Teachers’ content knowledge about oral language: measure development and evidence of initial validity

In 1972 a program was developed in Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland, to provide daily resource remediation to elementary school-age children with language handicaps. In accord with the Maryland’s guidelines for language and speech disabilities, the general goal of the program was to provide remediation that enabled children with language problems to increase their abilities in the comprehension or production of oral language. Although self-contained language classrooms and itinerant speech-language pathology programs existed, the resource program was designed to fill a gap in the continuum of services provided by the speech and language department.

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Language and Literacy Predictors of Dialect Density Among School-Age African American Children From Two Geographic Regions

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/2020_lshss-19-00063 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 51 (3) ◽

pp. 807-820

Author(s):

Lena G. Caesar ◽

Marie Kerins

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Multiple Regression ◽

Oral Language ◽

East Coast ◽

Geographic Region ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

School Age ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Geographic Regions ◽

American Children

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral language, literacy skills, age, and dialect density (DD) of African American children residing in two different geographical regions of the United States (East Coast and Midwest). Method Data were obtained from 64 African American school-age children between the ages of 7 and 12 years from two geographic regions. Children were assessed using a combination of standardized tests and narrative samples elicited from wordless picture books. Bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to determine relationships to and relative contributions of oral language, literacy, age, and geographic region to DD. Results Results of correlation analyses demonstrated a negative relationship between DD measures and children's literacy skills. Age-related findings between geographic regions indicated that the younger sample from the Midwest outscored the East Coast sample in reading comprehension and sentence complexity. Multiple regression analyses identified five variables (i.e., geographic region, age, mean length of utterance in morphemes, reading fluency, and phonological awareness) that accounted for 31% of the variance of children's DD—with geographic region emerging as the strongest predictor. Conclusions As in previous studies, the current study found an inverse relationship between DD and several literacy measures. Importantly, geographic region emerged as a strong predictor of DD. This finding highlights the need for a further study that goes beyond the mere description of relationships to comparing geographic regions and specifically focusing on racial composition, poverty, and school success measures through direct data collection.

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Oral Language Behavior of Older Cerebral Palsied Children

Journal of Speech and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jshr.0704.349 ◽

1964 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 349-359 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Russell J. Love

Keyword(s):

Oral Language ◽

Economic Status ◽

Educational Background ◽

Socio Economic Status ◽

Language Behavior ◽

Hearing Acuity

A battery of six tests assessing various aspects of receptive and expressive oral language was administered to 27 cerebral palsied children and controls matched on the variables of age, intelligence, sex, race, hearing acuity, socio-economic status, and similarity of educational background. Results indicated only minimal differences between groups. Signs of deviancy in language behavior often attributed to the cerebral palsied were not observed. Although previous investigators have suggested consistent language disturbances in the cerebral palsied, evidence for a disorder of comprehension and formulation of oral symobls was not found.

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The Concurrent Validity of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory as a Measure of Young Children's Language Development

Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders ◽

10.1044/jshd.5401.101 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 54 (1) ◽

pp. 101-105 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

J. Bruce Tomblin ◽

Cynthia M. Shonrock ◽

James C. Hardy

Keyword(s):

Child Development ◽

Language Development ◽

Expressive Language ◽

Strong Predictor ◽

Receptive Language ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

Language Measure ◽

The Mean ◽

Child Development Inventory ◽

Mean Length Of Utterance

The extent to which the Minnesota Child Development Inventory (MCDI), could be used to estimate levels of language development in 2-year-old children was examined. Fifty-seven children between 23 and 28 months were given the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development (SICD), and at the same time a parent completed the MCDI. In addition the mean length of utterance (MLU) was obtained for each child from a spontaneous speech sample. The MCDI Expressive Language scale was found to be a strong predictor of both the SICD Expressive scale and MLU. The MCDI Comprehension-Conceptual scale, presumably a receptive language measure, was moderately correlated with the SICD Receptive scale; however, it was also strongly correlated with the expressive measures. These results demonstrated that the Expressive Language scale of the MCDI was a valid predictor of expressive language for 2-year-old children. The MCDI Comprehension-Conceptual scale appeared to assess both receptive and expressive language, thus complicating its interpretation.

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Connecting Reading Fluency and Oral Language for Student Success

ASHA Leader ◽

10.1044/leader.ftr2.14052009.11 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 14 (5) ◽

pp. 11-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shari Robertson

Keyword(s):

Student Success ◽

Reading Fluency ◽

Oral Language

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Language in mental retardation: Individual and syndromic differences, and neurogenetic variation 1Based on a keynote presentation at the Third European Conference on Psychological Theory and Research in Mental Retardation, Geneva, September 1st, 2000.

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024//1421-0185.60.3.161 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 161-178 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Jean A. Rondal

Keyword(s):

Mental Retardation ◽

Language Development ◽

Oral Language ◽

Psychological Theory ◽

Genetic Syndromes ◽

Explanatory Variables ◽

Keynote Presentation ◽

Genetic Origins ◽

The Sixties ◽

The Individual

Predominantly non-etiological conceptions have dominated the field of mental retardation (MR) since the discovery of the genetic etiology of Down syndrome (DS) in the sixties. However, contemporary approaches are becoming more etiologically oriented. Important differences across MR syndromes of genetic origin are being documented, particularly in the cognition and language domains, differences not explicable in terms of psychometric level, motivation, or other dimensions. This paper highlights the major difficulties observed in the oral language development of individuals with genetic syndromes of mental retardation. The extent of inter- and within-syndrome variability are evaluated. Possible brain underpinnings of the behavioural differences are envisaged. Cases of atypically favourable language development in MR individuals are also summarized and explanatory variables discussed. It is suggested that differences in brain architectures, originating in neurological development and having genetic origins, may largely explain the syndromic as well as the individual within-syndrome variability documented. Lastly, the major implications of the above points for current debates about modularity and developmental connectionism are spelt out.

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