children aged 15 to 36 months. MLU correlated more strongly with sentence complexity than did age. Consistent with studies in Dutch and Irish, MLU in morphemes was very highly correlated with MLU in words in normally developing children. This relationship remains to be tested in children with language impairments. A secondary goal of this study was to provide descriptive data on the early acquisition of inflectional morphology in Icelandic, derived from language sample analysis.

Research Findings: Artfulness is rarely considered as an indicator of quality in young children's spoken narratives. Although some studies have examined artfulness in the narratives of children 5 and older, no studies to date have focused on the artfulness of preschoolers' oral narratives. This study examined the artfulness of fictional spoken narratives produced by 43 children aged 3 and 4. Each preschooler's narrative was coded using a 15-code system adapted from previous studies of artfulness in school-age children's narratives. These elements of children's narratives were compared to 3 traditional measures of narrative quality: complexity (mean length of T-units), productivity (total number of T-units), and lexical diversity (number of different words). In addition, the relations between children's narrative artfulness and their performance on a standardized measure of general language ability were examined. Results showed a wide range of code use across the sample. Narrative artfulness positively correlated with narrative complexity, productivity, lexical diversity, as well as standardized measures of general language ability. In addition, artfulness captured a significant portion of variability in children's language ability otherwise left unexplained by traditional narrative measures alone. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that artfulness is a relevant factor and a valid indicator of quality in young children's narratives.

This study aims to ascertain whether a shared visual context between examiners and children during narrative assessment influences the narratives produced by the children. Participants were 20 typically developing (TD) children and 10 children with language impairment (LI), aged 6 to 8 years. They were randomly assigned to two groups and assessed with two different presentation methods. Narrative performance was measured in terms of micro- and macrostructure. Microstructural variables included productivity (total number of words, total number of T-units), syntactic complexity (mean length of T-unit) and lexical diversity measures (total number of different words, number of internal state terms). Macrostructural variables included cohesion measures (number of complete, incomplete and error ties) and story structure scores measured by the Afrikaans translation (Klop, Visser and Oosthuizen 2012a) of the Language Impairment Testing in Multilingual Settings-Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives© (LITMUS-MAIN) (Gagarina et al. 2012). Both presentation methods elicited narratives of similar quality in terms of the micro- and macrostructural variables in all the groups. A shared visual context between examiners and children during narrative assessment therefore did not influence the narratives produced by children with LI and TD children.

A language-levels model was used to analyze written narratives. The results have implications for instruction and for documenting change in the story-writing performance of students with and without special needs in the area of written language development. This study was based on stories written at midyear by 277 students (224 typical learners and 53 children with special difficulty in the area of written language) across grade levels one through five. Measures that differentiated students by grade level and special difficulty are reported by language level. Discourse-level measures were total words, total T-units, and story scores. Sentence-level measures were sentence codes (simple or complex, correct or incorrect), mean length of T-unit, and number and types of conjunctions. Word-level measures were number of different words and proportions of words spelled correctly. Gender differences were found for productivity measures in favor of females; no differences were found when comparing stories written by African American and Caucasian students.