Assessing Language for Speakers of AAE
In comparison to typically developing kids who use AAE, speakers of AAE with DLD show _______ (more frequent/the same) deletion of BE, DO and Irregular past tense.
More frequent
true or false:
Even when bilinguals and speakers of specific dialects are not included in the norms for a test, the norms should still be used to draw conclusion in assessment because they are the best option we have.
False:
Do NOT use test norms when the child doesn't match the normative sample.
Parent and teacher interview
Observation
Norm referenced tests appropriate to the population
Processing Dependent Measures
Dynamic Assessment
What are possible components of assessment for special population?
Parent report is validated for assessing bilingual kids to diagnose DLD
Advantages: Close knowledge about kids, sibilings; can reflect on real life function
Observation: context: unstructured/structured, class, preferred activity
Looking for: areas of concern, how child navigates language in environment
Sociocultural approach=philosophy to guide; uses observation
Tests: think about what you want to get out of it without a standardized score
Language samples: can compare languages; Microstructure: sentence length, lexical diversity, productivity, fluency, grammaticality (biased against bilinguals); Macrostructure: story grammar, internal states, mixed scale
Processing dependent measures: increase process demands & decrease knowledge/experience e.g., nonword repetition: tests ability to retain info and repeat it, less biased than standardized test in assessing kids from racial minority groups
Dynamic Assessment: consider rate of learning and amount of support; test, teach, re-test; can alter standardized test material, give feedback, explain answers
Reasons it's important to preserve home language.
Family centered (best practice; mandated for very young children)
Children who speak a minority language at home have a social need to maintain that language
No evidence that children with LD can’t learn 2 languages
Loss of L1 skills have substantial negative social and psychological impact
Better educational outcomes when children develop solid foundation of minority language
True or false:
Speakers of AAE with DLD use fewer relative clauses than typically developing speakers of AAE.
TRUE
It is not important to collect info on both/all languages dialects a child uses, you can focus on the language used in school.
FALSE
Collect info on all languages spoken by child.
Note: Saint Paul Public Schools says if more than 10% of communication is in a language, that language should be assessed.
Is it appropriate to use skills speaking another language in assessment if you are not fully fluent in that language?
Yes, just don't call yourself bilingual.
Strategies for treating two languages
Train Helper
Focus on Skills that transfer
Compare and contrast (directly teach language structure, describe difference from L1 or L2)
A student's ability to form WH-questions can be useful to assess because. . .
DLD kids will have more trouble with this across dialects.
This skill is not contrastive, meaning it tends to be the same for those who speak different dialects of English.
How much is a child using different dialects/languages?
With whom?
For what purposes?
What are questions to consider patterns of language use in analyzing assessment data.
Norm referenced test for Spanish/English bilinguals
What is the BESA?
Bilingual assessment of morphosyntax, semantics and phonology
Screener
ages 4-6
Considerations when selecting material and targets to treat in 2 languages
Book choices – culture specific folk tales; can the child relate to characters and situations?
Vocabulary words
Scenarios in social stories
Skin tone on symbols/visual materials
Family communication dynamics
This test was designed to help identify language disorders in a dialect-neutral way
What is the DELV?
Assesses non-contrastive skills:
Syntax: wh-questions; passive sentences (implied properties); articles
Pragmatics: communicative role taking, short narratives, question asking
Semantics: verb contrast; preposition contrast; fast mapping (ability to learn new words
True or False:
Collecting information on both languages/dialects means you should give the exact same test in both languages/dialects.
False!
Not true and not always possible.
Frog Story Task
Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN)
Edmonton Narrative Norms Instrument
What are resources to collect narratives for bilingual children?
Target contrastive and non-contrastive (shared) forms in Tx
Point out language differences using neutral terms
Identify appropriate situations for different dialects/registers
Describe what each looks like in terms of different aspects of communication
Practice consciously manipulating these aspects to switch between them
Integrate written language when possible
How does MLU fit into assessment of children who may speak a dialect that differs from the clinician or GAE?
MLU is another helpful piece to look at when assessing a student who speaks AAE or another dialect that is not GAE for a language disorder. MLU will be lower for children with language disorders across dialects.
Use multiple sources of information to look for ______ in language assessments for children who speak multiple languages/dialects.
PATTERNS
Set of tasks to increase processing demands and decrease role of language knowledge/experience
Nonword repetition
Digit Span
Matching Tone Patterns
Memory for words while processing other info
Sentence repetition tasks
What are processing dependent measures?
Pros: developed in many languages, less bias than standardized tests, differentiate DLD
Cons: Provide little info for intervention planning, poor performance can be assoc. with other disorders, e.g., dyslexia
Describe the sociocultural approach
Comprehensive, holistic evaluation of a child’s communication abilities within their wider environment
Considers that an individual’s language use is inseparable for the influence of their social and cultural environment
Incorporates ethnographic interviewing techniques