scholarly journals The Language Exposure Assessment Tool: Quantifying Language Exposure in Infants and Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1346-1356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie DeAnda ◽  
Laura Bosch ◽  
Diane Poulin-Dubois ◽  
Pascal Zesiger ◽  
Margaret Friend
Keyword(s):  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Efficient Tool ◽  
French And English ◽  
High Internal Consistency ◽  
Language Exposure

Purpose The aim of this study was to develop the Language Exposure Assessment Tool (LEAT) and to examine its cross-linguistic validity, reliability, and utility. The LEAT is a computerized interview-style assessment that requests parents to estimate language exposure. The LEAT yields an automatic calculation of relative language exposure and captures qualitative aspects of early language experience. Method Relative language exposure as reported on the LEAT and vocabulary size at 17 months of age were measured in a group of bilingual language learners with varying levels of exposure to French and English or Spanish and English. Results The LEAT demonstrates high internal consistency and criterion validity. In addition, the LEAT's calculation of relative language exposure explains variability in vocabulary size above a single overall parent estimate. Conclusions The LEAT is a valid and efficient tool for characterizing early language experience across cultural settings and levels of language exposure. The LEAT could be a useful tool in clinical contexts to aid in determining whether assessment and intervention should be conducted in one or more languages.

Measuring “Language Access Profiles” in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children With the DHH Language Exposure Assessment Tool

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Hall ◽  
Stephanie De Anda
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Communication Mode ◽  
Developmental Potential ◽  
Language Access ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

Purpose The purposes of this study were (a) to introduce “language access profiles” as a viable alternative construct to “communication mode” for describing experience with language input during early childhood for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children; (b) to describe the development of a new tool for measuring DHH children's language access profiles during infancy and toddlerhood; and (c) to evaluate the novelty, reliability, and validity of this tool. Method We adapted an existing retrospective parent report measure of early language experience (the Language Exposure Assessment Tool) to make it suitable for use with DHH populations. We administered the adapted instrument (DHH Language Exposure Assessment Tool [D-LEAT]) to the caregivers of 105 DHH children aged 12 years and younger. To measure convergent validity, we also administered another novel instrument: the Language Access Profile Tool. To measure test–retest reliability, half of the participants were interviewed again after 1 month. We identified groups of children with similar language access profiles by using hierarchical cluster analysis. Results The D-LEAT revealed DHH children's diverse experiences with access to language during infancy and toddlerhood. Cluster analysis groupings were markedly different from those derived from more traditional grouping rules (e.g., communication modes). Test–retest reliability was good, especially for the same-interviewer condition. Content, convergent, and face validity were strong. Conclusions To optimize DHH children's developmental potential, stakeholders who work at the individual and population levels would benefit from replacing communication mode with language access profiles. The D-LEAT is the first tool that aims to measure this novel construct. Despite limitations that future work aims to address, the present results demonstrate that the D-LEAT represents progress over the status quo.

scholarly journals Preserved Implicit Knowledge of a Forgotten Childhood Language

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 1064-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Bowers ◽  
Sven L. Mattys ◽  
Suzanne H. Gage
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Explicit Memory ◽  
Implicit Knowledge ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Previous Exposure ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Young Control ◽  
Language Exposure

Previous research suggests that a language learned during early childhood is completely forgotten when contact to that language is severed. In contrast with these findings, we report leftover traces of early language exposure in individuals in their adult years, despite a complete absence of explicit memory for the language. Specifically, native English individuals under age 40 selectively relearned subtle Hindi or Zulu sound contrasts that they once knew. However, individuals over 40 failed to show any relearning, and young control participants with no previous exposure to Hindi or Zulu showed no learning. This research highlights the lasting impact of early language experience in shaping speech perception, and the value of exposing children to foreign languages even if such exposure does not continue into adulthood.

Language Exposure Assessment Tool

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie DeAnda ◽  
Laura Bosch ◽  
Diane Poulin-Dubois ◽  
Pascal Zesiger ◽  
Margaret Friend
Keyword(s):  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Language Exposure

Biomonitoring of Fusarium spp. Mycotoxins: Perspectives for an Individual Exposure Assessment Tool

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Cano-Sancho ◽  
S. Marin ◽  
A.J. Ramos ◽  
V. Sanchis
Keyword(s):  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Fusarium Species ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Probabilistic Methods ◽  
Fusarium Spp ◽  
Individual Exposure ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Current Exposure

Fusarium species are probably the most prevalent toxin-producing fungi of the northern temperate regions and are commonly found on cereals grown in the temperate regions of America, Europe and Asia. Among the toxins formed by Fusarium we find trichothecenes of the A-type or B-type, zearalenone, fumonisins or nivalenol. The current exposure assessment consists of the qualitative and/or quantitative evaluation based on the knowledge of the mycotoxin occurrence in the food and the dietary habits of the population. This process permits quantifying the mycotoxin dietary intake through deterministic or probabilistic methods. Although these methods are suitable to assess the exposure of populations to contaminants and to identify risk groups, they are not recommended to evaluate the individual exposition, due to a low accuracy and sensitivity. On the contrary, the use of biochemical indicators has been proposed as a suitable method to assess individual exposure to contaminants. In this work, several techniques to biomonitor the exposure to fumonisins, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone or T-2 toxin have been reviewed.

Comparing productive vocabulary measures from the CDI and a systematic diary study

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
BYRON F. ROBINSON ◽  
CAROLYN B. MERVIS
Keyword(s):  
Growth Curves ◽  
Diary Study ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Early Language Development ◽  
Closed Class ◽  
Communicative Development ◽  
Best Fitting ◽  
Fitting Model

Expressive vocabulary data gathered during a systematic diary study of one male child's early language development are compared to data that would have resulted from longitudinal administration of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories spoken vocabulary checklist (CDI). Comparisons are made for (1) the number of words at monthly intervals (9;10.15 to 2;0.15), (2) proportion of words by lexical class (i.e. noun, predicate, closed class, ‘other’), (3) growth curves. The CDI underestimates the number of words in the diary study, with the underestimation increasing as vocabulary size increases. The proportion of diary study words appearing on the CDI differed as a function of lexical class. Finally, despite the differences in vocabulary size, logistic curves proved to be the best fitting model to characterize vocabulary development as measured by both the diary study and the CDI. Implications for the longitudinal use of the CDI are discussed.

Field test results of an automated exposure assessment tool, the local positioning system (LPS)

2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 736 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Lee ◽  
S. C. Soderholm ◽  
M. M. Flemmer ◽  
J. L. Hornsby-Myers
Keyword(s):  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Field Test ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Local Positioning System

scholarly journals Early Language and Literacy Development Among Young English Language Learners: Preliminary Insights from a Longitudinal Study

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hetty Roessingh ◽  
Susan Elgie
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Literacy Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Language And Literacy Development

This article reports on the preliminary findings of a two-staged empirical study aimed at gaining insights into the variables salient in the early language and literacy development of young English language learners (ELL). Increasingly, young ELL, whether foreign-born or Canadian-born, arrive at school with little developed English-language proficiency. They must acquire oral language and literacy synchronously. Stage one of this study consists of time series data for reading and vocabulary scores using the Gates MacGinitie reading tests. Stage two consists of an early literacy screen and vocabulary profiles generated from an oral storytelling task for 65 kindergarten-aged ELL and a comparison group of 25 native speakers of English (NS). The findings suggest that although reading and vocabulary are closely interrelated in the stages of early literacy development, over time ELL youngsters face the greatest learning challenges in the area of vocabulary development. Implications for the design of early literacy programs are offered

scholarly journals A Formaldehyde Exposure Assessment Tool for Occupants of FEMA Temporary Housing Units

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srinandini Parthasarathy ◽  
Michael Spears ◽  
Randy L. Maddalena ◽  
Marion L Russell ◽  
Michael G. Apte
Keyword(s):  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Temporary Housing ◽  
Formaldehyde Exposure ◽  
Housing Units
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