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ERIC Number: EJ1015488
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Apr
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: N/A
Alternative Tense and Agreement Morpheme Measures for Assessing Grammatical Deficits during the Preschool Period
Gladfelter, Allison; Leonard, Laurence B.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v56 n2 p542-552 Apr 2013
Purpose: P. A. Hadley and H. Short (2005) developed a set of measures designed to assess the emerging diversity and productivity of tense and agreement (T/A) morpheme use by 2-year-olds. The authors extended 2 of these measures to the preschool years to evaluate their utility in distinguishing children with specific language impairment (SLI) from their typically developing (TD) peers. Method: Spontaneous speech samples from 55 children (25 with SLI, 30 TD) at 2 different age levels (4;0-4;6 [years; months] and 5;0-5;6) were analyzed, using a traditional T/A morphology composite that assessed accuracy, and the Hadley and Short measures of Tense Marker Total (assessing diversity of T/A morpheme use) and Productivity Score (assessing productivity of major T/A categories). Results: All 3 measures showed acceptable levels of sensitivity and specificity. In addition, similar differences in levels of productivity across T/A categories were seen in the TD and SLI groups. Conclusion: The Tense Marker Total and Productivity Score measures seem to have considerable utility for preschool-age children, in that they provide information about specific T/A morphemes and major T/A categories that are not distinguished using the traditional composite measure. The findings are discussed within the framework of the gradual morphosyntactic learning account. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Tel: 800-638-8255; Fax: 301-571-0457; e-mail: subscribe@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.asha.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Journal Articles
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Indiana
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Columbia Mental Maturity Scale
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A