A scalable tool for assessing children's language abilities within a narrative context: The NAP (Narrative Assessment Protocol)

Oral narrative retells are rich sources of information for language development. Investigators collected English-language oral narrative retells during the fall and spring from 65 Spanish-English-speaking dual language learners (DLL) in kindergarten and first grade. Investigators examined transcripts of oral narratives for (a) inclusion and accuracy of microstructural elements using the Narrative Assessment Protocol (NAP; Pence, Justice, & Gosse, 2007), (b) percentage of grammatical utterances, and (c) types of verb errors. Prepositional phrases, elaborated noun phrases, irregular past tense verbs, and copula verbs were the most prevalent grammatical forms. Omission errors were the most prevalent verb error type. DLLs’ narrative retells revealed significantly increased number of total NAP codes and diversity of NAP codes. Grammaticality of utterances increased from approximately 77% to 87% from fall to spring. All verb errors types decreased over the academic year. Direct feature coding approaches are useful for tracking developmental progress in DLLs’ retells.

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Influence of schooling on language abilities of adults without linguistic disorders

Sao Paulo Medical Journal ◽

10.1590/s1516-31802009000300005 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 127 (3) ◽

pp. 134-139 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Ellen Cristina Siqueira Soares ◽

Karin Zazo Ortiz

Keyword(s):

Language Assessment ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sao Paulo ◽

São Paulo ◽

Language Abilities ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Linguistic Performance ◽

Assessment Protocol ◽

Age Related ◽

Age Range

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: In order to properly assess language, sociodemographic variables that can influence the linguistic performance of individuals with or without linguistic disorders need to be taken into account. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of schooling and age on the results from the Montreal Toulouse (Modified MT Beta-86) language assessment test among individuals without linguistic disorders. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study carried out between March 2006 and August 2007 in the Speech, Language and Hearing Pathology Department of Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: Eighty volunteers were selected. Schooling was stratified into three bands: A (1-4 years), B (5-8 years) and C (nine years and over). The age range was from 17 to 80 years. All the subjects underwent the Montreal Toulouse (Modified MT Beta-86) language assessment protocol. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found in relation to schooling levels, in the tasks of oral comprehension, reading, graphical comprehension, naming, lexical availability, dictation, graphical naming of actions and number reading. Statistically significant age-related differences in dictation and lexical availability tasks were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The Montreal Toulouse (Modified MT Beta-86) test seems to be sensitive to variations in schooling and age. These variables should be taken into account when this test is used for assessing patients with brain damage.

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Effects of Health-Promoting Lifestyles in Midlife on Cognitive Functioning in Later Life

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1197 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 309-309

Author(s):

Eunsaem Kim ◽

Yunhwan Lee ◽

Jonggak Shin ◽

Gyeonghui Kim ◽

Jihye Yoon

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Function ◽

Cognitive Functioning ◽

Social Engagement ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Later Life ◽

Lifestyle Behaviors ◽

Language Abilities ◽

Cognitive Health ◽

Assessment Protocol ◽

Health Promoting

Abstract Maintaining cognitive function in later life is key to healthy aging because cognitive impairments compromise everyday functional abilities, impeding independent living. Numerous studies have discovered early life experiences and lifestyle behaviors over the lifespan to have substantial influences on cognitive functioning with age. Especially, subtle brain changes related to dementia occur as early as midlife, and lifestyle factors in midlife influence neuropathological development, suggesting that midlife is a critical period for preserving cognitive health in later life. This study investigated the association between lifestyle behaviors in midlife and cognitive performance in later life using 12-year follow-up data from the Korean Longitudinal Study on Aging (KLoSA). Cognitive function was assessed with the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) for KLoSA. Eight thousand respondents from the KLoSA sample were administered HCAP neuropsychological tests. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine whether health-promoting lifestyles at baseline (2006) predicted cognitive function in 2018 after controlling for health-related covariates. We identified a positive influence of health-protective behaviors (non-smoking, moderate drinking, regular exercise, weight management, and health screening) at baseline on language abilities in 2018 (β = .05, p < .05). In addition, health-promoting behaviors covering interpersonal relationships, social engagement, optimistic outlook, and positive attitudes at baseline were predictive of language abilities (β = .08, p < .01), executive function (β = .06, p < .01), and the visuospatial ability (β = .06, p < .05) in 2018. This study highlights the importance of midlife health-promoting lifestyles in maintaining cognitive health in later life.

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Development of the Narrative Assessment Protocol-2: A Tool for Examining Young Children's Narrative Skill

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/2019_lshss-19-00038 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 390-404 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ryan P. Bowles ◽

Laura M. Justice ◽

Kiren S. Khan ◽

Shayne B. Piasta ◽

Lori E. Skibbe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Reliability ◽

Video Recording ◽

Item Pool ◽

Language And Literacy ◽

Assessment Protocol ◽

Narrative Assessment ◽

Exploratory Factor Analyses ◽

Narrative Skill ◽

Wordless Picture Books ◽

And Gender

Purpose Narrative skill, a child's ability to create a temporally sequenced account of an experience or event, is considered an important domain of children's language development. Narrative skill is strongly predictive of later language and literacy and is emphasized in curricula and educational standards. However, the need to transcribe a child's narrative and the lack of psychometrically justified scoring methods have precluded broad consideration of narrative skill among practitioners. We describe the development and validation of the Narrative Assessment Protocol-2 (NAP-2), an assessment of narrative skill for children ages 3–6 years, which uses event-based frequency scoring directly from a video recording of a child's narrative. Method The NAP-2 underwent a rigorous development process involving creation of four wordless picture books and associated scripts and identification of a broad item pool, including aspects of narrative microstructure and macrostructure. We collected two narratives from each of 470 children using the NAP-2 elicitation materials and scored each with the 60 items in the initial item pool. Results Cross-validated exploratory factor analyses indicated a single narrative skill factor. Rasch measurement analysis led to selection of 20 items that maintained high reliability while having good fit to the model and no evidence of differential item functioning across books and gender. Conclusions The NAP-2 offers a psychometrically sound and easy-to-use assessment of narrative skill for children ages 3–6 years. The NAP-2 is available freely online for use by speech-language pathologists, educational practitioners, and researchers. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.11800779

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Examination of Narrative Language at Microstructural and Macrostructural Levels in Spanish-Speaking Preschoolers

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/2019_lshss-19-00103 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 428-440

Author(s):

Lorena Orizaba ◽

Brenda K. Gorman ◽

Christine E. Fiestas ◽

Gary E. Bingham ◽

Nicole Patton Terry

Keyword(s):

First Language ◽

Expressive Vocabulary ◽

Community Based ◽

Assessment Protocol ◽

Spanish Speaking ◽

Narrative Skills ◽

Narrative Assessment ◽

Vocabulary Skills ◽

Narrative Language ◽

Academic Year

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine narrative language samples of Spanish-speaking preschoolers to analyze changes in microstructural and macrostructural skills in their first language (L1) from fall to spring, relationships between narrative and vocabulary skills in L1, and the extent to which fall skills predict spring performance. Method Participants included 40 Spanish-speaking children who were enrolled in community-based preschool programs. Narrative language retells from the fall and spring were examined, and microstructural and macrostructural components were analyzed using the Narrative Assessment Protocol–Spanish and the Narrative Scoring Scheme, respectively. Participants also completed an assessment of expressive vocabulary in Spanish. Results The results indicated different degrees of change in microstructural and macrostructural elements, change from fall to spring in some but not all elements measured, shifting patterns of association between L1 vocabulary and narrative skills, and variable prediction of spring scores. Conclusion Results from this study enhance professionals' understanding of Spanish-speaking preschoolers' narrative language skills in L1 and considerations for assessing and monitoring progress at different points in the academic year.

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