Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools current issue

Editor Update [From the Editor]

Schuele, C. M. — 2013-04-30T13:56:48-07:00

Classification Accuracy of Nonword Repetition When Used With Preschool-Age Spanish-Speaking Children [Research Article]

Guiberson, M., Rodriguez, B. L. — 2013-04-30T13:56:48-07:00

Purpose

The purpose of the present study was to (a) describe and compare the nonword repetition (NWR) performance of preschool-age Spanish-speaking children (3- to 5-year-olds) with and without language impairment (LI) across 2 scoring approaches and (b) to contrast the classification accuracy of a Spanish NWR task when item-level and percentage of phonemes correct (PPC) scoring methods are applied.

Method

Forty-four Spanish-speaking children participated. Twenty-one children had LI and 23 had typically developing (TD) language. Children were administered a Spanish NWR task and a standardized Spanish language measure.

Results

A developmental pattern in NWR performance was observed, and the children with LI had NWR scores that were significantly lower than those of the TD children. Whereas item-level scoring of NWR items indicated acceptable levels of sensitivity and specificity and suggested positive and negative likelihood ratios, PPC scoring of NWR items resulted in less than desirable levels of sensitivity and adequate specificity.

Conclusion

Item-level scoring of 3- to 5-syllable Spanish NWR items may be useful as part of an assessment battery for preschool-age Spanish-speaking children.

Factors Influencing the Selection of Standardized Tests for the Diagnosis of Specific Language Impairment [Research Article]

Betz, S. K., Eickhoff, J. R., Sullivan, S. F. — 2013-04-30T13:56:48-07:00

Purpose

Standardized tests are one of the primary assessment tools used by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to diagnose child language impairment. Numerous child language tests are commercially available; however, it is unknown what factors lead clinicians to select particular tests to use in clinical practice. This study investigated whether the quality of standardized tests, as measured by the test's psychometric properties, is related to how frequently the tests are used in clinical practice.

Method

A total of 364 SLPs completed a survey regarding how frequently they used specific standardized tests when diagnosing suspected specific language impairment (SLI). The test manuals for 55 tests were reviewed to determine whether test characteristics, such as test reliability, validity, and accuracy, correlated with the frequency of test use.

Results

The most frequently used standardized tests were omnibus measures (e.g., Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals—Fourth Edition [Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2003], Preschool Language Scale, Fourth Edition [Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002]) and single-word vocabulary measures (e.g., Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition [Dunn & Dunn, 2007]). Publication year was the only test characteristic that correlated significantly with the frequency of test use.

Conclusion

The quality of a standardized test, as measured by the test's psychometric properties, does not appear to influence how frequently a test is used. These results highlight the need for increased evidence-based practice when diagnosing children with language impairment.

Classroom Phonological Awareness Instruction and Literacy Outcomes in the First Year of School [Research Article]

Carson, K. L., Gillon, G. T., Boustead, T. M. — 2013-04-30T13:56:48-07:00

Purpose

Despite strong investment in raising literacy achievement for all children, significant inequalities in literacy outcomes continue to exist among some of the world's most advanced economies. This study investigated the influence of a short, intensive period of phonological awareness (PA) instruction implemented by classroom teachers on raising the literacy achievement of children with and without spoken language impairment (SLI).

Method

A quasi-experimental design was employed to measure the PA, reading, and spelling development of one hundred twenty-nine 5-year-olds. Thirty-four children received 10 weeks of PA instruction from their teachers. Ninety-five children continued with their usual reading program, which included phonics instruction but did not target PA.

Results

Children who received PA instruction demonstrated superior literacy outcomes compared to children who followed the usual literacy curriculum. Children with SLI showed significant improvements in PA, reading, and spelling but had a different pattern of response to instruction compared to children with typical language. Importantly, the number of children experiencing word decoding difficulties at the end of the program was 26% among children who followed the usual literacy curriculum compared to 6% among children who received the PA instruction.

Implications

A short, intensive period of classroom PA instruction can raise the literacy profiles of children with and without spoken language difficulties.

Morphological Awareness Intervention With Kindergartners and First- and Second-Grade Students From Low Socioeconomic Status Homes: A Feasibility Study [Research Article]

Apel, K., Brimo, D., Diehm, E., Apel, L. — 2013-04-30T13:56:48-07:00

Purpose

The effect of a morphological awareness intervention on the morphological awareness and literacy skills of students from low socioeconomic status homes was investigated.

Method

A 9-week intervention designed to increase awareness of affixes and the relations between base words and their inflected and derived forms was conducted with students in kindergarten (n = 19), 1st grade (n = 21), and 2nd grade (n = 21). Groups of 4–5 students were provided with instruction 4 times a week for 25 min a day.

Results

Results showed medium to very large clinically significant gains in morphological awareness and literacy abilities (ds = 0.29–2.96) across all participants.

Conclusion

The results of this feasibility study suggest that morphological awareness instruction that requires students to analyze, recognize, orally produce, and determine the spelling patterns of multimorphemic words leads to therapeutic effects within a population of young students who are at risk for future reading difficulties. Initial clinical implications, limitations of the study, and research suggestions are discussed.

Teachers' Perceptions of Adolescent Females With Voice Disorders [Research Article]

Zacharias, S. R. C., Kelchner, L. N., Creaghead, N. — 2013-04-30T13:56:48-07:00

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' attitudes toward, and perceptions of personality traits of, female adolescents who presented with voice disorders.

Method

For this comparative study consisting of a 25-item web-based semantic differential survey, teachers rated voice recordings of 4 female adolescents (considered normophonic, mildly, moderately, and severely dysphonic, respectively) on 18 personality traits and 6 teacher attitude parameters. A flyer with a link to the survey was distributed via e-mail to teachers at 8 middle and high schools in Ohio.

Results

Thirty-two teachers completed the survey. Results revealed differences in teachers' perceptions of female adolescents with a normal voice compared to those with voice disorders.

Conclusion

Adolescent female students with voice disorders may be at risk for academic, social, and vocational difficulties. These results highlight and support the need to inform teachers, speech-language pathologists, students, and families about the potential for subtle biases and negative perceptions of students with voice disorders by teachers. Furthermore, teaching self-advocacy to students who have voice disorders may help them obtain an optimal education experience.

The Impact of Reading Expressiveness on the Listening Comprehension of Storybooks by Prekindergarten Children [Research Article]

Mira, W. A., Schwanenflugel, P. J. — 2013-04-30T13:56:48-07:00

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of oral reading expressiveness on the comprehension of storybooks by 4- and 5-year-old prekindergarten children. The possible impact of prosody on listening comprehension was explored.

Method

Ninety-two prekindergarten children (M age = 57.26 months, SD = 3.89 months) listened to an expressive or inexpressive recording of 1 of 2 similar stories. Story comprehension was tested using assessments of both free recall and cued recall.

Results

Children showed statistically significantly better cued recall for the expressive readings of stories compared to the inexpressive readings of stories. This effect generalized across stories and when story length was controlled across both expressive and inexpressive versions. The effect of expressiveness on children's free recall was not significant.

Conclusion

Highly expressive readings resulted in better comprehension of storybooks by prekindergarten children. Further, because recordings were used, this effect might be attributed to the facilitation of language processing rather than to enhanced social interaction between the reader and the child.

Severe Speech Sound Disorders: An Integrated Multimodal Intervention [Research Article]

King, A. M., Hengst, J. A., DeThorne, L. S. — 2013-04-30T13:56:48-07:00

Purpose

: This study introduces an integrated multimodal intervention (IMI) and examines its effectiveness for the treatment of persistent and severe speech sound disorders (SSD) in young children. The IMI is an activity-based intervention that focuses simultaneously on increasing the quantity of a child's meaningful productions of target words and providing supports to shape the quality of natural speech productions of target sounds by systematically incorporating the full range of each child's communicative repertoire, including augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems and natural speech and language.

Method

: A multiple-probe single-subject research design was used to assess the effectiveness of the IMI for 3 boys (ages 4 to 8) with moderate to severe SSD, all of whom used speech-generating AAC.

Results

: All 3 participants demonstrated an increase in the amount of speech they produced (i.e., quantity) and an increase in the production accuracy of their target speech sounds (i.e., quality).

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that simultaneously targeting natural speech and AAC speech using an integrated multimodal approach was effective in producing positive changes in both communication and speech production goals. These findings strongly suggest that integrating multimodal speech-generating AAC with traditional speech intervention was effective at supporting natural speech production for these children.

Structural and Dialectal Characteristics of the Fictional and Personal Narratives of School-Age African American Children [Research Note]

Mills, M. T., Watkins, R. V., Washington, J. A. — 2013-04-30T13:56:48-07:00

Purpose

To report preliminary comparisons of developing structural and dialectal characteristics associated with fictional and personal narratives in school-age African American children.

Method

Forty-three children, Grades 2–5, generated a fictional narrative and a personal narrative in response to a wordless-book elicitation task and a story-prompt task, respectively. Narratives produced in these 2 contexts were characterized for macrostructure, microstructure, and dialect density. Differences across narrative type and grade level were examined.

Results

Statistically significant differences between the 2 types of narratives were found for both macrostructure and microstructure but not for dialect density. There were no grade-related differences in macrostructure, microstructure, or dialect density.

Conclusion

The results demonstrate the complementary role of fictional and personal narratives for describing young children's narrative skills. Use of both types of narrative tasks and descriptions of both macrostructure and microstructure may be particularly useful for characterizing the narrative abilities of young school-age African American children, for whom culture-fair methods are scarce. Further study of additional dialect groups is warranted.