Assessing and Teaching Language EXC 7130

Definition of Language Any code employing signs, symbols, or gestures used for communicating ideas meaningfully between human beings. Social tool to communicate meanings, feelings, and intentions. Language comprises of receptive skills (understanding) and expressive skills (use) and includes both written and oral forms. Critical to success as a learner Vehicle by which content is presented and elaborated on Means by which an individual becomes part of a social group Review Meet Tom and pp. 219-220 Make a list of the functional skills and deficits suggested by this narrative You don’t need to use technical terminology, just use everyday language to describe his language successes and failures.

Theories of Language Behavioristic: Skinner Infant begins with no knowledge of language, but possesses ability to learn it through reinforcement and imitation Nativistic or psycholinguistic: Chomsky Child is prewired for language development and the environment triggers its emergence Interactionistic: Piaget Language occurs through fixed developmental stages

Language Components & Skills Form Phonology Morphology Syntax Content Semantics Use Pragmatics Form: rules by which a given communications system is governed; the “how” of language Content: the meaning component; the “what” of language Use: reason, purpose: the “why” of language Integration of the three components is referred to as Language Competence Problems in language may be result of Simple delay in development of language competence Disruption in one or more of the three components Failure to integrate the three components functionally

Functionalist Language Theory Pragmatics Syntax Phonology Morphology The three language components are composed of five separate skills Form: phonology, morphology, and syntax Content: semantics Use: pragmatics No hierarchical relationship implied; skills not expected to develop sequentially In normal language development, growth occurs in all five simultaneously Skilled communicators typically competent in all five areas; may have deficit in one area but still be able to function reasonably well in others Phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics must all work together to support pragmatics, or functional language use Semantics

Phonology Study and use of individual sound units in a language and the rules by which they are combined and recombined to create larger language units. Phonemes are the unit of sound such as /s/ or /b/ , they do not convey meaning. Phonemes alter meaning of words when combined (e.g., sat to bat). Phonology: the system of rules that governs sounds and sound combinations. A phoneme is a unit of sound that combines with other sounds to form words. It is the smallest unit of language, and does not, by itself, convey meaning. English language consists of about 40 phonemes, classified as either vowels or consonants. Symbols used to represent these sound are called phonograms or graphemes. 26 letters or graphemes in English, combined to stand for various phonemes. Phonological or phonemic awareness is the capability of analyzing and manipulating the sound components of language without respect to meaning. Problems in phonology frequently appear as articulation discrimination difficulties, by decoding deficits in reading, or by deficits in handwriting and spelling. There is a strong relationship between phonological disorders and reading problems. Vignette 9.1 on page 223.

Phonological Deficits Frequently appear as articulation disorders. Child omits a consonant: “oo” for you Child substitutes one consonant: “wabbit” for rabbit Discrimination: child hears “go get the nail” instead of mail

Morphology Study and use of morphemes, the smallest units of language that have meaning. A morpheme is a group of sounds that refers to a particular object, idea, or action. Roots can stand alone (e.g., car, teach, tall) Affixes are bound such as prefixes and suffixes and when attached to root words change the meaning of the words (e.g., cars, teacher, tallest) Morphology: the rule system that governs the structure of words and the construction of word forms from the basic elements of meaning. A morpheme is the smallest unit or segment of language that conveys meaning. Root morphemes: free morphemes that can stand alone. These are typically considered to be vocabulary words. Affixes: bound morphemes such as prefixes and suffixes (change meaning of word: derivational suffixes (change word class, e.g., verb walk becomes noun walker) inflectional suffixes (change the meaning of a word, e.g., boys changes the meaning to more than one boy. Some students with morphological problems demonstrate delayed development of vocabulary; they may have difficulty acquiring and maintaining new words; their vocabulary may be restricted to very concrete words.

Morphological Deficits Elementary aged: may not use appropriate inflectional endings in their speech (e.g.,“He walk” or “Mommy coat”). Middle school: lack irregular past tense or irregular plurals (e.g., drived for drove or mans for men). Be aware of “Black English”: “John cousin” “fifty cent”, or “She work here”.

Syntax Study of the rules by which words are organized into phrases or sentences in a particular language. Referred to as the grammar of the language and allows for more complex expression of thoughts and ideas by making references to past and future events. Syntax: rule system governing the order and combination of words to form sentences, and the relationships among the elements within a sentence. Frequently referred to as grammar. Children with syntactical problems often lack the length or syntactic complexity of their age peers. Problems in comprehension of sentences and questions Understanding relationships between direct and indirect objects Passive sentence construction Negative sentences

Syntactic Deficits Lack the length or syntactic complexity (e.g., “Where Daddy go?”). Problems comprehending sentences that express relationship between direct or indirect objects. Difficulty with wh questions.

Semantics The larger meaning component of language. More than single words, includes complex use of vocabulary, including structures such as word categories, word relationships, synonyms, antonyms, figurative language, ambiguities, and absurdities. Semantics: language meaning; the meaning of individual words as well as the meaning that is produced by a combination of words. Categories include objects in general, actions in general, and relations between objects and relations between events Students with semantic problems may use or understand a limited number of words. May be in specific areas, such as adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, or pronouns. Dysnomia: difficulty in retrieving or recalling specific words Lack of understanding of how context can change the meaning of words Understanding of idioms Linguistic concepts such as before/after, if/then, many, some, few Misuse of transition words

Semantic Deficits Limited vocabulary especially in adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, or pronouns. Longer response time in selecting vocabulary words. Fail to perceive subtle changes in word meaning: incomplete understanding and misinterpretations. Figurative language problems.

Pragmatics Knowledge and ability to use language functionally in social or interactive situations. Integrates all the other language skills, but also requires knowledge and use of rule governing the use of language in social context. Pragmatics: use of language in communication; may include verbal, vocal, or motoric expression. Rules that govern the use of language in social contexts to convey a variety of intentions such as requesting, asserting, or questioning. Sometimes referred to as communicative competence; may be least likely to be identified as an area of instruction or to be includes as part of the formal school curriculum. Problems include inability to understand indirect requests (Isn’t it time to go to bed now?), determining when the listener doesn’t understand, entering conversations in a socially-unacceptable manner, monopolizing conversation, inappropriate facial expressions, difficulty staying on topic. Figure 9.2: Pragmatic skills for communication

Pragmatic Deficits Problems understanding indirect requests (e.g., may say yes when asked “Must you play the piano?”). May enter conversations in a socially unacceptable fashion or fail to take turns talking. Difficulty staying on topic.

Preschool and Kindergarten Difficulty with readiness skills: counting, naming colors, naming the days of the week, and using scissors. Unable to follow simple directions, follow a story line, or enjoy listening to stories. May exhibit immature-sounding speech, word finding difficulties, and inability to name common objects.

Elementary Students Limited ability to identify sounds, analyzing and synthesizing sound sequences and segmenting words. Problems with temporal and spatial concepts (e.g., before-after, some, few). Word finding (retrieval) difficulties exist. Problems sounding out and blending sounds. Problems with expressive and oral language.

Secondary Students Tend to be passive learners and lack metacognitive skills. Problems gaining information from class lectures and textbooks, completing homework, following classroom rules, demonstrating command of knowledge through test taking, expressing thoughts in writing, participating in classroom discussions, and passing competency exams.

Bilingual and Culturally Diverse Students Assessment should be conducted in the student’s primary language. Assessment should examine writing, reading, listening, and speaking skills. Assessments should include both quantitative measures (i.e., formal tests) and qualitative measures (e.g., observations, adapted test instruction, and a language sample).

Formal Language Assessment Standardized instruments used to compare a student’s performance with pre-established criteria. Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Peabody Picture Voc. Test Screening Tests Provides general overview in particular area can norm referenced. Diagnostic Tests Measure one or more specific language components. See Table 6.3

Informal Assessment Often used to affirm or refute the results of formal measures. Determine specific instructional objectives. Use large sample of items and repeated opportunities for observations.

Informal Tests of Phonology Analyze student’s production of phonemes in single words. List of all the consonant phonemes + pictures to depict words containing each phoneme (e.g., picture of a pot for initial /p/, map for final /p/). Include a comments section to describe the error recorded. Provide prompts – “Tell me about your weekend for 3-minute sample, count correct and incorrect phonemes.

Informal Test of Morphology Determine mastery level of each morpheme in a hierarchy (Brown, 1973). ing: present a picture of girls playing and say “The girls like to play. Here they are ________.” Student adds missing word. Show a series of 20 action pictures and ask student what they are doing. Accuracy below 90% - morpheme has not been mastered

Informal Tests of Syntax Expressive syntax: analyzing student’s spontaneous speech, recording conversation. Sentence repetition: teacher states a sentence and student repeats it.

Informal Tests of Semantics Logical relationships, cause-and-effect, and verbal problem solving are difficult to assess. Verbal opposites: SRA picture cards of 40 pairs of opposites. Student sorts them into opposites. Word categories: Teacher says a word and student says as many words in the same category. Semantic relationships: analyzing spontaneous speech while playing or interacting with friends.

Informal Test of Pragmatics Analyze spontaneous speech through videotape. Transcribe tape – see figure 6.3 Classify pragmatic function Measure inappropriate loudness, talking at inappropriate times, interrupting the speaker, and using indirect requests.

Strategies for Increasing Language Comprehension Establish eye contact and cue student to listen. Ask student to repeat directions. Classroom arrangement to reduce distractions. Use familiar vocabulary when presenting new concept. Present new concept in as many modalities. Teach memory strategies (e.g., visual imagery, clustering and grouping information).

Strategies for Increasing Language Production React to the content of student’s message, then correct syntax error. Teach language in various settings. Act as a good language model, have students imitate what they hear. Comment or elaborate on students’ ideas to provide more information. Use storytelling, role playing, or charades to improve verbal expression. Use structured language programs that provide adequate practice.

Students with Mental Retardation Develop language more slowly, including both receptive & expressive delays Often don’t use make use of incidental learning opportunities May have insufficient interactions with children with more skilled language use Frequently less effective in social communication

Students with Behavior Disorders May possess age-appropriate skills at phonemic and morphemic level, but have difficulties with syntax, semantics, and pragmatics Difficulty expressing ideas, feelings, concerns, and needs Oral language may be contain profanity Difficulty with social communication

Students with Learning Disabilities Problems understanding or using spoken or written language (definition) Problems with word retrieval and word choice Ambiguity and lack of cohesion Inefficient decoding of messages presented by speech of others Uneven language abilities in both school and social settings