Journal Article

Diagnostic Decisions of Language Complexity Using Informal Language Assessment Measures

Bawayan, Rebecca, Brown, Jennifer A.

2022

Overview

Purpose: The current study aimed to understand the clinical decision-making skills of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) using narrative and expository discourse information from three sources: perception of language through listening to language alone, standardized criterion-referenced narrative assessment data, and word- and morpheme-level language sample analysis data. Method: Twenty-eight current school-based SLPs participated in the study. During this study, participants rated language quality and made decisions regarding the provision of language services after being provided information from informal assessment measures. Results: SLPs' ratings of language quality and complexity varied across the story retell, wordless picture book generation, and expository samples. There was a lack of consistency in ratings within each context across areas of clarity, sample complexity, language complexity, and vocabulary across all SLPs. Self-reported factors that influenced SLPs' ratings included components of structure, syntax, and semantics. SLPs did not indicate a need for services after listening alone. When provided with criterion-referenced narrative assessment scores and word- and morpheme-level language sample data, more SLPs made a recommendation for services. Conclusions: The study demonstrates the need for objective language measure data during diagnostic decision making. Additionally, SLPs may not realize the information obtained from real-time perception, and analysis of language samples may be an unreliable and inconsistent picture of a child's language abilities. The results of this study highlight the need to continue to rely on multiple sources of assessment data. SLPs should continue to incorporate systematic methods to minimize variability of perceptions in the process of making diagnostic decisions.

• Publisher: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• Subject: Allied Health Personnel / Analysis / Case Studies / Child / Child language / Children / Children & youth / Childrens picture books / Clinical assessment / Clinical competence / Clinical decision making / Clinical Diagnosis / Clinical skills / Communication Disorders / Complexity / Criteria / Criterion Referenced Tests / Data / Decision Making / Diagnosis / Educational Environment / Educational Needs / Elementary School Students / Evaluation / Evaluation Methods / Evidence-based practice / Humans / Informal Assessment / Information / Information services / Intelligence tests / Intervention / Language / Language Acquisition / Language and languages / Language assessment / Language disorders / Language Impairments / Language Skills / Language Tests / Linguistic complexity / Listening / Medical decision making / Medical diagnosis / Middle School Students / Morphemes / Morphological analysis / Narration / Narratives / Norm Referenced Tests / Objective Tests / Perceptions / Picture Books / Practice / Preschool Children / Psychological aspects / Ratings & rankings / Schools / Scores / Semantics / Services / Speech / Speech Evaluation / Speech Impairments / Speech Language Pathology / Speech therapists / Speech-language pathologists / Speech-Language Pathology - methods / Story Telling / Students / Syntactic structures / Syntax / Tests, problems and exercises / Vocabulary / Vocabulary Skills