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Aim: To evaluate construct and predictive validity of the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) for use with preschool children with a range of speech and language disorders.Method: Seventy-seven preschool children with speech and language disorders (50 males, 27 females; mean 2y 7mo, standard deviation [SD] 1y) participated in this cohort study. Preschool children had speech and language, language-only, or speech-only disorders. Together with parent input, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) completed the CFCS at time 1. Parents and SLPs then independently completed a validated change-detecting functional communication outcome measure, the Focus on the outcomes of Communication Under Six (FOCUS), three times: at assessment (time 1), at the start of treatment (time 2), and at the end of treatment (time 3).Results: There was a significant negative correlation between CFCS classifications and FOCUS scores at all three measurement points for the ratings by both parents and SLPs (correlations ranged from -0.60 to -0.76). As expected, no correlations between CFCS classifications and FOCUS change scores were statistically significant.Interpretation: This study provides evidence of construct and predictive validity of the CFCS, demonstrating its value as a discriminative tool for use with preschool children with a range of speech and language disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the goal of developing culturally appropriate approaches for assessing and supporting children's language use, teachers of 4-to 6-year-old children in northern Canadian rural and Indigenous communities are involved in a 6-year collaborative action research project. Teachers video record children's interactions during dramatic and construction play and then meet with university researchers to carry out inductive analyses of ways in which children use language to achieve social purposes. From these analyses, a Play-based Communication Assessment has been created. Examples from two teachers' classrooms in one Indigenous community are used to show how play contexts and the still-evolving play-based communication assessment provide opportunities for teachers to recognise and build upon the linguistic and cultural resources that children bring to classrooms. Through the play-based assessment and action research processes, teachers have come to recognise the richness of children's language when they are engaged in play and have gained understandings of their community's culture. Teachers and researchers are exploring ways to capture children's non-verbal communication abilities through this assessment approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theme of this study is the communicative behavior of twins with language disorders before and after speech therapy. Data from two pairs of male twins with a diagnosis of language delay were analyzed (monozygotic - S1/S2, dizygotic - S3/S4). Data were collected in assessments made pre and post speech-language audiology intervention through: semi-structured interviews with the parents, observation of communicative behavior, and language and development scale test. The speech language audiology intervention lasted for 34 months for S1/S2 (from two years and five months to five years and three months) and 17 months for S3/S4 (from three years and seven months to five years and four months). More severe pre, peri and post natal complications with a greater psychomotor and communicative impairment were observed in the pre speech-language audiology intervention assessment. S3/S4 showed less severe pre, peri and post natal complications and development delay occurring only in language. The age of the children in post intervention assessment was similar, however, the pair S1/S2 showed a more damaged global and communicative development, even having received a longer speech-language audiology intervention. S3 showed a performance approximate to the typical development and S4 had difficulties just concerning phonology and pragmatics. The experiences of twins, differentiated as to interpersonal circumstances, lead to atypical language development, due to the reduced objective need of linguistic interaction. The post natal complications in S1/S2 exacerbated the delay in child development, encompassing the communicative development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: to compare the performance of communicative skills in children born preterm, extremely preterm and typical with chronological age between two and three years. Methods: participated in the study 72 children were divided into four groups: 20 preterm infants (GE-I), 16 extremely preterm infants (GE-II) and 36 children (GC-I and GC-II) with typical development, chronological age between two to three years, matched for age chronological and sex. The evaluation consisted of the application of the Protocol Anamnesis and Communicative Behavior Observation. Statistical analysis consisted of "t" Student and Mann-Whitney test (p ⩽ 0.05). Results: comparing the premature and typical groups (GE-I and GC-I and GE-II and GC-II), regarding communication skills, there were significant differences, despite the heterogeneity in performance of preterm and extremely preterm infants. Comparing the premature (GE-I and GE-II) showed no significant differences, however, GE-I got superior performance in all categories, except for category gestures. The categories of lower occurrence for GE-I were: respect shift change, participate and maintain dialogic activity. For GE-II were: participate and maintain dialogic activity, perform complex orders, and start respecting turn-taking, report functions, provide and produce sentences. Conclusion: there were significant differences in communicative performance of preterm and extremely preterm, as compared to typical children, but there were no significant differences when comparing the preterm groups. Although the results indicate that the premature groups tend to delay the development of communication skills, but the groups have not shown to be homogeneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents results from a large population-based study of early communicative development in Norwegian children using an adaptation of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories, comprising 6574 children between 8 and 36 months. Data were collected via the Internet. In accordance with similar studies from other languages, it was found that vocabulary comprehension preceded vocabulary production, and that both use of gestures, comprehension and production of vocabulary, and grammatical complexity increased with age. Moreover, boys lagged behind girls in vocabulary production and comprehension, in grammatical complexity, and in certain types of imitation – this gender difference seems to come out more clearly in this study’s data than in data from other languages. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although the research literature regarding language growth trajectories is burgeoning, the shape and direction of English Language Learners' ( ELLs) language growth trajectories are largely not known. This study used growth curve modeling to determine the shape of ELLs' language growth trajectories across 12,248 oral narrative language samples (6,516 Spanish; 5,732 English) produced by 1,723 ELLs during the first 3 years of formal schooling ( M age at first observation = 5 years 7 months). Results indicated distinct trajectories of language growth over time for each language differentially impacted by summer vacation and gender, significant intra- and interindividual differences in initial status and growth rates across both languages, and language-specific relations between language growth and initial status. Implications of ELLs' language growth are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The student response system (SRS) is marketed as a reliable tool for improving students' academic attainment. However, findings to the question of whether or not the SRS does improve the learning outcomes of ESL [English as a Second Language] learners in primary education are not well documented in the research literature. Despite the wide use of English as the medium of communication and instruction in many Anglophone countries such as Nigeria, a teacher's ability to actively engage all students in the classroom is challenging and relatively difficult. Learners' poor performance in school subjects, as well as national examinations conducted by bodies such as the West African Examination Council (W.A.E.C.) and the National Examination Council (N.E.C.O.) has been attributed to teachers' reliance on, and use of, the traditional lecture method which deprives students of the necessary interaction, active engagement and dialogic communication that could promote improved learning outcomes. The adoption, as well as the use, of SRS in schools to enhance teaching and learning is yet to be a reality in Nigeria. Researchers argue that, for learners to experience improved academic attainment, they must possess a reasonable degree of communicative competence in the language of instruction. Moreover, language is best learnt when student learners are given the opportunity to interact in the class with a view of exploring the environmental artifacts to interactively use the target language in real life situations. Earlier studies have shown that the use of SRS during instructional processes enables meaningful interaction that would facilitate improved educational attainment in the classroom. This study, which explored the sociocultural theory of Vygotsky, was thus conducted to investigate the effectiveness of SRS in English language classrooms with a view to improving the communicative competence of learners. In essence, this study was a quasi-experimental design conducted within 11 weeks, to compare the communicative competence of pupils exposed to SRS and those taught in the traditional classroom. 67 pupils from two Nigerian primary schools constituted the sample of the study. Learners in the traditional lecture method group were exposed to the traditional lecture method. On the other hand, the experimental group experienced peer discussion and active participation in instructional activities as the SRS technology was used to trigger interaction in the classroom at the pre- and post sessions of polling learners' responses by the teacher. To assess learners' English language communicative competence, a battery of English Language Listening Tests and English Language Speaking Tests was used for data collection. Data were analysed at 0.05 significance level via descriptive and inferential statistics (t-tests, Analysis of variance, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and multiple regression). While significant difference was found between the pre- and post-tests of the SRS group, no such significant difference was found within the control group. The results further show that the SRS group outperformed the control group at the post-test stage. Pupils' communicative competence positively and significantly correlated with the listening and speaking skills of pupils in the SRS group. Speaking skill was also found to be potent predictor of pupils' communicative competence in the SRS group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research indicates that as many as 50% of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) will not develop adequate speech to meet their communication needs (Noens & van Berckelaer-Onnes, 2004). Thus, alternate means of communication such as Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) are necessary. Though many music therapists work with clients with ASD, there is a lack of research regarding music therapists' use of aided AAC. This study sought to obtain information from music therapists who work with persons with ASD via a survey to answer the following questions: (a) how many music therapists are using aided AAC in their sessions, (b) how they are using aided AAC, and (c) what type of training they have had regarding AAC systems. To assess the research questions, the author created an electronic survey. Upon distribution, the survey response rate was 49.6%. Results indicated that only 14.6% of respondents utilize aided AAC with all of their clients who use aided AAC outside of music therapy. The most common form of aided input used by music therapists in their sessions with clients with ASD is a picture schedule. Only 40% of respondents have additional training in aided AAC. Chi square tests revealed significant relationships among many of the variables: use of aided AAC and additional training, use and treatment setting, literacy promotion and additional training, modeling and additional training, referral for AAC systems and length of work with clients with ASD, referral and additional training. Results are discussed in relation to current communication literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study compared the language performance of young children with developmental delays who were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 parent-coached language interventions. Differences in performance on augmented and spoken word size and use, vocabulary size, and communication interaction skills were examined. Method: Sixty-eight toddlers with fewer than 10 spoken words were randomly assigned to augmented communication input (AC-I), augmented communication output (AC-O), or spoken communication (SC) interventions; 62 children completed the intervention. This trial assessed the children's symbolic language performance using communication measures from the language transcripts of the 18th and 24th intervention sessions and coding of target vocabulary use. Results: All children in the AC-O and AC-I intervention groups used augmented and spoken words for the target vocabulary items, whereas children in the SC intervention produced a very small number of spoken words. Vocabulary size was substantially larger for AC-O and AC-I than for SC groups. Conclusions: This study found that augmented language interventions that include parent coaching have a positive communication effect on young children with developmental delays who begin with fewer than 10 spoken words. Clinical implications suggest that augmented communication does not hinder, and actually aids, speech production abilities in young children with developmental delays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examined the perception of fundamental frequency (f0) patterns by Cantonese children with and without specific language impairment (SLI). Method: Participants were 14 five-year-old children with SLI, and 14 age-matched (AM) and 13 four-year-old vocabulary-matched (VM) controls. The children identified a word from familiar word pairs that illustrated the 8 minimally contrastive pairs of the 6 lexical tones. They discriminated the f0 patterns within contrastive tonal pairs in speech and nonspeech stimuli. Results: In tone identification, the SLI group performed worse than the AM group but not the VM group. In tone discrimination, the SLI group did worse than the AM group on 2 contrasts and showed a nonsignificant trend of poorer performance on all contrasts combined. The VM group generally did worse than the AM group. There were no group differences in discrimination performance between speech and nonspeech stimuli. No correlation was found between identification and discrimination performance. Only the normal controls showed a moderate correlation between vocabulary scores and performance in the 2 perception tasks. Conclusion: The SLI group's poor tone identification cannot be accounted for by vocabulary knowledge alone. The group's tone discrimination performance suggests that some children with SLI have a deficit in f0 processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current article describes the results, inter-scorer reliability, and potential sources of bias in conducting speech-language assessments with Aboriginal children in remote Ontario communities using videoconferencing. A main focus of this pilot study was to examine scoring bias, an issue that might arise with videoconferencing for any population but that could potentially interact with test and cultural bias to negatively affect the diagnosis of Aboriginal children. Assessments were administered by a remote-site speech-language pathologist (SLP), while an on-site SLP served as an assistant. Responses were scored simultaneously by both SLPs and the results and their degree of correspondence were compared. Percentage agreement ranged from 96-100% for language tests and from 66-100% for the articulation measure. Results suggest that videoconferencing can be an effective complement to service provision when procedures are organized so as to minimize bias in test administration and in the interpretation of test performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian Aboriginal children typically receive communication assessment services from Standard Australian English (SAE) speaking non-Aboriginal speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Educational assessments, including intelligence testing, are also primarily conducted by non-Aboriginal educational professionals. While the current paper will show that non-Indigenous SLPs can conduct valid communication assessments with Indigenous children, it will also be shown that educational assessments do not always benefit the child being assessed, and may sometimes do harm to Aboriginal children. Many of the issues surrounding the assessment of Australian Aboriginal children by non-Aboriginal SLPs are similar to those encountered in other countries where Indigenous populations represent a minority. Very little research has been conducted within Australia to examine this issue. This paper presents overviews of case studies from a longitudinal research project designed to examine the topic of cross-cultural speech-language pathology assessment with Indigenous children, making specific reference to the situation in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a scale developed appropriate to assess the communicative competence of children aged 3 to 5 years. It cites the communicative competence scale that evaluates teachers' perceptions of children's communicative competence which is of critical importance for young children and a useful tool for teachers in the communicative development of preschool children. It defines competence as the knowledge possessed by an individual on how to communicate properly and effectively while performance is the actual communication behavior of the individual and perceptions of competence is the social judgments about the individual's level of competence. It indicates that children's communicative competence is seen along two dimensions salient for overall judgment of competence.

12-year-old Ss were trained by allowing them to practice communicating with peers. Training required speakers to direct listeners to make appropriate discriminations from picture series. 3 16-S training groups, respectively, practiced the role of speaker, listener, or both speaker and listener. Trained Ss' communication improvements were compared with I6 untrained Ss. Training improved communications in tests like the training materials, as Ss learned to be more brief and to the point. Brevity seemed to generalize to less similar communication tests where it was not necessarily appropriate. Ss who practiced as both speaker and listener improved no more than those restricted to either role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationship between degree of infant handicap and clarity of infant cues. It was suggested that the intentional and unintentional communicative behaviors of severely handicapped infants are less interpretable compared with less handicapped infants. Studies found out that coders agreed on the occurrence of an infant cue a lower percentage of the time when coding severely handicapped infants than when coding less handicapped infants.