Language Disorders:from Infancy through Adolescence:

Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Communicating

Rhea Paul, PhD, CCC-SLPProfessor, Yale Child Study Center

New Haven, Connecticut

Courtenay F. Norbury, PhD

Senior Research Fellow Department of Psychology Royal Holloway University of London London,England

pages 439-479

working with language learning disability(p.440)

I.topic initiations 

frequency of client's topic initiations in comparison to the other participant

subject matter of topic initiations

II.maintaining topics

able to keep a topic going 

not able to keep a topic going 

III.use of eye contact

able to use eye contact to designate a listener in a group when initiating a topic

uses eye contact while listening 

IV.turn taking

is easily interrupted

interrupt others

answers questions for others

has long speaking turns

designates turns for others in a group

sensitive to listener cues

excuses self when interrupting

V.politeness

able to make indirect requests

uses commands

uses politeness markers of "please""thank you""excuse me"

VI. observation of nonverbal behaviors

stands or sits too close to people when talking

stands or sits too far away from people when talking

stands or sits at appropriate social distances when talking

uses nonverbal head nods to acknowledge

uses nonverbal means of getting attention to initiate a topic

pragmatics of narrative

comprehension and inferencing 

understanding stories involves having expectations,or scripts,for how they will proceed,in other words,understanding and processing stories requires some knowledge of story grammar,but it also involves something more,not everything that happens in stories is stated explicity,part of understanding a story is being able to infer some of this implicit information.

literal story comprehension can be assessed by adapting a variety of materials designed to evaluate reading comprehension.

inferential comprehension can be assessed informally by asking students to explain why characters behaved as they did,to state what the character's goals and motivations were, and to talk about how characters felt at different points in the story.

narrative production

three types of narratives that are appropriate as assessment contexts for children in the L4L stage

personal narrative:asking the child to recount a salient personal experience.asking students to tell about a time when they were hurt,scared,or solved a problem.

script narrative:require students to relate a routine series of events.ask students to pretend they are explaining to a new student what happens in gym class or to a foreign visitor how to order food in a fast food restaurant.

functional narrative:be asked to generate a story,alternatively,the clinician can tell a story, with or without pictorial support,and ask the student to retell it,story generation is usually more difficult,but it is considered more representative.visual stimuli in the form of single pictures,series of pictures,film strips or video can be used.

three characteristics distinguished the narrative of children with language disorders from those of their normally speaking peers:

overall maturity of narrative

story microstructure

use of precise and diverse vocabulary

narrative macrostructure

levels of narrative development(p.442)

additive chain

temporal chain

causal chain

multiple causal chain

for stories at the causal chain level or above,note subcategories contained in the story

story grammar decision tree(p.443)

narrative assessment scoresheet adapted(p.445)

global structure 

initiating event

attempts

resolution

local structure 

length

syntax

semantics

cohesion

mental state verbs

emotional terms

scoring rubrics for narratives

weak:narrative consists of descriptions and poorly organized,uninteresting stories

adequate:stories take one of four forms

an account of events without a high point or climax

a minimal narrative without elaboration

a story without a resolution

a confusing narrative with some strong descriptive elements

good:narratives are captivating stories that contain problems and resolutions,but they may contain organizational weaknesses

strong:narratives are easily understood and contain clear,integrated story lines; elaboration;interesting word choices;and some captivating features,such as a climax or plot twist or compelling personal voice.

heilman et al. narrative scoring scheme(p.445)

introduction

character development

mental states

referencing 

conflict resolution

cohesion

conclusion

cohesion narrative

cohesive ties are linguistic markers that bind sentences together to make them an integrated discourse unit rather than a series of unrelated utterances

a procedure for scoring cohesive adequacy in narrative samples(p.446)

1.transcribe the narrative sample

2.read through the transcript once

3.read the transcript again,this time,underline each pronoun,conjunction,conjunctive adverb,elliptical utterance,or artical that refers to information outside the sentence or clause in which it is used

4.for each tie,make a judgement as to whether it is complete.

5.count the total number of cohesive markers in the sample.then count the number of complete ties,divide the number of complete ties by the total number of cohesive markers,if this proportion is less than 70%,a cohesive deficit can be inferred.

narrative microstructure

number of different words

total number of words

total number of t-units in the narrative

average number of words per t-unit

total number of t-unit containing an independent clause and at least one dependent clause

proportion of t-units that contain an independent and dependent clause

assessing written narrative

rather than having children write original stories,they be given stories containing simple sentences,and asked to rewrite them into a story that"sounds better."by examing the student's rewrite for the presence of simple sentences combined into complex ones,the clinician can form a qualitative assessment of the student's ability to use complex syntax adaptively.

artful storytelling 

good stories contain more than just complete sentences,episodes,and cohesive,sparkle.

the richness of the vocabulary,the complexity of the episodes in the story,the creation of a high point to stress the story's climax,and the use of a literate language style.

four levels of episode complexity beyond the basic true narrative

multiple episodes(for example,a child might tell a story about a trip to the doctor,which is preceded by a story of how he got sick.)

complex episodes(for example,a girl might tell a story about how she wanted to get a horse, made a plan to earn the necessary money,met with opposition from he parents,but managed to overcome the opposition and achieve her goal.

embedded episodes(for example,a story about how a bride found her ideal wedding dress might have the story of how she met her groom embedded within it)

interactive episodes(for example,the story of how the bride and groom met is told separately from each participant's perspective.)

a summary of later stages of narrative development

beginning use of high point resolutions

use of introducers and codas

stories have elaborated high points,including several high point elements

aspects of high point analysis

introducer(occurs at beginning,gives an overview of the story,serves to get listener's attention)

orientation(gives background and setting information)

complicating action(shows how action proceeds to the high point)

evaluation(gives an assessment or emotional comment about the high point)

resolution(finishes off the event,and resolves any complicaton.)

coda(closes the story and connects the ending to the present context)

elements of literary language style(p.449)

conjunctions:such as (but not limited to )when,since,so,as a result,if,until.however,before, after,while,because,therefore,however,although,etc.,are counted.)

elaborated noun phrases

mental and linguistic verbs

adverbs

assessing the matas

metalinguistic awareness

curriculum-based assessment can be particularly useful for assessing metalinguistic skills in the context of editing.

matapragmatic skills can be assessed in conversation with the client about rules for various discourse contexts.(借東西/吵架）

suggestions for assessing metapragmatic knowledge of classroom discourse rules(p.450)

what is the most important thing you should always say in class?

how do you know when it's time for recess?

when is  it ok to talk aloud without raising your hand in class?

when is it all right to ask the teacher a question?

你老師生氣的時候會說什麼？

上課時間到了你老師會做什麼？

你覺得開學第一件事要做什麼？

你怎麼知道你老師說的事情很重要？

你怎麼知道你老師在開玩笑？

你經常會在學校做的最要緊的事是什麼？什麼事事從來不做的？

離開學校前做的最後一件事是什麼？

你有困惑的時候你老師希望你怎麼做？

你老師給你佈置作業時她在期許什麼？

metacognitive skills

self-regulation:the ability to plan,organize,and excute actions efficiently using consciously selected strategies.

self-assessment:understanding of the thinking process and the ability to consciously consider and reflect of knowledge and understanding of one's self and others/

standard tests of excutive function often used by psychologists to assess areas of mental activity including decision making,planning,inhibition,development of plans of action.

theory of mind assessment for metacognitive skills

know-remember 

看著把東西藏起來，過一會讓孩子找一找

你知道東西放在哪嗎？你猜在哪裡？你知道在哪裡嗎？

guess

沒有看見東西藏在哪裡，在兩個容器中選中一個，

你知道東西放在哪嗎？你猜在哪裡？你知道在哪裡嗎？

forget

curriculum-based language assessment

artifact analysis

artifacts,or products of the student's regular curricular activities,such as homework assigments,written work done in class,or project completed independently or in cooperative learning groups can be examined as a form of functional assessment-a way to look at how the student uses communication in real,relevant situations.

portfolio assessment(檔案袋評價又稱為“學習檔案評價”或“學生成長紀錄袋評價”）

collecting the following artifacts to include in a student's portfolio

initial referral forms

language samples

narrative samples

observation samples

samples of student work that address question such as:

what are the strengths/needs demonstrated in the assignment?

what strategies are evident in the student's approach to the task?

what are the language demands of this assignment?

what are the language demands of this assignment?

how did the student meet these demands?

teacher interviews

student interviews

parent interviews

test rusluts

the artifacts are evaluated to identify areas in which goals have been met or work has substantially improved and to look at areas that need additonal attention in the next cycle of intervention.

onlooker observation

watching,from a distance,as the student participates in classroom activities.

dynamic assessment

the clinician's working side by side with a student,using scaffolding techniques to facilitate the student's participation in a classroom activity.

observe whether the student succeeds more fully with the scaffolding than without it.

a variety of dynamic language assessment methods

diagnostic teaching(for example ,we might give the child a writing task,once the student does it without help,we see how providing a picture cue helps or how using another student's work as an example improves performance,after trying several such supports,we would choose the most effective for our continued intervention with the student)

successive cuing(several levels of cues are provided,and the clinician observes which is most effective.for example,p.453)

mediated learning experience（helping the student invoke metacognitive strategies.)

an example of dynamic assessment of metacognition with a think-aloud protocol(p.453)

what do you think this section will be about?how do you know?

after students reads a portion,stop him and ask,why did x(event) happen?why do you think that?how could you find out if you don't know?

choose a word that is likely to be unfamiliar to student,what do you think mesa means here?how could you tell ?

select a point that is not stated explicity,why do you think the soldiers retreated to the mesa?why did you decide that?

direct students to answer questions about section.what is your plan for answering the question?what will you do if you don't know an answer?do you think all the answers will be found in what you read?

a procedure for diagnostic teaching of spelling,derived from dynamic assessment procedure(p.454)

consideration for older,severely affected student's at the L4L stage

some adolescents and yound adults with moderate to severe impairments may function at the L4L stage,with oral language commensurate with the early elementary grade levels and minimal reading or writing skills.

when we do criterion-referenced or observational assessment for the oldre,moderately to severely impaired client,we want to use situations and props that are fitting for a person of this age,such as materials from the client's occupational training program or objects from self-care and daily living activities that the client is learning to perform independently,or from leisure activities in which the client likes to engage.

any student with difficulty communciating can benefit from instruction and should have the opportunity to participate in classroom and social interactions.this is true regardless of whether the student's IQ is within or below the normal range.

the focus intervention should be providing whatever supports students need to participate in school and other important environment.

steps in process of ecological assessment

get to know the client(interview parents to learn about case history,their fears and dreams, the student's strengths and needs,observe student in classroom and other relevant settings)

list activities and routine in a typical day in this setting(compile the student's weekly shedule, observe the client in several environments,determine demands of each)

state goals,and list key activities/routines and set priorities among them(identify broad goals,then list 3-4 activities or routines that need to be mastered in order to accomplish each goal)

observe and record behaviors of typical participants or conduct interviews to determine the expectations of each activity(do observations and interviews to determine componet skills and concepts for each activity)

observe the student in each activity(record observations and describe what the client currently does in the activity-the degree to which he or she shows the skill necessary for participation)

identify the language/communcation skills needed to achieve expectations(identify reasons why activities are not successfully performed(e.g.,lack of skills,knowledge.strategies, interfering behaviors,instructional problem,environment obstacles)

identify communication skills not currently demonstrated(give behavioral objectives for each activity)

outline communication goals for each activity(identify physical and instructional modifications,adaptations,and supports needed.determine an instructional focus for each objective)

develop an IEP for these goals(plan who,when ,and how each objective will be achieved)

for client with very few reading and writing skills,for example,we might use an ecological inventory to determine what their literacy needs are in school ,work,or independent living, these skills could be targeted even if reading and writing skills in general are at very low levels.

for students using AAC devices,the development of literacy continues to be an especially important goal,since AAC devices that use some form of the printed word provide the most viable means of communciaton for these students.

developing appropriate expectations and fostering functional literacy

voice output devices can benefit both literacy and general communication in these children.

considerations for speakers with ASD at the L4L stage

even high functioning individuals with ASD can have a range of language skills,from superior to more like those of children with language learning disability.

review medical and educational history

standardized testing to establish eligibility

criterion-referenced assessments and behavioral observation to establish baseline function and identify intervention targets

audiorecord a sample of speech using an interview format

do another curriculum-based onlooker assessment in the classroom ,during a class project or discussion.

collect a narrative sample by asking to tell a story from a wordless picture book.

assess metalinguistic skills using curriculum-based artifact assessment.