Is Bilingual Receptive Vocabulary Assessment via Telepractice Comparable to Face-to-Face?

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of delivery method (face-to-face or telepractice), time, home language, and language ability on bilingual children's receptive vocabulary scores in Spanish and English. Method: Participants included bilingual children with ( n = 32) and without ( n = 57) developmental language disorders (DLD) that were assessed at 2 time points about 1 year apart. All children participated in face-to-face assessment at Time 1. At Time 2, 41 children were assessed face-to-face and 48 children were assessed using telepractice. Results: Delivery method was not a significant predictor of receptive scores in either Spanish or English. Spanish and English receptive vocabulary increased over time in both children with and without DLD. Children with DLD had lower receptive vocabulary raw scores than children with typical development. Children who spoke English-only at home had significantly higher English receptive scores than children who spoke Spanish-only or both Spanish and English at home. Conclusions: Face-to-face and telepractice assessments seem to be comparable methods for the assessments of Spanish and English receptive skills. Spanish and English receptive skills increased over time in children with and without DLD. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.17912297

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF READ-ALOUD LEARNING METHODS WITH PICTURE STORYBOOK MEDIA TO IMPROVE RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE SKILLS IN EARLY CHILDREN

This study aims to conduct empirical research to determine the difference in effectiveness between the read-aloud learning method and serial image media with other methods usually used by teachers to improve receptive language skills in early childhood. This type of research uses a nonequivalent control group experimental design with a quantitative approach. The variables in this study consisted independent variable in this study is the read-aloud learning method with picture story media (X), the dependent variable in this study is expressive language ability (Y1) and expressive language ability (Y2). The results showed that (1) the read-aloud learning method with picture series media was more effective than the learning methods commonly used by teachers to improve receptive language skills in early childhood, statistically, the F = 5.766 with a significant level of p = 0.022 smaller than 5%; (2) The read-aloud learning method with serial picture story media is more effective than the learning methods commonly used by teachers to improve expressive language skills in early childhood; statistically, the value of F = 1,028 significant level p = 0.012 less than 5%. The results of this study can provide new insights and innovations in the effectiveness of learning the read-aloud method in storytelling activities that are useful for developing children's receptive and expressive language skills

Identifying Patterns of Similarities and Differences between Gesture Production and Comprehension in Autism and Typical Development

Production and comprehension of gesture emerge early and are key to subsequent language development in typical development. Compared to typically developing (TD) children, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit difficulties and/or differences in gesture production. However, we do not yet know if gesture production either shows similar patterns to gesture comprehension across different ages and learners, or alternatively, lags behind gesture comprehension, thus mimicking a pattern akin to speech comprehension and production. In this study, we focus on the gestures produced and comprehended by a group of young TD children and children with ASD—comparable in language ability—with the goal to identify whether gesture production and comprehension follow similar patterns between ages and between learners. We elicited production of gesture in a semi-structured parent–child play and comprehension of gesture in a structured experimenter-child play across two studies. We tested whether young TD children (ages 2–4) follow a similar trajectory in their production and comprehension of gesture (Study 1) across ages, and if so, whether this alignment remains similar for verbal children with ASD (Mage = 5 years), comparable to TD children in language ability (Study 2). Our results provided evidence for similarities between gesture production and comprehension across ages and across learners, suggesting that comprehension and production of gesture form a largely integrated system of communication.

Measuring language ability of students with compensatory multidimensional CAT: A post-hoc simulation study

The computerized adaptive tests (CAT) apply an adaptive process in which the items are tailored to individuals' ability scores. The multidimensional CAT (MCAT) designs differ in terms of different item selection, ability estimation, and termination methods being used. This study aims at investigating the performance of the MCAT designs used to measure the language ability of students and to compare the results of MCAT designs with the outcomes of corresponding paper–pencil tests. For this purpose, items in the English Proficiency Tests (EPT) were used to create a multi-dimensional item pool that consists of 599 items. The performance of the MCAT designs was evaluated and compared based on the reliability coefficients, root means square error (RMSE), test-length, and root means squared difference (RMSD) statistics, respectively. Therefore, 36 different conditions were investigated in total. The results of the post-hoc simulation designs indicate that the MCAT designs with the A-optimality item selection method outperformed MCAT designs with other item selection methods by decreasing the test length and RMSD values without any sacrifice in test reliability. Additionally, the best error variance stopping rule for each MCAT algorithm with A-optimality item selection could be considered as 0.25 with 27.9 average test length and 30 items for the fixed test-length stopping rule for the Bayesian MAP method. Overall, MCAT designs tend to decrease the test length by 60 to 65 percent and provide ability estimations with higher precision compared to the traditional paper–pencil tests with 65 to 75 items. Therefore, it is suggested to use the A-optimality method for item selection and the Bayesian MAP method for ability estimation for the MCAT designs since the MCAT algorithm with these specifications shows better performance than others.

A case of Landau-Kleffner syndrome with SLC26A4-related hearing impairment

Background Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is an acquired aphasia and electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities mainly in temporoparietal areas. SLC26A4 mutations can cause hearing loss associated with enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA). Case presentations We report a case of LKS in a 5-year-old boy with non-syndromic EVA due to homozygous mutations of c.919-2A>G (IVS7-2A>G) in SLC26A4. He had normal language development before 2 years old. At the age of 2.5 years, he was admitted to the hospital due to remarkable language delay, and diagnosed with hearing loss with EVA. The seizures started at 4.4 years of age and EEG recording showed electrical status epilepticus during sleep (ESES) with a posterior-temporal predominance. He received cochlear implantation in the right ear at 4.7 years of age, which improved his hearing and language skills. The nocturnal focal motor seizures recurred at 4.9 years of age. Then a remarkable inability to respond to calls and reduction in spontaneous speech were noticed. He was treated with methylprednisolone at 5 years old, which controlled the seizures, suppressed ESES, and remarkably improved the language ability. The absence of seizures maintained until the last follow-up at 5.3 years of age, with further improvements in EEG recording and language ability. Conclusions The co-existence of LKS and hearing loss caused by SLC26A4 mutations increases the difficulty of LKS diagnosis, especially in the presence of hearing loss and impaired language skills. EEG discharges predominantly in temporoparietal areas, the occurrence of ESES, and language improvement after antiepileptic medications are potential indicators for LKS diagnosis.

Relating a concordance-based cloze test to the model of communicative language ability: a verbal protocol study

The literature of empirical studies on the concordance-based cloze test (ConCloze) is far and few between. This is despite the fact that it has a potential for item writing without the aid of native speakers and for making use of corpus-based technology in task design. This article explores the test-taking processes and strategies of a ConCloze item variant. The aim is to investigate the substantive aspect of the construct validity for the item type and increase the generalizability of the findings in the universe of admissible observations. The sample consists of 14 non-native English users who are in higher education and engage with 3 test tasks each, totaling 42 verbal reports. The sampling method is purposive sampling, in which their first language profiles are maximized in terms of heterogeneity for increased power of generalization. It is found that Reading concordance lines and recognizing clue words inside is a major process, and Assessing item components and testing a meaningful compatibility of a word in context a secondary one. A model of communicative language ability is used to provide a context for task use in this study, where strategic competence is represented in ConCloze substantive validity.

Universal language development screening: comparative performance of two questionnaires

Background and objectiveLow language ability in early childhood is a strong predictor of later psychopathology as well as reduced school readiness, lower educational attainment, employment problems and involvement with the criminal justice system. Assessment of early language development is universally offered in many countries, but there has been little evaluation of assessment tools. We planned to compare the screening performance of two commonly used language assessment instruments.MethodsA pragmatic diagnostic accuracy study was carried out in five areas of England comparing the performance of two screening tools (Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and Sure Start Language Measure (SSLM)) against a reference test (Preschool Language Scale, 5th edition).ResultsResults were available for 357 children aged 23–30 months. The ASQ Communication Scale using optimal cut-off values had a sensitivity of 0.55, a specificity of 0.95 and positive and negative predictive values of 0.53 and 0.95, respectively. The SSLM had corresponding values of 0.83, 0.81, 0.33 and 0.98, respectively. Both screening tools performed relatively poorly in families not using English exclusively in the home.ConclusionThe very widely used ASQ Communication Scale performs poorly as a language screening tool, missing over one-third of cases of low language ability. The SSLM performed better as a screening tool.

A Study on the Application of Teacher Feedback Language in Middle School English Class

Teacher feedback language has a very significant impact on students' learning. Appropriate feedback language will promote students' learning motivation, arouse students' interest in learning, and have a positive role in promoting students' language ability development. However, in middle school English classrooms, many teachers do not pay attention to the role of feedback language, ignore the positive feedback to students or lack the application skills of feedback and students do not participate in classroom communication, and lose interest in English. This article proposes corresponding improvement measures in response to the current problems in the application of teacher feedback in middle school English classrooms.