Explore the vast range of titles available.

Purpose: There has been increased interest in using telepractice for involving more diverse children in research and clinical services, as well as when in-person assessment is challenging, such as during COVID-19. Little is known, however, about the feasibility, reliability, and validity of language samples when conducted via telepractice. Method: Child language samples from parent-child play were recorded either in person in the laboratory or via video chat at home, using parents' preferred commercially available software on their own device. Samples were transcribed and analyzed using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts software. Analyses compared measures between-subjects for 46 dyads who completed video chat language samples versus 16 who completed in-person samples; within-subjects analyses were conducted for a subset of 13 dyads who completed both types. Groups did not differ significantly on child age, sex, or socioeconomic status. Results: The number of usable samples and percent of utterances with intelligible audio signal did not differ significantly for in-person versus video chat language samples. Child speech and language characteristics (including mean length of utterance, type-token ratio, number of different words, grammatical errors/omissions, and child speech intelligibility) did not differ significantly between in-person and video chat methods. This was the case for between-group analyses and within-child comparisons. Furthermore, transcription reliability (conducted on a subset of samples) was high and did not differ between in-person and video chat methods. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that child language samples collected via video chat are largely comparable to in-person samples in terms of key speech and language measures. Best practices for maximizing data quality for using video chat language samples are provided.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how well students' response to a morphological vocabulary intervention can be predicted before the start of the intervention from traditional static assessments and to determine whether a dynamic assessment with graduated prompts improves the prediction. Method: A planned secondary analysis of a randomized trial of a morphological vocabulary intervention for fifth-grade students with limited vocabulary was conducted. Response to this intervention was examined for 111 participants based on their development in definitions of morphologically transparent words from pretest to posttest. Traditional static measures of vocabulary, knowledge of morphology, and morphological analysis as well as a dynamic assessment of morphological analysis were evaluated as predictors of students' response to intervention. Results: The static pretest measures predicted more than half of the overall variance in students' response to intervention and provided a good classification of students with subsequent poor or good response to intervention. The single best static predictor was the static assessment of morphological analysis. Furthermore, the dynamic assessment added significantly to the prediction of the overall variance in students' response to intervention and to the correct early classification of students as poor or good responders. Conclusions: The results suggest that an acceptable level of prediction of students' response to morphological vocabulary intervention can be obtained by means of a couple of static morphological measures. This study also provides evidence for the added predictive value of a dynamic assessment of morphological analysis.

Purpose: This study examined the prediction of performance on measures of the Story Goodness Index (SGI; Le, Coelho, Mozeiko, & Grafman, 2011) from executive function (EF) and memory measures following traumatic brain injury (TBI). It was hypothesized that EF and memory measures would significantly predict SGI outcomes. Method: One hundred sixty-seven individuals with TBI participated in the study. Story retellings were analyzed using the SGI protocol. Three cognitive measures--Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS; Delis, Kaplan, & Kramer, 2001) Sorting Test, Wechsler Memory Scale--Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1997) Working Memory Primary Index (WMI), and WMS-III Immediate Memory Primary Index (IMI)--were entered into a multiple linear regression model for each discourse measure. Two sets of regression analyses were performed, the first with the Sorting Test as the first predictor and the second with it as the last. Results: The first set of regression analyses identified the Sorting Test and IMI as the only significant predictors of performance on measures of the SGI. The second set identified all measures as significant predictors when evaluating each step of the regression function. Conclusion: The cognitive variables predicted performance on the SGI measures, although there were differences in the amount of explained variance. The results (a) suggest that storytelling ability draws on a number of underlying skills and (b) underscore the importance of using discrete cognitive tasks rather than broad cognitive indices to investigate the cognitive substrates of discourse. (Contains 8 tables and 1 figure.)

Contact author: Viorica Marian, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, 2240 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208. E-mail: v-marian{at}northwestern.edu . Purpose: To develop a reliable and valid questionnaire of bilingual language status with predictable relationships between self-reported and behavioral measures. Method: In Study 1, the internal validity of the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q) was established on the basis of self-reported data from 52 multilingual adult participants. In Study 2, criterion-based validity was established on the basis of standardized language tests and self-reported measures from 50 adult Spanish–English bilinguals. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire were established on healthy adults whose literacy levels were equivalent to that of someone with a high school education or higher. Results: Factor analyses revealed consistent factors across both studies and suggested that the LEAP-Q was internally valid. Multiple regression and correlation analyses established criterion-based validity and suggested that self-reports were reliable indicators of language performance. Self-reported reading proficiency was a more accurate predictor of first-language performance, and self-reported speaking proficiency was a more accurate predictor of second-language performance. Although global measures of self-reported proficiency were generally predictive of language ability, deriving a precise estimate of performance on a particular task required that specific aspects of language history be taken into account. Conclusion: The LEAP-Q is a valid, reliable, and efficient tool for assessing the language profiles of multilingual, neurologically intact adult populations in research settings. KEY WORDS: bilingualism, self-assessment, second language, language proficiency, questionnaire development CiteULike     Connotea     Del.icio.us     Digg     Facebook     Reddit     Technorati     Twitter     What's this?

This study examined the efficiency of item translation in a challenging language-testing situation. We created a Spanish translation of recently developed English vocabulary tests to assess word knowledge in Spanish-speaking students and highly educated adults, a group for whom it is a challenge to find words that some people know and others do not. The English tests were multiple-choice tests based on meaning recognition and consisted of a total of 150 items. From these, we were able to create two Spanish tests with 37 questions each. We constructed and validated the tests in two separate studies, including another established vocabulary test (Lextale-Esp, based on form recognition), general knowledge tests, and a test for reading comprehension. Two online studies with 161 and 196 participants confirmed that both vocabulary tests have reliability above .75 (.86 when combined) and correlate more highly with general knowledge and reading comprehension than Lextale-Esp. This shows that test translation is an efficient way to find useful items for language tests in different languages. All materials (including the general knowledge tests and the reading comprehension test) are freely available for research purposes.

The lack of standardized language assessment tools in Russian impedes clinical work, evidence-based practice, and research in Russian-speaking clinical populations. To address this gap in assessment of neurogenic language disorders, we developed and standardized a new comprehensive assessment instrument–the Russian Aphasia Test (RAT). The principal novelty of the RAT is that each subtest corresponds to a specific level of linguistic processing (phonological, lexical-semantic, syntactic, and discourse) in different domains: auditory comprehension, repetition, and oral production. In designing the test, we took into consideration various (psycho)linguistic factors known to influence language performance, as well as specific properties of Russian. The current paper describes the development of the RAT and reports its psychometric properties. A tablet-based version of the RAT was administered to 85 patients with different types and severity of aphasia and to 106 age-matched neurologically healthy controls. We established cutoff values for each subtest indicating deficit in a given task and cutoff values for aphasia based on the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis of the composite score. The RAT showed very high sensitivity (> .93) and specificity (> .96), substantiating its validity for determining presence of aphasia. The test’s high construct validity was evidenced by strong correlations between subtests measuring similar linguistic processes. The concurrent validity of the test was also strong as demonstrated by a high correlation with an existing aphasia battery. Overall high internal, inter-rater, and test-retest reliability were obtained. The RAT is the first comprehensive aphasia language battery in Russian with properly established psychometric properties. It is sensitive to a wide range of language deficits in aphasia and can reliably characterize individual profiles of language impairments. Notably, the RAT is the first comprehensive aphasia test in any language to be fully automatized for administration on a tablet, maximizing further standardization of presentation and scoring procedures.

Arabic is understudied in second-language research (L2) and lacks rapid and adequate tools for measuring proficiency. Drawing inspiration from LexTALE and its extensions, this study created and validated a quick receptive vocabulary size test to estimate L2 Arabic proficiency. In Experiment 1 , the initial version of LexArabic was designed and evaluated with 192 L1 and L2 speakers. Item analysis using point-biserial correlations and item response theory (IRT) was conducted to refine the test, resulting in a final version with 90 items (60 words, 30 nonwords). Experiment 2 assessed LexArabic reliability, validity, and accuracy using a new group of 260 L1 and L2 speakers. The validity of LexArabic was evaluated through objective tasks (a general Arabic proficiency test, L1 to L2 translation task, L2 to L1 translation task) as well as subjective tasks (self-rated proficiency). Results showed that LexArabic demonstrated good reliability ( α > 90), validity (correlation with two objective tasks and one subjective task), as well as accuracy (AUC value = .88). The introduction of LexArabic has the potential to facilitate experimental research on both L1 and L2 Arabic speakers and contributes to the development of standardized L2 proficiency assessment across languages.

Language facilitates communication and efficient encoding of thought and experience. Because of its essential role in early childhood development, in educational achievement and in subsequent life adaptation, language was included as one of the subdomains in the NIH Toolbox for the Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB). There are many different components of language functioning, including syntactic processing (i.e., morphology and grammar) and lexical semantics. For purposes of the NIHTB-CB, two tests of language—a picture vocabulary test and a reading recognition test—were selected by consensus based on literature reviews, iterative expert input, and a desire to assess in English and Spanish. NIHTB-CB’s picture vocabulary and reading recognition tests are administered using computer adaptive testing and scored using item response theory. Data are presented from the validation of the English versions in a sample of adults ages 20–85 years (Spanish results will be presented in a future publication). Both tests demonstrated high test–retest reliability and good construct validity compared to corresponding gold-standard measures. Scores on the NIH Toolbox measures were consistent with age-related expectations, namely, growth in language during early development, with relative stabilization into late adulthood. (JINS, 2014, 20, 1–10)

Purpose: The gold standard for diagnosing childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is expert judgment of perceptual features. The aim of this study was to identify a set of objective measures that differentiate CAS from other speech disorders. Method: Seventy-two children (4-12 years of age) diagnosed with suspected CAS by community speech-language pathologists were screened. Forty-seven participants underwent diagnostic assessment including presence or absence of perceptual CAS features. Twenty-eight children met two sets of diagnostic criteria for CAS (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2007b; Shriberg, Potter, & Strand, 2009); another 4 met the CAS criteria with comorbidity. Fifteen were categorized as non-CAS with phonological impairment, submucous cleft, or dysarthria. Following this, 24 different measures from the diagnostic assessment were rated by blinded raters. Multivariate discriminant function analysis was used to identify the combination of measures that best predicted expert diagnoses. Results: The discriminant function analysis model, including syllable segregation, lexical stress matches, percentage phonemes correct from a polysyllabic picture-naming task, and articulatory accuracy on repetition of /p?t?k?/, reached 91% diagnostic accuracy against expert diagnosis. Conclusions: Polysyllabic production accuracy and an oral motor examination that includes diadochokinesis may be sufficient to reliably identify CAS and rule out structural abnormality or dysarthria. Testing with a larger unselected sample is required.

This study used a prospective community-based sample to describe patterns and predictors of language development from 4 to 7 years in verbal children (IQ ≥ 70) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 26–27). Children with typical language (TD; n = 858–861) and language impairment (LI; n = 119) were used for comparison. Children with ASD and LI had similar mean language scores that were lower on average than children with TD. Similar proportions across all groups had declining, increasing and stable patterns. Language progressed at a similar rate for all groups, with progress influenced by IQ and language ability at 4 years rather than social communication skills or diagnosis of ASD. These findings inform advice for parents about language prognosis in ASD.