SLP 5110 Early Language Disorders Exam Review Guide

What is Language Sample Analysis (LSA)?

A collection and analysis of a person's spoken language to assess vocabulary, syntax and grammar, morphology, pragmatics, narrative skills, and speech intelligibility.

Why is Language Sample Analysis used?

To evaluate a child's natural language use in real contexts.

What is the benefit of Language Sample Analysis?

It is culturally and linguistically sensitive, guides therapy goals by identifying specific strengths and weaknesses, and tracks progress over time.

What is the best context to elicit a language sample for early intervention?

During play.

What is SALT in language sample analysis?

Systemic Analysis of Language Transcripts, which includes norm-referenced databases and automatically calculates MLU, TTR, percent intelligibility, grammatical errors, and narrative structures.

What does CLAN stand for in language analysis?

Child Language Analysis, which automatically calculates word frequency, MLU, morphological analysis, and broad language measures.

What does SUGAR measure in language analysis?

Sampling Utterances and Grammatical Analysis Revised, which measures MLU, total words/unique words, subordination index for syntax, and grammatical errors.

What are the pros of using computerized programs for LSA?

They are quick and time-saving.

What is a con of conducting LSA by hand?

It is slow and time-consuming.

What does Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) assess?

A child's grammatical complexity in language development.

How do you determine morphemes and calculate MLU?

One word is one morpheme, with suffixes like -s, -ed, -ing adding another morpheme. MLU is calculated as total morphemes divided by total utterances.

What does MLU indicate about language development?

It shows whether a child's language development aligns with age expectations; a lower MLU may indicate delayed language development.

What is the Type-Token Ratio (TTR)?

A measure to evaluate a child's vocabulary diversity in a language sample.

How do you determine the total number of words and the number of different words in a sample?

Total number of words is the count of all words in the sample; number of different words is the count of unique words used by the child.

How do you calculate TTR?

TTR = number of different words / total number of words.

What does TTR reveal about language use and development?

It indicates vocabulary variety; a lower TTR suggests limited vocabulary and delays in expressive language.

What should a clinician look for to identify morphological structures?

The types of morphemes (bound and free) and the amount of morphemes per utterance.

How do you determine the structural stage of a child's language?

By collecting a language sample and calculating the MLU.

What does structural stage analysis tell us about language use and development?

It provides insights into the child's language development and structural complexity.

What does structural stage analysis reveal about a child's language development?

It indicates the grammatical forms the child has mastered or is developing and allows for comparison between typical and atypical development.

What is the goal of enabling approaches in language treatment?

To expand a child's linguistic repertoire by acquiring new words, morphemes, and grammatical structures.

What are directive approaches in language intervention?

They involve the use of prompts to facilitate the production of discrete behaviors, making prompts as natural and individualized as possible for the client.

What characterizes hybrid approaches in language therapy?

They arrange the environment to promote communication in natural settings.

What are responsive approaches in language development?

They include self-talk, parallel talk, following the child's lead, and contingent imitation.

What is focused stimulation in language therapy?

A technique that does not require a response from the child; the clinician manipulates the situation to encourage communication behaviors and provides models of the target.

What is the mand-model approach in language teaching?

A communication elicitation model where an adult waits for the child's interest, then requests communication; if the child does not respond appropriately, the desired behavior is modeled.

How does incidental teaching function in language intervention?

It uses everyday events, like bath time or snack time, as opportunities for communication intervention.

What does fading refer to in language therapy?

The gradual elimination of a teaching prompt to enable the child to perform a behavior independently.

What is functional equivalence in language development?

Teaching an appropriate behavior that serves the same function as an undesired behavior.

What is environmental sabotage in language intervention?

Manipulating the environment to restrict a child's access to a desired object or activity, creating an opportunity for communication.

What is the purpose of Positive Behavioral Support (PBS)?

To expand a child's behavior repertoire by supporting acceptable behaviors and redesigning the living environment to minimize problem behavior.

When is punishment used in behavioral support?

As a last resort, to decrease a behavior, often taking the form of a timeout, during which there is no opportunity for reinforcement.

What are the goals of Positive Behavioral Support (PBS)?

To reduce challenging behavior, enhance conventional communication skills, and equip caregivers with skills to support the child's behavioral development.

What is the significance of following the child's lead in responsive approaches?

It encourages natural communication and engagement by responding to the child's nonverbal initiations.

What does contingent imitation involve in language therapy?

Responding to a child's nonverbal initiations with natural consequences.

What is the role of meaningful feedback in language development?

To provide the child with constructive responses that support their communication efforts.

How does the clinician use models in focused stimulation?

By providing examples of target behaviors typically during play without requiring a response from the child.

What is the purpose of manipulating the physical environment in the mand-model approach?

To encourage the child to communicate by placing desired items just out of reach.

What is an example of fading in practice?

Reducing a verbal prompt from a loud question to a whisper, eventually removing all prompts.

What is the importance of teaching functional equivalence?

It helps children learn appropriate behaviors that can replace undesired actions, promoting effective communication.

How can environmental sabotage create communication opportunities?

By restricting access to desired objects, it compels the child to communicate their needs.

What are possible punishments in early intervention for problem behavior?

Possible punishments include time-out, overcorrection, and response cost, with punishment being a last resort.

When should punishment be used in early intervention?

Punishment should be used only when problem behavior can cause physical harm, after less intrusive consequences have failed, with agreement from the EI team, and after training of all team members.

What are the two goals of teaching gestures in communication?

The two goals are to enhance communication with a new mode of interaction and to use established gestures as a vehicle for training single words or symbols.

How can a child signal a request using gestures?

A child can signal a request with a hand gesture, accompanied by vocalization and eye contact with a communication partner.

What is the purpose of teaching rejecting behaviors to children?

To provide children with effective and socially acceptable strategies for escaping and avoiding nonpreferred objects and activities.

Give examples of rejecting gestures a child might use.

Examples include shaking the head side to side, turning away, or using a defensive hand gesture.

What is the difference between presymbolic and symbolic communication?

Presymbolic communication relies on gestures, facial expressions, and vocalizations, while symbolic communication relies on words, symbols/signs, or AAC.

What are examples of presymbolic skills?

Examples include means-end, imitation of motor behavior, and joint attention.

What is the means-end skill in communication?

Means-end is the understanding that a specific action, like saying 'I want apple,' leads to receiving an apple.

How can vocal imitation be established in children?

By creating a motivating environment, starting with simple sounds, imitating the child's sounds first, and using prompting.

What are initial steps for establishing motor behavior imitation?

Use a structured environment with easy-to-manipulate objects, start with simple actions, provide gestural cues, and encourage turn-taking.

What strategies can be used to promote joint attention in children?

Engage with high-interest objects, use gestures to guide attention, maintain eye contact, use simple language, and provide verbal praise.

What are the benefits of exposure to two languages during early language development?

Children exposed to two languages have larger expressive vocabularies and do not show additional delays compared to monolingual children.

What is a common myth about bilingual language development?

A common myth is that exposure to two languages hinders the development of English and makes language-learning more difficult.

What risks are associated with the myths of bilingual language development?

These myths may lead to avoiding exposure to more than one language, resulting in missed opportunities for bilingual development and potential language deprivation.

What is the role of a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) in addressing misinformation about bilingualism?

The SLP educates families, advocates for evidence-based practices, collaborates with educators, and creates a supportive environment for families.

What are the basic principles for early symbolic intervention?

Selecting new symbols should be based on the child's interests and sound-making skills rather than a general list.

What is the significance of the child's interests in selecting first words for communication?

First words should come from the child's interests and sound-making skills to enhance engagement and learning.

What are characteristics of new words for children?

They include words or concepts that occur in daily routines, often used in adult language at home, contain sounds and syllables the child can produce, are understood by the child, and relate to objects or actions the child likes.

Why is teaching declaratives important for children with ASD?

Children with ASD use a low amount of declaratives, making it crucial to teach them to enhance their communication.

What are responsive intentions in language development?

Responsive intentions involve following a verbal request, such as answering questions or repeating phrases.

What are spontaneous intentions in language development?

Spontaneous intentions are not cued by a verbal request and include demanding, protesting, asking content questions, hypothesis testing, declaring, replying, exclaiming, accompanying play, expressing attitudes, greeting, and calling.

Give an example of a responsive intention.

Answering a question like 'What's that?' with 'Horsie'.

What is an example of a spontaneous intention related to demanding?

Using words like 'Cookie', 'More', or 'Help'.

What semantic categories can help diversify a child's use of symbols?

Semantic categories include negative, location, entity, modifier, recurrent, state, and action.

How can the negative semantic category be expanded?

By combining it with another element, e.g., 'No bye-bye' or 'Allgone juice'.

What is a pivot schema in language development?

A pivot schema uses a semantic pattern to create multiple two-word utterances from a limited set of constructions.

What is an example of a word combination?

Using 'daddy chair' without changing the words to form a different meaning.

What are item-based constructions?

They follow specific word order rules with particular words.

What is the difference between word combinations and pivot schemas?

Word combinations consist of roughly equivalent words paired together, while pivot schemas allow for more semantic variation and flexibility in word order.

What are examples of words in the negative semantic category?

Words like 'No' and 'allgone'.

How can the entity semantic category be expanded?

By using combinations like 'this/that + entity', e.g., 'that horsie' or 'this cup'.

What is an example of a modifier in language development?

Words like 'big' or 'little'.

How can the recurrent semantic category be expanded?

By combining it with another element, e.g., 'More up' or ''Nuther cookie'.

What is an example of expressing a state in language?

Using words like 'tired' or 'hungry'.

What is the significance of teaching symbols in different semantic categories?

It offers possibilities for diversifying a child's use of single symbols and early combinations.

What is an example of a spontaneous intention related to exclaiming?

Using expressions like 'Uh-oh' or 'oops'.

What does the term 'experiencer + state' refer to in language development?

It refers to combining a subject with a state, such as 'Me tired'.

What is the role of accompanying play in spontaneous intentions?

It involves using words like 'up' or 'go' during play activities.

What is the importance of teaching requesting in language development?

While teaching requesting is easier, it is less important than teaching declaratives, especially for children with ASD.

What are the three types of word combinations in language development?

Agent + action (e.g., mommy eat), Action + object (e.g., eat cookie), and Agent + action + object (e.g., mommy eat cake).

What factors should be considered when selecting new words for treatment?

Phoneme inventory, semantic categories, daily routines, adult language used at home, sounds the child can produce, words the child understands, and objects or actions of interest.

What is the purpose of teaching semantic categories in language development?

To offer a conceptual framework for teaching words and to diversify a child's use of single symbols and early symbol combinations.

What is a pivot schema in language development?

A structure where one word acts as a carrier phrase for other words, such as 'more' in 'more juice' or 'more cookie'.

What are item-based constructs in language development?

Word-specific, word-ordered constructions that depend on how a child has heard a particular word used, like 'Daddy drink' and 'drink juice' combining to form 'Daddy drink juice'.

What is the significance of expanding intentions in symbolic intervention?

For a symbol to generalize to a child's everyday use, it must help the child accomplish intentions expressed in a nonsymbolic way.

What are some symbolic intervention techniques?

Model language without requiring a response, model language with a required response, provide feedback without requiring a response, and respond while requiring feedback.

What is self-talk in the context of language modeling?

An adult describes their actions while engaging in play with the child, e.g., 'My baby is splashing, I'm washing the baby'.

What is parallel talk in language intervention?

An adult provides a model of self-talk for the child's actions, describing what the child is doing, e.g., 'The car goes down, go blue car'.

What is contingent imitation in responsive techniques?

When an adult imitates what the child says as a form of responsive interaction.

What is corrective feedback in language development?

When a child makes a mistake, a correct model is provided without requiring a response from the child.

What is the difference between expansion and extension in language modeling?

Expansion follows verbal behaviors by adding to the child's utterance, while extension provides additional information related to the child's action or utterance.

What is build-up/breakdown in language development?

A technique where an adult expands a child's utterance and then breaks it down into smaller phrases, enhancing language growth.

What is recasting in language intervention?

Expanding a child's utterance into a different or more elaborate sentence, changing the voice or modality, e.g., 'throw ball' becomes 'where should I throw the ball?'.

What is telegraphic speech?

Children's earliest word combinations that omit some grammatical components, resembling old telegrams, e.g., 'Mommy eat', 'Baby bed'.

What are the pros and cons of telegraphic speech?

Pros include simplicity and clarity in communication; cons involve the omission of grammatical structures that may hinder full language development.

What is the Hanen Language Program?

A parent-focused language intervention program that reflects a family-centered model, using naturalistic approaches to identify learning opportunities.

What is the Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching (PMT) technique?

A technique developed by Paul Soder and Steven Warren that uses natural settings and situations to encourage the use of proto-declaratives.