The article looks at syntactic deficiencies involving simple clause structures and grammatical morphology in young children. A framework for understanding the development of simple clause structures is presented followed by a discussion of the correlates of early syntactic development. Procedures to assess and remediate syntactic deficiencies are…

The article outlines strategies for improving the assessment of language at the school level through staff involvement in designing and implementing a school based language assessment program. (Author)

Comparison of the narratives of 16 children with word-finding problems and 16 normal children (grades 1-6) found that children with word-finding disorders did not differ in language productivity but manifested significantly more word-finding characteristics in their narratives. Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed. (Author/DB)

The Social Interactive Coding System (SICS) assesses the continuous verbal interactions of preschool children as a function of play areas, addressees, script codes, and play levels. This paper describes the 26 subjects and the setting involved in SICS development, coding definitions and procedures, training procedures, reliability, sample…

This article reviews the literature on the importance of phonological awareness within the context of language/literacy learning and discusses the developmental continuum of phoneme awareness skills. Specific techniques are suggested to guide the speech-language pathologist in the assessment of phonological awareness skills. (Author/DB)

The paper explores several issues which effect the accurate assessment of language and reading disorders and, thus, of discrepancy between expected potential and actual achievement. For related information see EC 132 758-768. (Author)

This article describes and presents in full an instrument for assessing the speech-language skills of limited English proficient children. The role of the speech-language specialist on the assessment team is stressed. (Author/DB)

The article examines the child's ability to produce complex sentences with sections on a structural framework for complex language (clausal and nonclausal complexity), a developmental perspective (coordination of clauses, subordination of nominal, adverbial, and relative clauses), and applied considerations (evaluating and teaching complex…

The Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) and an expressive language measure were administered to 114 children (aged 24 to 74 months) suspected of developmental difficulties. The DDST did not identify the majority of children who failed the expressive language screening, even after cutoff scores were made more rigorous. (Author/JDD)

Culturally specific behaviors must be considered in the pre-referral phase of assessing culturally diverse/limited-English-proficient students. Inferences regarding the reasons for students' performance reflect the knowledge base acquired by the school staff concerning a student's culture. Evaluative questions can gather data to assure non-biased…

The paper describes ways in which the computer can assist language clinicians in performing highly informative linguistic analyses that are useful in the development and evaluation of intervention programs. Two modules from the software package, Computerized Profiling, are described and two cases illustrating clinical application of computers are…

This case study of a nonverbal nine year old with physical handicaps examines the ethics and efficacy of using formal assessment instruments with such children, without procedural modifications or qualification of test results. Results of home and classroom observations suggested that the formal assessments did not reflect the student's actual…

The monograph presents the guidelines of the Georgia Department of Education for annual evaluation of school speech-language pathologists (SLP). A combination of assessment methods is recommended including observation and review of records. The philosophy and purposes of the SLP evaluation is briefly outlined and includes identification and…

This article reviews the critical issues that influence whether a child with language impairments can benefit from intervention. It recommends three procedures (profiling, dynamic assessment, and tracking/monitoring) as tools for helping speech-language pathologists make informed decisions about intervention. (Author/JDD)

Attention is given to the characteristics, identification, and remediation of language disorders frequently associated with learning-disabled students. Characteristics include off-target responding, inaccurate word selection, neologisms, referent errors, topic closure, and sequencing difficulties. Remediation involves self-concept building,…