Shelley Gray

The Diagnostic Accuracy of Four Vocabulary Tests Administered to Preschool-Age Children.

This study examined the empirical evidence for using four vocabulary tests (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III [Dunn & Dunn, 1997], Receptive One-Word Vocabulary Test [Gardner, 1985], Expressive Vocabulary Test [Williams, 1997], Expressive One-Word Vocabulary Test-Revised [Gardner, 1990]) to screen or identify specific language impairment (SLI) in preschool-age children. Tests were administered to 31 4- and 5-year-old children with SLI and 31 age-matched controls with normal language (NL). All children spoke General American English. Despite moderate to strong inter-test correlations, no test was a strong identifier of SLI. The group with SLI scored lower than the NL group on each test; however, the individual scores of children with SLI typically fell within the normal range. Vocabulary tests are frequently administered to determine whether a childs language skills require further evaluation (screening), as a method of identifying SLI in children, or simply to describe aspects of language functioning. These purposes for administering a vocabulary test require various forms of empirical evidence in support of their use. Our data support construct validity for the four vocabulary tests examined, but do not support their use for identification purposes. Clinicians must apply a degree of sophistication in evaluating the evidence presented for test validity relative to the purposes for which the test will be administered. Unfortunately, although many test manuals offer inter-test correlations or statistically significant group differences as evidence of construct validity, they often omit data that would support common clinical uses, such as screening or identification.

Diagnostic accuracy and test–retest reliability of nonword repetition and digit span tasks administered to preschool children with specific language impairment

UNLABELLED To assess diagnostic accuracy and test-retest reliability, two forms of a nonword repetition task were administered to 22 preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) and to 22 age- and gender-matched children with normal language (NL). Results were compared with performance on a digit span task and norm-referenced test scores. Nonword repetition scores provided excellent sensitivity and specificity for discriminating between groups. Scores on both nonword repetition and digit span tasks improved significantly from first to second administrations for both groups, but remained relatively stable at the third administration. The SLI group appeared to benefit more from repetition than the NL group. Acceptable levels of test-retest reliability were achieved for the digit span task, but not for the NL group on the nonword repetition task. These preliminary findings suggest that with further refinement to improve test-retest reliability, nonword repetition holds promise as a diagnostic measure for SLI in preschool children. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to (1) describe the content and administration of nonword repetition tasks; (2) explain why evidence of test-retest reliability is necessary before a measure may be considered reliable for diagnostic purposes; and (3) accurately compare the sensitivity and specificity of the nonword repetition task utilized in this study to standardized language test scores.

The Dimensionality of Language Ability in Young Children

The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the dimensionality of language ability for young children (4-8 years) from prekindergarten to third grade (n = 915), theorizing that measures of vocabulary and grammar ability will represent a unitary trait across these ages, and to determine whether discourse skills represent an additional source of variance in language ability. Results demonstrated emergent dimensionality of language across development with distinct factors of vocabulary, grammar, and discourse skills by third grade, confirming that discourse skills are an important source of variance in childrens language ability and represent an important additional dimension to be accounted for in studying growth in language skills over the course of childhood.

Effect of Phonotactic Probability and Neighborhood Density on Word-Learning Configuration by Preschoolers With Typical Development and Specific Language Impairment

PURPOSE In this study, the authors assessed the effects of phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on word-learning configuration by preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI) and typical language development (TD). METHOD One hundred thirty-one children participated: 48 with SLI, 44 with TD matched on age and gender, and 39 with TD matched on vocabulary and gender. Referent identification and naming were assessed in a computer-based learning context. RESULTS For referent identification, preschoolers with TD benefited from high phonotactic probability, and the younger group also benefited from low neighborhood density. In contrast, the SLI group benefited only from high neighborhood density. For naming, older preschoolers with TD benefited most from low-density words, younger preschoolers with TD benefited most from words with high phonotactic probability, and the SLI group showed no advantage. CONCLUSION Phonotactic probability and neighborhood density had different effects on each group that may be related to childrens ability to store well-specified word forms and to the size of their extant lexicon. The authors argue that cross-study comparisons of word learning are needed; therefore, researchers should describe word, referent, and learner characteristics and the learning context and should situate their studies in a triggering → configuration + engagement model of word learning.

Interactions between Bilingual Effects and Language Impairment: Exploring Grammatical Markers in Spanish-Speaking Bilingual Children.

This study examines the interaction between language impairment and different levels of bilingual proficiency. Specifically, we explore the potential of articles and direct object pronouns as clinical markers of primary language impairment (PLI) in bilingual Spanish-speaking children. The study compared children with PLI and typically developing children (TD) matched on age, English language proficiency, and mothers education level. Two types of bilinguals were targeted: Spanish-dominant children with intermediate English proficiency (asymmetrical bilinguals, AsyB), and near-balanced bilinguals (BIL). We measured childrens accuracy in the use of direct object pronouns and articles with an elicited language task. Results from this preliminary study suggest language proficiency affects the patterns of use of direct object pronouns and articles. Across language proficiency groups, we find marked differences between TD and PLI, in the use of both direct object pronouns and articles. However, the magnitude of the difference diminishes in balanced bilinguals. Articles appear more stable in these bilinguals and therefore, seem to have a greater potential to discriminate between TD bilinguals from those with PLI. Future studies using discriminant analyses are needed to assess the clinical impact of these findings.

Teaching alphabetic knowledge to pre-school children with developmental language delay and with typical language development

Alphabetic knowledge is a strong predictor of academic success. This multiple baseline across subjects study examined the effect of an intensive intervention on the alphabetic knowledge offourpre-school children ages 3;7 to 4;10. Two children with developmental language delay (DLD) and two with typical language development (TL) participated in a seven-week intervention target-ing recognition and production of letter names and sounds. Learning varied considerably among children. Higher accuracy was noted in name recognition than production. Teacher and parent reports suggested that this intervention increased children s interest in learning letter names at home and school.

Word Learning Deficits in Children With Dyslexia

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate word learning in children with dyslexia to ascertain their strengths and weaknesses during the configuration stage of word learning. Method Children with typical development (N = 116) and dyslexia (N = 68) participated in computer-based word learning games that assessed word learning in 4 sets of games that manipulated phonological or visuospatial demands. All children were monolingual English-speaking 2nd graders without oral language impairment. The word learning games measured childrens ability to link novel names with novel objects, to make decisions about the accuracy of those names and objects, to recognize the semantic features of the objects, and to produce the names of the novel words. Accuracy data were analyzed using analyses of covariance with nonverbal intelligence scores as a covariate. Results Word learning deficits were evident for children with dyslexia across every type of manipulation and on 3 of 5 tasks, but not for every combination of task/manipulation. Deficits were more common when task demands taxed phonology. Visuospatial manipulations led to both disadvantages and advantages for children with dyslexia. Conclusion Children with dyslexia evidence spoken word learning deficits, but their performance is highly dependent on manipulations and task demand, suggesting a processing trade-off between visuospatial and phonological demands.

Use of internal consistency coefficients for estimating reliability of experimental task scores

Reliabilities of scores for experimental tasks are likely to differ from one study to another to the extent that the task stimuli change, the number of trials varies, the type of individuals taking the task changes, the administration conditions are altered, or the focal task variable differs. Given that reliabilities vary as a function of the design of these tasks and the characteristics of the individuals taking them, making inferences about the reliability of scores in an ongoing study based on reliability estimates from prior studies is precarious. Thus, it would be advantageous to estimate reliability based on data from the ongoing study. We argue that internal consistency estimates of reliability are underutilized for experimental task data and in many applications could provide this information using a single administration of a task. We discuss different methods for computing internal consistency estimates with a generalized coefficient alpha and the conditions under which these estimates are accurate. We illustrate use of these coefficients using data for three different tasks.

Language Ability Groups in Bilingual Children: A Latent Profile Analysis

PURPOSE Classifying children into two language ability groups, with and without language impairment, may underestimate the number of groups with distinct language ability patterns, or, alternatively, there may be only a single group characterized by a continuum of language performance. The purpose of the current study was to identify the number and characteristics of latent (unobservable) language ability groups in an unclassified sample of predominantly Spanish-speaking children. METHOD An unclassified sample of 431 predominantly Spanish-speaking 5- to 7-year-olds learning English participated in the study. The groups were identified on the basis of (a) language sample analyses (semantic, grammatical, and sentence-length measures); (b) language processing tasks (phonological working memory and processing speed measures); and (c) nonverbal cognitive abilities assessed using a standardized measure. All tasks were administered in Spanish. Latent profile analysis was used to examine the number and nature of distinct language ability groups in the unclassified sample. RESULTS Results indicated that a three-group model best represented the data, characterized by low grammaticality in one group, low phonological working memory in another group, and average skills in a third group. CONCLUSION Classifying children into two groups, those with and without language impairment, may lead to misidentification of language impairment.

Assessing working memory in children: The comprehensive assessment battery for children-working memory (CABC-WM)

The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children - Working Memory (CABC-WM) is a computer-based battery designed to assess different components of working memory in young school-age children. Working memory deficits have been identified in children with language-based learning disabilities, including dyslexia12 and language impairment34, but it is not clear whether these children exhibit deficits in subcomponents of working memory, such as visuospatial or phonological working memory. The CABC-WM is administered on a desktop computer with a touchscreen interface and was specifically developed to be engaging and motivating for children. Although the long-term goal of the CABC-WM is to provide individualized working memory profiles in children, the present study focuses on the initial success and utility of the CABC-WM for measuring central executive, visuospatial, phonological loop, and binding constructs in children with typical development. Immediate next steps are to administer the CABC-WM to children with specific language impairment, dyslexia, and comorbid specific language impairment and dyslexia.