Kenyatta O. Rivers

Generalization of early metalinguistic skills in a phonological decoding study with first-graders at risk for reading failure

This training study was designed to examine the effects of training letter-sound correspondences and phonemic decoding (segmenting and blending skills) on the decoding skills of three first-grade children identified to be at risk for reading failure. This training study was to examine the degree to which the subjects could readily learn decoding skills necessary for early reading and to determine the degree to which phonemic decoding training on CVC syllable structures generalize to untrained syllable structures. Three experimental subjects served as their own controls in a single-subject multiple-baseline design. Experimental subjects were compared to matched control subjects on their ability to decode real-word and pseudo-word stimuli and on formal test scores of reading and spelling. Following training, experimental subjects demonstrated substantial increases in their acquisition and generalization of phonological decoding skills, but revealed much smaller changes on pre-test to post-test measures of formal reading and spelling when compared to their matched control subjects.

Pragmatic Language of African American Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Synthesis of the Literature.

Purpose: A systematic review and synthesis was performed on published articles and dissertations produced between 1970 and 2013 that focused on selected pragmatic language behaviors of African American children and adolescents. Methods: Electronic databases and hand searches of articles located in the databases were used to identify the published articles and dissertations. Each article or dissertation was reviewed by at least 2 of the authors to determine whether it met the criteria for inclusion in this study. Selected observations of the documents that met criteria for inclusion were recorded on the Primary Research Appraisal Tool (PRAT; DeJarnette, Hyter, & Rivers, 2012), a data gathering and analysis framework developed by the authors specifically for this systematic synthesis. Results: The literature search resulted in 92 research articles and dissertations, 37 of which were eliminated because they did not meet all of the inclusion criteria. The documents that met our inclusion criteria focused primarily on the structure and/or content of narrative discourse rather than speech acts, other forms of discourse (e.g., conversation, expository), and presupposition/perspective taking skills. Six major themes identified in the major findings are used to summarize studies reviewed for this systematic synthesis. Conclusions: We (a) explain the current state of knowledge about African American pragmatic language behaviors, (b) explain major findings and implications of the extant literature in this topical area and how it may inform speech–language pathology practice, and (c) identify directions for future research on pragmatic language of African American children and adolescents.

Ways of Examining Speech Acts in Young African American Children: Considering Inside-Out and Outside-In Approaches.

To develop a framework for further study of pragmatic behavior in young children from African American English (AAE) speaking backgrounds, one aspect of pragmatic behavior is explored in this article, specifically, speech acts. The aims of this article are to (1) examine examples of how external taxonomies (i.e., an “etic” or “outside-in” approach) have been applied to the speech act behavior of AAE child speakers and to note that etic approaches alone do not identify cultural characteristics that influence the presentation of speech acts in this population; (2) conceptualize a culture-sensitive framework where components of AAE speech act behaviors can be identified as gleaned from existing linguistic research; and (3) explain the utility of analyses of speech act behavior using taxonomies that have emerged from the cultural language style of AAE speakers, that is, an “emic” or “inside-out” approach.

Building an Evidence Base for Speech-Language Services in the Schools Challenges and Recommendations

Speech-language pathologists are faced with demands for evidence to support practice. Federal legislation requires high-quality evidence for decisions regarding school-based services as part of evidence-based practice. The purpose of this article is to discuss the limited scientific evidence for making appropriate decisions about speech-language services for children and adolescents in schools, to identify factors that have contributed to this situation, and to present options for enhancing the depth and breadth of the evidence base.