WCU SLP 528 Final Exam Study Guide

Language learning disorder

learning disabilities that primarily affect reading, writing, and spelling

Language for Learning period

Early childhood to puberty; critical period for special classroom-discourse rules, decontextualized language, metalinguistic and phonological awareness, and literacy skills

Advanced Language Period

Ages 12-adulthood; focuses on development of language for more intensive social interactions, abstract and critical thinking, and executive function

Student-centric assessment

Assessment involves telling the student what behaviors will be assessed, establishing a cooperative partnership, and full cooperation and self-assessments; Intervention requires full cooperation of the client and eliciting highly motivated performance

Ways Students can end up on your caseload

RTI, Standardized Assessments, Screening at-risk students, teacher and counselor referrals, identifying pragmatic, semantic, and syntactic areas, Criterion-referenced assessments, structured behavioral observations

Figurative language

Understanding non-literal meanings of language, such as metaphors, idioms, similes, sarcasm, and proverbs.

Semantic integration

The ability to combine multiple pieces of information to understand the overall meaning or concept.

Verbal reasoning

Using language to think through problems, make inferences, and explain cause-effect relationships.

Word retrieval

The ability to recall and say the correct word when needed. Sometimes involves word-finding difficulties.

Syntax and morphology

Understanding and using rules that govern sentence structure (syntax) and the parts of words that carry meaning (morphology).

Metacognition skills

Thinking about one's own thinking. These are self-regulatory processes used to plan, monitor, and assess understanding and performance. (Self-monitoring, Self-questioning, Planning and reflecting on tasks)

Metapragmatic skills

Awareness and control of the social rules of language use (pragmatics). It's knowing how, when, and why to say things in a socially appropriate way. (Understanding tone, turn-taking, politeness)

Metalinguistic skills

Ability to think about and analyze language as an object itself. It includes understanding how language works. (Understanding grammar or sentence structure)

Oral Comprehension skills

The ability to understand spoken language in real-time.( Listening and making sense of auditory information)

Reading Comprehension skills

The ability to understand and interpret written text. (Understanding vocabulary in context)

Problem-solving skills

The ability to analyze a situation, generate solutions, and apply reasoning to resolve an issue. (Making decisions or solving puzzles)

Basic skills approach

This approach focuses on direct instruction of foundational skills that are essential for academic and functional success.

Learning strategies approach

This approach teaches students how to learn by using cognitive and metacognitive strategies to tackle academic or communication challenges.

Morphological analysis

Breaking down words into their meaningful parts roots, prefixes, suffixes to figure out the word's meaning.

Contextual abstraction

Using clues from the surrounding text to infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

Metacognition

Thinking about and monitoring one's own thinking and learning processes.

Syntax analysis

Analyzing sentence structure to understand how words are arranged and how grammatical rules function.

Individualized Transition Plan (ITP)

A required component of a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) that focuses on post-secondary goals and services to support the student's transition from high school to adult life.

Advanced language stage

Typically refers to middle school to high school age, when students are expected to handle complex, academic, and abstract language tasks—both spoken and written.

Writing characteristics of students with LLD in the advanced language stage

Poor organization, limited vocab use, grammar and morphology errors, poor spelling mechanics, reduced awareness of audience and people, difficulty with revision and editing.

POWER acronym for writing

Plan- generating ideas for writing; Organize- use of text structures and models; Write- turn raw ideas into literate statements and organize the ideas into a coherent composition; Edit- monitor and correct written products; Revise- improve the overall quality of the composition rather than just correct mistakes.

Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA)

Guarantees free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). SLPs participate in IEP meetings, set goals, provide therapy, and monitor progress.

Section of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Ensures students with disabilities who may not qualify for IDEA still receive accommodations or supports in school.

504 Plan

Some students may receive speech-language support through a 504 Plan if their condition doesn't qualify them under IDEA.

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

Broad civil rights law ensuring accessibility for individuals with disabilities in all public spaces, including schools.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Promotes access to general education curriculum for all students and allows SLPs to provide services within the classroom (push-in model) and participate in early intervention.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Protects the privacy of student educational needs; SLPs must maintain confidentiality and follow school protocols when sharing information.

T units

Identify main clauses (independent clauses that can stand alone) and count each main clause as one T-unit, regardless of how many subordinate or dependent clauses are attached.

Count the T Units: "I went to the store, and I bought apples because we were out."

"I went to the store" = 1 main clause; "I bought apples because we were out" = 1 main clause + a subordinate clause = 2 T-units total.

Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)

The average number of words per utterance, providing insight into a child's expressive language development.

MLU formula

MLU = Total words / Total utterances.

Clinical model

Services are provided in a separate setting (like a therapy room) in a one-on-one or small group format, often outside the general classroom.

Language-based classroom

A self-contained or specialized classroom led by a speech-language pathologist or trained educator, designed for students with significant language needs.

Consultant model

The specialist works indirectly by training and advising teachers, support staff, or parents to implement strategies within the student's regular environment.

Collaborative model

The specialist and classroom teacher co-plan and co-teach lessons, embedding support directly into the general education setting.

Executive Function

The brain's ability to plan, focus, remember, and control behavior to complete tasks.

Autism

Difficulty with social communication, repetitive behaviors, and sensory sensitivities.

Down syndrome

Intellectual disability, distinct facial features, and low muscle tone with strengths in social interaction.

Intellectual disability

Delays in cognitive and adaptive functioning, with varying levels of support needed.

SLI/DLD

Difficulty acquiring language skills, particularly grammar, vocabulary, and social communication.

HH/DHH

Challenges with communication, requiring sign language or other accommodations for language development.

Cerebral Palsy

Motor impairments with possible cognitive and speech delays, and occasional sensory issues.

TBI

Cognitive, physical, and emotional changes, with potential communication difficulties post-injury.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The distance between a child's current level of independent functioning and potential level of performance, defining what the child is ready to learn with some help from a competent adult.

Modeling

The teacher demonstrates the desired skill or behavior for the student.

Prompting

Providing hints or cues to help students recall or apply information.

Direct Instruction

Providing explicit teaching on a specific skill or concept.

Feedback

Offering corrective or reinforcing responses to the student's actions.

Questioning

Asking targeted questions to promote thinking and language use.

Visual Support

Using images, charts, diagrams, or written words to reinforce learning.

Simplification

Adjusting the complexity of language or tasks to match the student's current abilities.

Encouraging Self-Regulation

Helping students monitor and control their own learning process.

Intervention target for students with disabilities: Communication Skills

Focus on improving both verbal and non-verbal communication, which can include using AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) devices or picture exchange systems.

Intervention target for students with disabilities:Social Skills

Target social interactions and pragmatic language skills, such as turn-taking, greetings, and understanding non-verbal cues.

Intervention target for students with disabilities:Functional Academics

Ensure that academic learning is accessible and functional for students with severe disabilities by using adapted materials and teaching methods.

Intervention target for students with disabilities:Self-Regulation and Behavioral Skills

Interventions may include strategies for managing sensory needs, emotional regulation, and minimizing problematic behaviors.

Intervention target for students with disabilities:Daily Living Skills

Focus on independence in personal care and other life skills, as well as self-advocacy when possible.

Intervention target for students with disabilities:Sensory Integration

Tailoring interventions to address sensory needs, particularly in students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), can help reduce sensory overload and improve engagement in learning.

Dynamic Assessment in the L4L stage

A method that measures the child's ability to learn with support, as opposed to static assessment, which measures what a student can do independently.

Purpose of Dynamic Assessment in the L4L stag

To identify the child's potential for learning with assistance and to assess the effectiveness of teaching strategies.

Types of Dynamic Assessments in the L4L stage

Graduated Prompting, Test-Teach-Test, Modifiability

Graduated Prompting Dynamic Assessment

The examiner provides varying levels of support (e.g., hints or direct prompts) to see how the student responds and how much support is needed to reach a goal.

Test-Teach-Test Dynamic Assesment

A pre-test, followed by direct teaching, and then a post-test to see if the student can apply the newly learned skills.

Modifiability Dynamic Assessment

Assesses whether a child's performance improves with instruction, identifying what might facilitate their learning.

Purpose of Assessment

Diagnosing and Identidying needs, guiding intervention, monitoring progress, Informing Instruction, Establish baseline functioning and ensure accountability

Phonological characteristics Children in the L4L stage might struggle with are

Phonological Awareness, Articulation, Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence, Speech Sound Disorders

Phonological characteristics Children in the L4L stage might NOT struggle with are

Higher-Level Phonological Skills, and Vocabulary Expansion

Intersentential

New syntactic skills include growth between sentences. Growth in the forms used to link sentences is also an important part of adolescent language development.

Intrasentential

New syntactic skills include growth within sentences. Seen in the increasing use of subordinate and coordinate clauses, as well as in the use of low-frequency syntactic structures associated with literate language style.

Fluency

The ability to read connected text rapidly, smoothly, effortlessly, and automatically with little conscious attention to the mechanics of reading.

Reading comprehension

The ability to understand, draw inferences and conclusions, recall, summarize, paraphrase, and acquire new information from written texts.

Spelling

The phonological and orthographic skills that enable conventional alphabetic representations of words.

Writing

The planning, production, and editing of written texts.

Student-centered assessment in the advanced language stage

Focuses on evaluating the individual student's skills, progress, and needs in a way that is responsive to their learning style and goals.

Hidden curriculum

(1) it is decontextualized, (2) it involves related utterances used in extended discourse about a single topic, and (3) the teacher is in a position of power within the conversation, controlling who can speak and when.

Metaphonology

An individual's awareness of and ability to reflect on, talk about, and explain the phonological structure of language.

Macrostructure

Refers to the overall organizational structure and the key elements of a story, such as the characters, plot, setting, problem/resolution, and conclusion, that create a coherent narrative story.

Microstructure

Refers to the internal linguistic structures and features within a story, such as conjunctions, noun phrases, and dependent clauses, that contribute to meaning and clarity.

Inclusion model of education

The practice of integrating students with diverse learning needs, including those with disabilities, into general education classrooms, emphasizing access, participation, and support for every student.

CLD

Cultural and linguistic differences.

Language difference

Reflects a rule-governed language style that deviates in some way from the standard usage of the mainstream culture, but it is not indicative of a limitation in the capacity to learn language.

Language disorder

A significant discrepancy in language skills relative to what would be expected for a client's age or developmental level.

Dialect

A particular form of a language that is characteristic of a specific region or social group, and it is unequivocally a difference, not a disorder.

Standardized English language assessments bias

To reduce bias, educators should use multiple, culturally responsive measures and consider both English and home language abilities.

Selective mutism

When a child is not speaking at school, diagnosed in a child who consistently does not speak in certain situations, such as school, but does speak normally in other situations.

Common signs/symptoms of FASD

Physical abnormalities, learning disabilities, memory, attention, or problem-solving difficulties, behavioral problems, poor coordination or motor skills.

Unaided systems

Using gestures, facial expressions, or sign language.

Aided systems

Using tools like picture boards, speech-generating devices, or apps on tablets.

Neurodevelopmental disorder

A condition that affects how the brain grows and functions, usually showing up early in life and impacting learning, behavior, communication, and social skills.

Examples of neurodevelopmental disorders

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), intellectual disabilities, learning disorders (like dyslexia).

simultaneous bilingualism

the acquisition of two languages at the same time, typically with both languages introduced prior to the age of 3

Sequential Bilingualism

a second language introduced after age 3, at which time some level of proficiency has been established in the primary language, also referred to as successive bilingualism or second language acquisition

Dual Language Learners

individuals learning two languages simultaneously from infancy or who are learning a second language after the first language

English Language Learners (ELLs)

language minority students in the United States who are learning English, the majority language, for social integration and educational purposes