For more information: For more info

NIH Working Groups on AAE Peggy Speas Angelika Kratzer Christina Foreman Barbara Pearson Eliane Ramos Lisa Selkirk Lisa Green Lamya Abdulkarim Shelley Velleman Toya Wyatt Bart Hollebrandse Fred Hall Mike Dickey Linda Bland Debra Garrett Mike Terry Tempii Champion Minjoo Kim Janice Jackson Laura Wagner Ida Stockman D’Jaris Coles Robin Schafer Deanna Moore Val Johnson Kristen Asplin Joe Pater Tim Bryant Frances Burns Caroline Jones Uri StraussThe Psychological Corporation (and several generations of ComDis MA students and Smith undergrads)

Motivations For A New Standardized Language Assessment  Critical disproportionality of African-Americans in all categories of special education, including speech and language.  The misapprehension of typical AAE as disordered in the assessments which place children in special categories.

The SYNTAX section of the DELV Theory and Examples

The DELV SYNTAX Domain Focuses on a few core concepts of modern syntax Introduces elements of complexity (to reveal hidden knowledge)

Components of The DELV SYNTAX Domain Question TypeCore Concepts WH-QUESTION COMPREHENSION Variables Movement PASSIVESMovement Hidden properties ARTICLESDiscourse properties (something in a prior sentence making requirements on an element in a subsequent sentence)

Core CONCEPT #1 IN SYNTAX on the DELV I. Principles of MOVEMENT Simple: “I saw a boy, a girl, and a dog.” => “What did I see ( - ) ?” Complex: What did she say she saw ( - )? Does the child get complex movement right?

Core Syntactic Concept #1 on the DELV (con’t) Does the child know… 1. Where the WH word originates  What did he eat ( - )?  When did she say ( - ) she lost her purse (- )? 2. When certain structures "block" certain meanings: Ex. When did she say how she lost her purse? can only mean "when did she SAY it” not “When did she lose it?”

Core Syntactic CONCEPT #2 on the DELV II. VARIABLES (words that are intended to refer not to a single referent, but to members of a set) Examples: Single-wh Question (1 variable). (“I saw a boy, a girl, and a dog.”) “What did I see?” “what” = set of objects (boy, girl, dog) “Who was at dinner?” “who” = the 5 or 6 individuals at dinner

Core Syntactic CONCEPT #2 on the DELV (con’t) II. b. Complex Variables 2 variables in the same sentence: “who bought what?” requires reference to all the members in the 2 sets in an ordered relation: Person 1 bought Thing 1 Person 2 bought Thing 2

Core Syntactic CONCEPT #2 on the DELV (con’t) Does the child know how to answer Double WH- questions: Who ate what? How did she play what?  Requires “set” answers to BOTH questions (he and she, chocolate and vanilla)  Not just listed, but PAIRED. Ex. HE ate CHOCOLATE, and SHE ate VANILLA.

Testing Complex WH-Question Comprehension We test this: 1) Can children answer both parts of a double-WH? 2) Can children answer questions whose site of origin is far away (long distance)? and 3) Can children appropriately block meanings that the grammar doesn’t allow, i.e.when there is a barrier?

Wh-Question Comprehension: Testing Procedure  The child is told a brief story about a pictured event.  They are then asked the key test question about some aspect of the event.  The pictured events and stories support several possible interpretations of the question.

Wh-Question Comprehension: Testing Procedure  Example of Questions involving VARIABLES

This girl played different things in different ways. She played the drums with her feet and the piano with her hands. How did the girl play what? c. The Psychological Corporation

This father and this baby were having lunch together. Who ate what? c. The Psychological Corporation

Typical Answers to double WH questions  PAIRED, EXHAUSTIVE responses Ex. She played the piano with her hands and the drums with her feet.  SINGLETONS (Incorrect) One element: “piano” “with her feet” Both objects, no instruments: “piano and drums” One pair: “the piano with her hands.”  OTHER “She played a lot.” “She was playing.”

Double-WH Example Responses from field testing CHILD A (12663) Feet and her hands CHILD B (18221) She played the piano with her hands and the drums with her feet. Instruments only 0 points Paired and exhaustive 1 point

Double-WH Example 2 CHILD A (12663) Banana and a apple CHILD B (18221) The dad ate the apple, the baby ate the nana. Objects only 0 points Paired and exhaustive 1 point

Double-WH Responses by Age and Language Status

Double-WH Responses by Age and Dialect

Item Type 2: Long Distance Movement with False Embedded Clause (False Clause) (on next slide)

This mother snuck out one night when her little girl was asleep and bought a surprise birthday cake. The next day the little girl saw the bag from the store and asked, “What did you buy?” The mom wanted to keep the surprise until later so she said, “ Just some paper towels.” -- What did the mom say she bought? c. The Psychological Corporation

Typical Answers to “False Clause” questions  LONG DISTANCE (LD) TWO CLAUSE responses Ex. She said she bought paper towels.  ONE CLAUSE responses (Incorrect) Ex. (She bought) a birthday cake.  OTHER “a surprise” “a bag” “I don’t know.”

WH-False Clause Example Responses from field testing CHILD A (12663) A cake CHILD B (18221) Paper towels 1 clause answer 0 points 2-clause answer (long distance) 1 point

LD False Clause Response Types by Age and Language Status

Item Type 3 Barrier to Long Distance Movement Note: Children’s ability to give LD answers (without embedded false clause) was tested in piloting and then in the DSLT Tryout testing. 90% of the children ages 4-6 and 95% of the children 7-10 gave at least one Long Distance answer, so for reasons of time, simple Long Distance items do not appear on the DELV.

This mom didn’t know how to bake a cake. She saw a TV program about cooking, and she learned to make a lovely cake with pudding mix. -- How did the mom learn what to bake? c. The Psychological Corporation

Typical Answers toWH-barriers questions  SHORT DISTANCE responses (How did she learn…?) By watching TV..  MEDIAL ANSWERS (Incorrect) (…what to bake?) “a cake”  LONG DISTANCE responses (Incorrect) (How…..bake?) “With a pudding mix,” “With a spoon”  OTHER Ex. “She didn’t know how.”

WH-barrier Example Responses How did she learn what to bake? CHILD A (12663) A cake CHILD B (18221) The TV teached her. Medial 0 points Short Distance 1 point

WH-barrier Example Responses 2 Who did she ask what to buy? CHILD A (12663) bologna CHILD B (18221) The grocery store lady Medial 0 points Short Distance 1 point

WH Barrier Response Types by Age and Language Status

WH Barrier Responses by Age and Dialect

Other WH Example Responses CHILD A (12663) 2 correct barriers, 2 barrier violations 1 other CHILD B (18221) 4 correct barriers 1 medial 2 points (of 5) Total:4 of 14 4 points (of 5) Total: 12 of 14

Who are these children? CHILD A (12663) 5 years old White Female From South Parents w/ HS education Mainstream English speaker Not receiving speech or language services CHILD B (18221) 4 years old African American boy From “north Central” US Parents w/ HS education “Some difference” from MAE” Not receiving speech or language services

Quantifiers and scope  Semantics is not just about the lexicon, it also involves quantification: terms like less, more, some, any, all, every, each, none.  The way these terms interact in sentences to give meaning is quite intricate.  The DELV tests children’s understanding of the word EVERY and how it works in sentences.

Is every man riding a horse?: Answer is “NO” if understand every does not mean e.g. “some” c. The Psychological Corporation

“Is every dog eating a bone?” Answer is ‘yes”, if understand that “every” is only attached to “dog”. c. The Psychological Corporation

“The man watched every baby. He played the piano”. Answer is A if understand that “every” cannot cross sentence boundaries for “he”. c. The Psychological Corporation

What to learn?  So the child must learn the meaning of specific quantifiers; the differences between all, some, none, every.  The child must recognize that these modify nouns, not whole events e.g. every is not the same as ‘always’.  The child must learn the limits on how ‘every’ works within a sentence, not across sentences: The man watched every baby play the piano is not the same as: The man watched every baby. He played the piano.

Correct responses of AAE versus MAE speakers on understanding “every”

Correct responses of language impaired versus typical children on understanding “every”

Correct responses of AAE versus MAE speakers on understanding sentence boundary condition

Correct responses of language impaired versus typical children on understanding sentence boundary condition

What can go wrong? Children can fail in several ways on the quantifier tasks, each revealing:  A) They can miss the basic meaning of every and answer “Yes” instead of “No” to the cowboy picture  B) They can take “every” to apply also to the rabbit in the dog picture, not limiting it to the NP, and say No instead of yes.  C) They can fail to discern the condition on every by a sentence boundary, and think he=every baby.

Test 2: PASSIVES 3 Question Types Simple passivesTesting movement Complex passivesTesting for hidden properties (agents, time information) “By-phrases”Focus on “ed” versus “ing”

Simple PASSIVES Does the child distinguish these two sentences? Ex. Someone pushed the elephant. The elephant was pushed. Must choose PASSIVE over ACTIVE or NEUTRAL foil.

Simple Passive Example

Simple PASSIVES

COMPLEX Passives Does the child distinguish these two sentences? Ex. The boy’s face was painted. The boy’s face was being painted. Must distinguish BETWEEN TWO PASSIVES.

Complex Passive Example

COMPLEX Passives

BY-PHRASE (non)-Passives Does the child distinguish these two sentences? Ex. The plant was droppED by John. The plant was droppING by John. Must REJECT the passive when ED does not accompany the “be” auxiliary.

Non-passive “ing” example

Passive Overall

Sample children’s responses  CHILD A (12663)  Simple passives 2 of 4  Complex: 1 of 4  Locative by-phrases 1 of 2 (doesn’t show mastery)  4 of 10 (chose 5 active foils) (lowest 30% of 5-year-olds)  CHILD B (18221)  Simple passives 3 of 4  Complex: 2 of 4  Locative by-phrases 2 of 2  7 of 10 (top 70% of 4’s)

ARTICLES: Making DISCOURSE CONNECTIONS Example Article Prompt: A bird flew out of a cage because something was open? What was it? THE door (not A door) Has the child learned to interpret articles as reference to context? (Although the “door” was not explicitly mentioned, it is a PART of the cage and “inherits” its definite reference (the) from the mention of the cage.) Is the child sensitive to that relationship?

Use of Articles “a” and “the” Types of a and the in the DELV Condition LabelDescription  Part-the:part of a previously mentioned object  Familiar-the:previously mentioned object  Specific-a:referent known to speaker only  Non-referential-a: non-referential, but assumed in situation  Predicational-a:nominal following have

Subtle demands on child’s syntax and semantics  Articles differ cross-linguistically, need careful exposure  Cf. Spanish use “the hat” for specific and non-specific; Chinese “hat” is specific and non-specific;  English is a MIXED system -- “the hat” is specific and known; “a hat” non-specific  Essentially the same in AAE and MAE  Engages context, presupposition and general knowledge  Need to test WITHOUT PICTURE STIMULI  Which can change conditions on presuppositions, known and new

Examples of eliciting questions Part-the: Sally was going to eat a banana, but first she had to take something off it. What did she take off it? (THE peel) Specific-a: I'll bet you have something hanging on the wall of your room at home. What is it? (A picture) Non-referential-a: Fred wants to take his teddy bear, his favorite game, and his soccer ball over to his cousin’s house when he goes to visit. What can he put them all in? (A bag) Predicational-a: Think of a baseball player. Can you imagine what one looks like? What does he have? (A glove)

Types of Article Errors  Using “a” for “the” (8 times more common than “the” for “a”)  Bare Singular (“fly kite”)  Irrelevant responses (“My sister has one.” “The man in the moon.”)  (when children say “my doll” or “some games,” they are re-prompted with “anything else?”) Familiar-the: A cat and a bird were sitting in a tree. They were friends. One of them flew out of the tree. Guess which. (THE bird)

Development of correct article use in typically developing and language impaired children

Development of correct article use in MAE and AAE speaking children.

Conclusions  We have shown that the assessment of complex aspects of children’s syntactic development between the ages of 4 and 9 can be carried out in a dialect neutral fashion.  These materials and procedures capture the development of several aspects of language that are vital for success in early schooling and the transition to literacy.  They provide the clinician with a substantial profile of the child language strengths and weaknesses, not just a diagnostic categorization.  As such they provide a much richer evaluation of language variation and its sources that has direct implications for areas and methods of intervention.