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PubMed1987

Concurrent validity of two language screening tests.

The importance of ascertaining the validity of clinical instruments used to make decisions about individuals is discussed and the need for additional validation studies is emphasized. Steps that can be taken to confirm the validity for a particular application, setting, or population are described. As an example, the concurrent validity of two language screening instruments, the Fluharty Preschool Screening Test and the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test, and their subtests was examined. Decisions from these screening tests and subtests were compared to a validity criterion of passing or failing the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development for 182 white middle-class children, ages 36-47 months. The results showed that the screening tests differed in their validity, depending upon the content of the test and each subtest. The consequences of using either screening test are explored, to illustrate how the outcomes of such studies should be interpreted.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1993

Chronic aphasia subsequent to striato-capsular and thalamic lesions in the left hemisphere.

The language abilities of a group of seven chronic aphasics with vascular lesions centered on the striato-capsular region and thalamus of the left hemisphere were described. A range of severity and types of chronic language disorder were documented through assessment using a battery of standardized language tests. The most common language disorder documented was a naming impairment of varying degrees of severity, exhibited by six of the seven cases. The majority of subjects made predominantly semantic errors in the naming task; however, each subject produced a variety of error types and there was no pattern of errors characteristic of the group. The language data obtained were used to evaluate previously developed models of the role of the subcortical structures in naming functions.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Residual language deficits in optimal outcome children with a history of autism.

This study examined whether language deficits persist even in children with optimal outcomes. We examined a group of children with prior diagnoses on the autism spectrum who had IQs in the normal range, were in age-appropriate mainstream classes, and had improved to such an extent that they were considered to be functioning at the level of their typically developing peers. Fourteen such children between the ages of five and nine were matched on age and sex with typically developing children, and were given a battery of 10 language tests to investigate their language abilities. Results indicated that while these children's grammatical capabilities are mostly indistinguishable from their peers, they are still experiencing difficulties in pragmatic and semantic language.

Asperger Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Bilingual children: cross-sectional relations of psychiatric syndrome severity and dual language proficiency.

The severity of child psychiatric disorders is commonly associated with child language delays. However, the characteristics of these associations in the fast-growing population of bilingual children remain unknown. To begin to address this gap, we studied a unique sample of Spanish-English bilingual children with significant parent-reported psychopathology (n = 29), focusing on their language proficiencies and psychiatric severity using the Child Behavior Check List. We present cross-sectional analyses of associations of general and specific language proficiency in Spanish and English with the severity of specific psychiatric syndromes. We found Spanish language-proficiency scores to have negative correlations with a wide range of psychiatric symptoms, particularly externalizing (i.e., delinquency and aggression) symptoms (r = -.38 to -.61, p < or = .05). English scores were similarly associated. Dual language tests covering multiple specific language dimensions explained a large proportion (51%) of overall variance in aggression symptoms and also important proportions (40%) of total and attentional symptoms. While children's proficiency levels in both Spanish and English showed similar associations with the symptom severity measures (explaining close to 20% of the symptom variance; r(sp) = -.44, p < .01), these proficiency levels explain nonconverging variance in children's symptomatology. The findings suggest that clinical evaluation of language functioning is often needed in such populations and that it should be comprehensive and include both languages. Such thorough evaluation of bilingual children suffering from psychopathology will help us to precisely identify (1) language deficits, (2) specific relations of these deficits to the child's psychopathology, (3) differential implications of communication at home (e.g., in Spanish) and at school (e.g., in English) for clinical presentation and the child's competence in those differing contexts, and (4) language of choice for therapy, evaluation, and educational services. The findings are discussed in the context of clinical and conceptual implications and future research needs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

"Diffusion-clinical mismatch" is associated with potential for early recovery of aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Diffusion-perfusion mismatch (perfusion-weighted imaging [PWI] abnormality minus diffusion-weighted imaging [DWI] abnormality) can identify candidates for acute stroke intervention, but PWI is often not obtainable. The authors hypothesized that language tests can predict volume of hypoperfusion, and thus mismatch, in acute left hemisphere stroke, and that the estimated mismatch can predict potential for early recovery of language. METHODS: A consecutive series of 81 patients with acute left hemisphere ischemic stroke underwent language testing within 1 day of MRI scans. Volumes of abnormality on PWI and DWI were measured without knowledge of language scores. Using tests that correlated well with PWI abnormality (oral naming and repetition), the authors computed an estimated PWI abnormality (ePWI) for each patient from a linear regression model and derived a diffusion-clinical percent mismatch ([ePWI-DWI/ePWI] x 100). The authors then tested the hypothesis that patients with > or =20% diffusion-clinical mismatch have a greater chance of short-term improvement in language by examining scores of the 23 patients with repeat testing within 1 week. RESULTS: Within-group comparisons: patients with > or =20% diffusion-clinical mismatch showed improvement in total language score within 1 week (Wilcoxon signed rank: p < 0.02), whereas patients without mismatch did not. Across-group comparison: patients with > or =20% mismatch showed more short-term improvement in language scores than those without mismatch (Mann-Whitney U: p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Tests of oral naming or repetition can be used in patients with acute left hemisphere stroke to estimate perfusion-weighted imaging abnormality and compute a diffusion-clinical mismatch that may predict potential for short-term language improvement.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

fMRI evaluation of hemispheric language dominance using various methods of laterality index calculation.

Several functional MR imaging studies evaluating the lateralisation of linguistic functions in patients who underwent Wada testing have been reported. There is extensive variance in the Laterality index (LI) calculation across the studies, and the optimal calculation method remains unclear. We attempted to calculate the LI in different ways in the same subjects, in order to find the LI calculation method with the highest correlation to the Wada test. Fifteen patients (10 females, 5 males) suffering from medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) (12 left, 3 right) were admitted for the study. The patients underwent a standardized bilateral intracarotid short-acting barbiturate test. Language testing included spontaneous speech, oral comprehension, reading, object and picture naming, and repetition. All the tasks were scored separately in order to increase the possibility of correlation between Wada and LI. A silent phonemic verbal fluency task (VFT) was used as a language paradigm for functional measurement. Regions of interest (ROIs), with a known association with language function (Broca's area, the lateral prefrontal cortex, etc.), were defined. First, the LIs were calculated from the ROIs using a previously reported method (simple suprathreshold count). Next, we used several new methods of LI calculation (t-weighting of voxels, methods independent of the choice of the statistical threshold, etc.) The most significant correlation with Wada was proven in the LIs that were evaluated from Broca's area (up to R = 0.94, P = 1 x 10(-7)). However, the new LI calculation methods used in the present study did not produce a statistically significant benefit in comparison to previously reported methods.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Test method for pre-speech language: I. Outline of test].

The purpose of this study is to determine infants' preliminary linguistic ability. For this a pre-speech language test method has been developed. The test method is as follows. First, a definition of language is given. Then the development process in infancy is explained according to the definition. Subsequently, the test items are decided according to the above process. (1) Definition of language: It is difficult to define language because of its many aspects. Here, for the language definition, the aspects are restricted to the following based on the properties of natural language. Section-1 Situation of language i) Formation of communication ii) Understanding and grasping of situation circumstance Section-2 Development of symbolizing function Section-3 Representing the function of language (generally, articulation of babbling and functional change) (2) Development of language: the above three aspects develop and change from preterm infancy to late infancy. The development process is as follows. Section-1 i) The formation of communication is confirmed by action situations between baby and mother. The actions include a steady gaze in the early stage and talking baby talk later. Requests for instruction assistance and emotional communication appear with gradual differentiation of communication. Section-1 ii) Understanding and grasping of the situation circumstance is confirmed with response to action from mother to baby in the early stage. These are then confirmed with the ability to understand the action and situation of surroundings as time and space extensity, and to give appropriate appeal to the surroundings. Subsequently, understanding with language only is acquired by daily experience, including language and understanding of the surrounding.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Common pattern of language impairment in vascular dementia and in Alzheimer disease.

The authors studied language performance patterns in early stages of vascular dementia and Alzheimer disease. The objective was to clarify to what extent dissolution of language in vascular dementia is similar to that in Alzheimer disease. Both structured language tests (comprehension, repetition, reading, and naming tasks) and nonstructured language tests (object and picture description) were employed. The structured tasks evidenced impairment on complex auditory comprehension and on picture naming for both dementia groups, whereas oral reading and single word repetition did not differentiate the patients from matched control subjects. On the unstructured narrative tasks, both patient groups showed normal fluency, but content analysis revealed that the patients with dementia produced fewer semantic units (themes) than the control subjects. In summary, both patient groups showed impairment, specifically on semantically mediated language tasks. According to the present results, language impairment in vascular dementia resembles that observed in Alzheimer disease. Semantically mediated functions are among the most sensitive language measures in differentiating early stages of both vascular dementia and Alzheimer disease from normal aging.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Rasch techniques for detecting bias in performance assessments: an example comparing the performance of native and non-native speakers on a test of academic English.

The use of common tasks and rating procedures when assessing the communicative skills of students from highly diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds poses particular measurement challenges, which have thus far received little research attention. If assessment tasks or criteria are found to function differentially for particular subpopulations within a test candidature with the same or a similar level of criterion ability, then the test is open to charges of bias in favour of one or other group. While there have been numerous studies involving dichotomous language test items (see e.g. Chen and Henning, 1985 and more recently Elder, 1996) few studies have considered the issue of bias in relation to performance based tasks which are assessed subjectively, via analytic and holistic rating scales. The paper demonstrates how Rasch analytic procedures can be applied to the investigation of item bias or differential item functioning (DIF) in both dichotomous and scalar items on a test of English for academic purposes. The data were gathered from a pilot English language test administered to a representative sample of undergraduate students (N= 139) enrolled in their first year of study at an English-medium university. The sample included native speakers of English who had completed up to 12 years of secondary schooling in their first language (L1) and immigrant students, mainly from Asian language backgrounds, with varying degrees of prior English language instruction and exposure. The purpose of the test was to diagnose the academic English needs of incoming undergraduates so that additional support could be offered to those deemed at risk of failure in their university study. Some of the tasks included in the assessment procedure involved objectively-scored items (measuring vocabulary knowledge, text-editing skills and reading and listening comprehension) whereas others (i.e. a report and an argumentative writing task) were subjectively-scored. The study models a methodology for estimating bias with both dichotomous and scalar items using the programs Quest (Adams and Khoo, 1993) for the former and ConQuest (Wu, Adams and Wilson, 1998) for the latter. It also offers answers to the practical questions of whether a common set of assessment criteria can, in an academic context such as this one, be meaningfully applied to all subgroups within the candidature and whether analytic criteria are more susceptible to biased ratings than holistic ones. Implications for test fairness and test validity are discussed.

Australia↗
PubMed1995

[Assessing and measuring language development in the child. The Reynell Scales in a Dutch language area].

This article deals with the recent adaptation of the Reynell Developmental Language Scales to the Dutch language. The existing language tests for the Dutch language are reviewed and the need to adapt a test for young children, measuring both receptive and expressive language development, is argued. The adaptation of the original Reynell Developmental Language Scales to the Dutch language is described. An extensive standardisation was carried out with 1,288 Dutch-speaking children, carefully selected geographically and according to socio-economic status. The psychodiagnostic results of the standardisation are discussed. As a result there are now norms for children between 2 and 5 years, both for receptive and expressive language development. The adaptation of the original Reynell Scales to Dutch functions under the new name RTOS (Reynell Taalontwikkelingsschalen).

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2001

Speed and capacity of language processing test: normative data from an older American community-dwelling sample.

This study presents normative data for the Speed and Capacity of Language Processing (SCOLP) testfrom an older American sample. The SCOLP comprises 2 subtests: Spot-the-Word, a lexical decision task, providing an estimate of premorbid intelligence, and Speed of Comprehension, providing a measure of information processing speed. Slowed performance may resultfrom normal aging, brain damage (e.g., head injury), or dementing disorders or may represent the intact performance of someone who always performed at the low end of normal. The SCOLP enables the clinician to differentiate between these possibilities. Adequate age-appropriate norms to differentiate dementia from normal aging do not exist. We present data from 424 older community-dwelling Americans (75-94 years old). The results confirm that information processing speed slows with increasing age. By contrast, increasing age has little effect on lexical decision. Thus, our data suggest that the SCOLP shows promise as a tool to help distinguish between normal aging and the early stages of dementia.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2000

Risk factors for unsuccessful testing during the intracarotid amobarbital procedure in preadolescent children.

PURPOSE: Identification of risk factors for unsuccessful testing during intracarotid amobarbital procedure (IAP) in preadolescent children. METHODS: A pediatric IAP protocol was attempted in 42 candidates for epilepsy surgery (5-12 years old; mean, 10 years) based on the ability to pass a practice test. Language dominance was defined by marked asymmetry until first verbal response and paraphasic errors. Intact hemispheric memory was defined by recall of >/=60% of test items. The odds ratios of baseline variables (age at IAP, Full-Scale IQ, side of disease, age at seizure onset, amobarbital dose) were calculated for various IAP outcomes. RESULTS: IAPs were accomplished in 40 children. Language dominance was established in 25 (62.5%) of 40 patients: all 21 focal resection candidates were left language dominant; four hemispherectomy candidates had intact language after injection of the damaged hemisphere. In 12 (30%) of 40 patients, language testing failed because of agitation or obtundation. Compared with the 21 children with language dominance established by bilateral IAP, these 12 children had lower mean Full-Scale IQ (66.4 vs. 87.9; p = 0.014), and more frequently, the epileptogenic lesion in the left hemisphere (presumed dominant by right-handedness; 78 vs. 33%; p = 0.04). Excluding hemispherectomy candidates (intentionally only one injection), memory testing could not be completed in 13 (36%) of 36 children because of obtundation or agitation. These children were significantly younger than the 23 (64%) of 36 with successful bilateral memory testing (mean age, 107.6 vs. 128.7 months; p = 0. 006). The eight (25%) of 32 children with failing retention scores after ipsilateral injection had lower Full-Scale IQ than did the 24 (75%) patients who passed (mean, 59.6 vs. 81.7 months; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The IAP successfully established hemispheric language dominance and memory representation for just under two thirds of the preselected preadolescent children. Risk factors for unsuccessful testing included low Full-Scale IQ (especially <80), young age (especially <10 years), and seizures arising from the left hemisphere presumed dominant by right-handedness.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2003

Identifying children at risk for language impairment: screening of communication at 18 months.

AIM: To investigate the possibility of identifying children at risk for language impairment based on a new screening instrument to assess communication and language skills at 18 mo of age. METHODS: At 18 mo, 58 children were assessed with a screening instrument for communication and language consisting of a professional assessment and a parents' questionnaire. Students of speech and language pathology, well trained in child language assessment, carried out the professional assessment, which was based on observations of play behaviour, interaction and expressive and receptive language skills. Of the 58 children, 43 attended a follow-up assessment of language skills at 54 mo of age. RESULTS: Nine children were considered to be at risk for language impairment at 18 mo and 10 children were evaluated as being at risk at 54 mo. A significant positive correlation was found between the professional evaluations at 18 mo and the language tests at 54 mo. Verbal comprehension and pretend play correlated significantly with the results on the language tests. CONCLUSION: A professional screening of communication and language at 18 mo of age is worthwhile for predicting problems in language development. The results further show that language comprehension and pretend play rather than expressive skills should be emphasized.

Communication↗
PubMed1990

[Hearing and language sequelae in survivors of a neonatal intensive care unit].

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to record the hearing and language sequelae in a sample of children from the Intensive Care Unit between the ages of two and three. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-one children were studied after being submitted to neuropsychological, hearing and language tests. Both normal and abnormal parameters for each test allowed the categorization of the children. RESULTS: In the general sample there were 24 full-term children versus 17 preterm children. The neurological testing showed a tendency towards normality. The same was seen in language testing since the proportion of normality corresponded to those children born after a full term. There were practically no differences in those suspected from both groups and a greater percentage of abnormal children were found among the pre-term infants. From an audiological standpoint there was a predominance of normal children; there was only one patient with severe bilateral hypoacusis who needed an electric auxiliary hearing device and two other patients with peripheral ear dysfunction classified as serous middle ear otitis. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of hypoacusis in this sampling type is similar to that reported in the literature. Those patients with a history of assisted mechanical ventilation have been later found to have, as a sequelae, serous middle ear otitis, which corresponds to that reported by Paradise. The development of language stages were altered more so in preterm children. In some patients, the lack of stimulation associated with a low socioeconomic back group favors the delay in the development of language skills.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1991

Predicting reading problems in at-risk children.

This study was designed to determine early predictors of reading problems in children at risk for such problems. Three groups of children participated in the study: those with a specific language impairment; those who presumably had a language delay or disorder early in life and had no or a mild disorder at present; and a group of premature children. The data collected were standard speech and language test measures, given as the children entered the study, measures of language meta-processing abilities on an experimental battery, given 6 months after they entered the study; and standard measures of reading, given when the children were aged 80 to 96 months. Many significant relations were found between measures of oral language ability and meta-processing ability at an earlier age and reading ability in first and second grade. The language processing battery scores accounted for a somewhat greater amount of variance on the reading tests than did the scores on the standard language tests. Three ability groups, comparatively high, middle, and low, were found in the population as a result of cluster analysis. Some premature children and some children with early language disorder or mild language disorder at entry into the study, as well as most SLI children, were members of the low language-ability group. These data were then examined to see if membership in the low language-ability group, as measured by either standard speech and language tests or the language meta-processing battery predicted at-risk reading performance on the WRAT. Forty-six children were found to be at risk by this test. Twenty-one of the children were identified by either set of measures, an additional 10 were identified by the language meta-processing measures alone, an additional 3 by the intake measures alone, and 12 of the children were not identified by either set of measures as potential problem readers. The results indicate that early measures of language awareness are good predictors of later reading performance but that different measures of this awareness are good predictors for different children.

Child↗