A comparison of language sample elicitation methods for dual language learners
Genre
Thesis/DissertationDate
2017Author
Toscano, JacquelineAdvisor
Reilly, JamieCommittee member
Reich, JodiGarcía, Felicidad M.
Department
Communication SciencesSubject
Speech TherapyCulturally and Linguistically Diverse
Dual Language Learners
Language Assessment
Language Sample Analysis
Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/4139Metadata
Show full item recordDOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/4121Abstract
Language sample analysis has come to be considered the “gold standard” approach for cross-cultural language assessment. Speech-language pathologists assessing individuals of multicultural or multilinguistic backgrounds have been recommended to utilize this approach in these evaluations (e.g., Pearson, Jackson, & Wu, 2014; Heilmann & Westerveld, 2013). Language samples can be elicited with a variety of different tasks, and selection of a specific method by SLPs is often a major part of the assessment process. The present study aims to facilitate the selection of sample elicitation methods by identifying the method that elicits a maximal performance of language abilities and variation in children’s oral language samples. Analyses were performed on Play, Tell, and Retell methods across 178 total samples and it was found that Retell elicited higher measures of syntactic complexity (i.e., TTR, SI, MLUw) than Play as well as a higher TTR (i.e., lexical diversity) and SI (i.e., clausal density) than Tell; however, no difference was found between Tell and Retell for MLUw (i.e., syntactic complexity/productivity), nor was there a difference found between Tell and Play for TTR. Additionally, it was found that the two narrative methods elicited higher DDM (i.e., frequency of dialectal variation) than the Play method. No significant difference was found between Tell and Retell for DDM. Implications for the continued use of language sample for assessment of speech and language are discussed.ADA compliance
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