scholarly journals Comparison of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation–Screening Test Risk Subtest to Two Other Screeners for Low-Income Prekindergartners Who Speak African American English and Live in the Urban South

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Christy Wynn Moland ◽  
Janna B. Oetting
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Screening Test ◽  
American English ◽  
Language Variation ◽  
African American English ◽  
Diagnostic Evaluation ◽  
Urban South ◽  
Test Order ◽  
Southern City

Purpose We compared the Risk subtest of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation–Screening Test (DELV–Screening Test Risk) with two other screeners when administered to low-income prekindergartners (pre-K) who spoke African American English (AAE) in the urban South. Method Participants were 73 children (six with a communication disorder and 67 without) enrolled in Head Start or a publicly funded pre-K in an urban Southern city. All children completed the DELV–Screening Test Risk, the Fluharty Preschool Speech and Language Screening Test–Second Edition (FLUHARTY-2), and the Washington and Craig Language Screener (WCLS). Test order was counterbalanced across participants. Results DELV–Screening Test Risk error scores were higher than those reported for its standardization sample, and scores on the other screeners were lower than their respective standardization/testing samples. The 52% fail rate of the DELV–Screening Test Risk did not differ significantly from the 48% rate of the WCLS. Fail rates of the FLUHARTY-2 ranged from 34% to 75%, depending on the quotient considered and whether scoring was modified for dialect. Although items and subtests assumed to measure similar constructs were correlated to each other, the three screeners led to inconsistent pass/fail outcomes for 44% of the children. Conclusions Like other screeners, the DELV–Screening Test Risk subtest may lead to high fail rates for low-income pre-K children who speak AAE in the urban South. Inconsistent outcomes across screeners underscore the critical need for more study and development of screeners within the field.

African American English and Early Literacy: A Comparison of Approaches to Quantifying Nonmainstream Dialect Use

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary K. Maher ◽  
Michelle E. Erskine ◽  
Arynn S. Byrd ◽  
Jeffrey R. Harring ◽  
Jan R. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Screening Test ◽  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
American English ◽  
Language Variation ◽  
First Grade ◽  
African American English ◽  
Diagnostic Evaluation ◽  
School Year

Purpose Many studies have found a correlation between overall usage rates of nonmainstream forms and reading scores, but less is known about which dialect differences are most predictive. Here, we consider different methods of characterizing African American English use from existing assessments and examine which methods best predict literacy achievement. Method Kindergarten and first-grade students who speak African American English received two assessments of dialect use and two assessments of decoding at the beginning and end of the school year. Item-level analyses of the dialect-use assessments were used to compute measures of dialect usage: (a) an overall feature rate measure based on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation–Screening Test, (b) a subscore analysis of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation–Screening Test based on items that pattern together, (c) an alternative assessment where children repeat and translate sentences, and (d) “repertoire” measures based on a categorical distinction of whether a child used a particular feature of mainstream American English. Results Models using feature rate measures provided better data–model fit than those with repertoire measures, and baseline performance on a sentence repetition task was a positive predictor of reading score at the end of the school year. For phonological subscores, change from the beginning to end of the school year predicted reading at the end of the school year, whereas baseline scores were most predictive for grammatical subscores. Conclusions The addition of a sentence imitation task is useful for understanding a child's dialect and anticipating potential areas for support in early literacy. We observed some support for the idea that morphological dialect differences (i.e., irregular verb morphology) have a particularly close tie to later literacy, but future work will be necessary to confirm this finding. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13425968

Psychometric Analysis of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation–Screening Test: Extension to Low-Income African American Pre-Kindergarteners

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 176-185
Author(s):  
Nicole P. Terry ◽  
Yaacov Petscher ◽  
Katherine T. Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Screening Test ◽  
Language Variation ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Diagnostic Evaluation ◽  
Vertical Scaling ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Present Sample ◽  
School Year

The purpose of this study was to extend a previous investigation of the psychometrics of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation–Screening Test (DELV-S) to include pre-kindergarten children (primarily African American and from low-income households). The previous study (Petscher, Connor, & Al Otaiba, 2012) included a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of children in kindergarten through second grade. Similar to that study, two factors were found in the present study: one representing morphosyntactic ability and one representing nonword repetition ability. However, unlike the previous study, measurement invariance was not observed in the present sample. As a result, to allow for interpretation of performance in similar samples who would likely use the DELV-S, vertical scaling was used to create a new set of norms for ability scores and a new reference table for fall and spring of the pre-kindergarten school year.

Rare Vocabulary Production in School-Age Narrators From Low-Income Communities

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Mahurin-Smith ◽  
Monique T. Mills ◽  
Rong Chang
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Low Income ◽  
American English ◽  
Automated Analysis ◽  
African American English ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Male Sex ◽  
Language Sample

Purpose This study was designed to assess the utility of a tool for automated analysis of rare vocabulary use in the spoken narratives of a group of school-age children from low-income communities. Method We evaluated personal and fictional narratives from 76 school-age children from low-income communities ( M age = 9;3 [years;months]). We analyzed children's use of rare vocabulary in their narratives, with the goal of evaluating relationships among rare vocabulary use, performance on standardized language tests, language sample measures, sex, and use of African American English. Results Use of rare vocabulary in school-age children is robustly correlated with established language sample measures. Male sex was also significantly associated with more frequent rare vocabulary use. There was no association between rare vocabulary use and use of African American English. Discussion Evaluation of rare vocabulary use in school-age children may be a culturally fair assessment strategy that aligns well with existing language sample measures.

Addressing African American English in Early Literacy Assessment and Instruction

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Patton Terry
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
American English ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
African American English ◽  
Literacy Assessment ◽  
Learning To Read ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Early Literacy Assessment

Abstract Determining how best to address young children's African American English use in formal literacy assessment and instruction is a challenge. Evidence is not yet available to discern which theory best accounts for the relation between AAE use and literacy skills or to delineate which dialect-informed educational practices are most effective for children in preschool and the primary grades. Nonetheless, consistent observations of an educationally significant relation between AAE use and various early literacy skills suggest that dialect variation should be considered in assessment and instruction practices involving children who are learning to read and write. The speech-language pathologist can play a critical role in instituting such practices in schools.

Zero Marking of Past Tense in Child African American English

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Lee ◽  
Janna B. Oetting
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
American English ◽  
African American English ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Grammatical Function

Zero marking of the simple past is often listed as a common feature of child African American English (AAE). In the current paper, we review the literature and present new data to help clinicians better understand zero marking of the simple past in child AAE. Specifically, we provide information to support the following statements: (a) By six years of age, the simple past is infrequently zero marked by typically developing AAE-speaking children; (b) There are important differences between the simple past and participle morphemes that affect AAE-speaking children's marking options; and (c) In addition to a verb's grammatical function, its phonetic properties help determine whether an AAE-speaking child will produce a zero marked form.

Complex Syntax Production of African American Preschoolers

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 1083-1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra C. Jackson ◽  
Joanne E. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Home Environment ◽  
American English ◽  
African American English ◽  
Environment Factors ◽  
Complex Syntax ◽  
The Mean ◽  
American Children ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance

This study examined changes in the complex syntax production of 85 3- and 4-year-old African American children and the role of child (i.e., gender, age, African American English) and family (i.e., home environment) factors. The mean percentage of utterances containing one or more complex syntax forms was 6.2% at 3 years and 11.7% at 4 years. Girls produced more complex syntax forms than did boys. Complex syntax production increased significantly between age 3 and age 4 and correlated positively with mean length of utterance in words. Children from more responsive and stimulating home environments produced more complex syntax at 4 years. African American English was not related to the amount of complex syntax used.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document