SRCLD Presentation Details
  Title  
       
    Alternative Tense Morpheme Measures for Identifiation of Language Impairment During the Preschool Period  
Author(s)
Allison Gladfelter - Purdue University
Laurence Leonard - Purdue University

SRCLD Info
SRCLD Year: 2012
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Poster Number:
Presentation Time: (na)
Categories
- Assessment
- Language Impairment, 0-5
Abstract
Two new measures of tense morpheme use designed for younger children were evaluated for their diagnostic accuracy with preschool-aged children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their typically developing peers. These measures had the advantage of providing an indication of the variety and productivity of tense morpheme use that conventional tense morpheme composites fail to capture. Spontaneous language samples from 75 children at two different age levels (4;0-4;6, 5;0-5;6) were obtained. At each age level, an equal number of children with SLI and typical language development participated. The language samples were analyzed for the number of different tense morphemes used as well as the number of distinct utterances containing an example of each of five major tense categories. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed using both sensitivity and specificity as well as likelihood ratios. When considered together, these measures provided good diagnostic accuracy for both the younger and older preschool-age groups. Clinical advantages of extending these new measures to the preschool population will be discussed.