What kind of child needs to be assessed for language proficiency
When screening reveals that a child has a suspected language disorder, or that the child has been diagnosed with hearing impairment, autism, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy and other related developmental disorders, we must use standardized or non-standardized tools to determine whether he is a language disordered child, and at the same time determine the child's language function baseline level to provide a basis for the next intervention plan.
How to choose a language proficiency assessment tool
In the process of differential diagnosis, speech therapists often choose diagnostic tools and tests based on parents' concerns and concerns, the child's age and personality, the child's language characteristics and degree of delay, and other relevant diagnostic results (such as whether the child has hearing or cognitive impairments).
Diagnostic tools can be broadly divided into two categories: standardized language assessment and non-standardized language assessment, as follows.
1. Standardized language assessment
Definitions: Calibration Reference, Normal Model Reference, Evaluation Tool, Evaluation Process
Features: Reliability, effectiveness, normal mode
Advantages: Objective data, prescribed processes and procedures, and a fair way to assess children's abilities
Disadvantages: It is easy to ignore individualization, the assessment process is unnatural, and it cannot guide the child's true language ability
Assessment/Tools: S-s Language Delay Assessment, East China Normal University "ECNU Children's Language Ladder" Assessment, "Dream" Mandarin Listening Comprehension and Expression Ability Standardized Assessment (DREAM)
2. Non-standardized language assessment
Definition: Multi-environment form assessment observation, dynamic evaluation, language sample
Characteristics: Natural, close to children's realistic ability, pay attention to children's individual differences
Advantages: Flexible, natural, can find the characteristics of children
Disadvantages: impermanent mode, no reference standard
Assessment/Tools: Children's Communication and Language Assessment, Language Sample Analysis, Chinese University, Hong Kong
2. Evaluate what the content of the test is
1. Standardized language assessment
In the process of standardizing language assessment, there are several assessment tools that we can use:
1. S-S language development delay assessment
The Language Delay Committee of the Japanese Society for Sound and Speech Medicine began to develop and test children with language disorders in 1977. The China Rehabilitation Research Center has developed a Chinese version according to the language characteristics and cultural habits of the Chinese language, and has tried many times to use it for clinical use.
Suitable for children with language developmental delays aged 1-6 and a half years due to various causes. It can measure the stage of the child's language ability compared to that of normal children, and the results of the evaluation are used as the basis for our training plan.
In this examination method, the three aspects of "symbolic form-indication content relationship", "basic processes related to promoting learning" and "communication attitude" are evaluated, and their language disorders are diagnosed, evaluated, classified and targeted treatment.
2. Assessment of "ECNU Children's Language Ladder" of East China Normal University
Since 2013, East China Normal University has been committed to exploring the models and methods of children's language rehabilitation, and the ladder model is based on the main stages of children's language development, scaffolding teaching theory and recent development zone theory.
The children's language assessment model adopts the clinical grading assessment tool of children's language ability in Mandarin, which is divided into main test and auxiliary test.
The main test consists of two parts: language comprehension and language expression, which are evaluated from the aspects of word comprehension, sentence comprehension, word naming, sentence imitation, and picture narrative.
The auxiliary test evaluates the previous aspects of language communication skills, speech perception, speech generation, imitated sentence length, and conversational ability.
3. "Dream" Mandarin Listening Comprehension and Expression Ability Standardized Assessment (DREAM)
The tool was developed by the American Peisheng Listening language center in 2015 and is divided into the following series:
DREAM-S Children's Language Proficiency Screening, DREAM-C Standardized Assessment of Mandarin and Expression Ability, DREAM-IT Infant Language Delay Assessment.
2. Non-standardized language assessment
1. Communication and language assessment for children at Chinese University in Hong Kong
A non-standardized assessment, during the assessment process, the teacher also observes the situation of children's large and small muscles, self-care, cognition and social emotions, etc., and the assessment mainly includes oral comprehension, expression, pre-language skills, and conceptual comprehension.
2. Language sample analysis
Language sample analysis is to first transcribe the corpus of children's oral narration into text word for word, and then analyze children's language ability through quantification or nature.
Language sample analysis can well reflect the children's ability to show language form, language content, language use, speaking speed, sequence organization, etc., and is the only way to understand children's pragmatic skills in natural situations.
Language sample analysis is mainly to make up for the lack of standardized tools, so we can understand the degree of children's language development through language sample analysis and find out appropriate treatment methods.
Of course, the assessment tools described above have their own characteristics, and in the end, it is necessary to choose the assessment tool suitable for the child according to the characteristics of the child, the purpose of the test, the conditions of the test, and other specific conditions.
Special note: Where conditions permit, multiple tools can be used to assess the same child, contributing to a more complete picture of the child's language development.
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