Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts’ (SALT) transcribing method and Narrative Assessment Protocol (NAP) online coding method: are they interchangeable?

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

Early Childhood Research Quarterly ◽

10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.11.002 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 218-234 ◽

Cited By ~ 77

Author(s):

Laura M. Justice ◽

Ryan Bowles ◽

Khara Pence ◽

Carolyn Gosse

Keyword(s):

Language Abilities ◽

Assessment Protocol ◽

Narrative Assessment ◽

Narrative Context

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Narrative Assessment Protocol-2

PsycTESTS Dataset ◽

10.1037/t80942-000 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ryan P. Bowles ◽

Laura M. Justice ◽

Kiren S. Khan ◽

Shayne B. Piasta ◽

Lori E. Skibbe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Assessment Protocol ◽

Narrative Assessment

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Preparatory Procedures for Electron Microscopic Analysis at the Molecular Level of Resolution

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100070230 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 516-520

Author(s):

F.J. Sjostrand

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscope ◽

Molecular Level ◽

Microscopic Analysis ◽

Resolving Power ◽

Cellular Structures ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Systematic Analysis ◽

Technical Developments ◽

Thin Sectioning ◽

Obvious Reason

In the 1940's and 1950's electron microscopy conferences were attended with everybody interested in learning about the latest technical developments for one very obvious reason. There was the electron microscope with its outstanding performance but nobody could make very much use of it because we were lacking proper techniques to prepare biological specimens. The development of the thin sectioning technique with its perfectioning in 1952 changed the situation and systematic analysis of the structure of cells could now be pursued. Since then electron microscopists have in general become satisfied with the level of resolution at which cellular structures can be analyzed when applying this technique. There has been little interest in trying to push the limit of resolution closer to that determined by the resolving power of the electron microscope.

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The Elicitation of Vocal Responses From Preschool Children

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.2403.146 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 146-150 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elizabeth Hyne Champley ◽

Moya L. Andrews

Keyword(s):

Preschool Children ◽

Assessment Protocol ◽

Vocal Responses

This article discusses the construction of tasks used to elicit vocal responses from preschool children. Procedures to elicit valid and reliable responses are proposed, and a sample assessment protocol is presented.

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