A rating instrument is described that can be used to assess the results of stuttering treatments. The instrument yields a comprehensive and detailed description of speech quality in terms of articulation, phonation, pitch, and loudness, as well as naturalness. Psychometric characteristics of the instrument are analyzed, and methodological problems…

This study explored whether standard administration and scoring of conventional articulation tests accurately identified 20 children (ages 5-9) as phonologically disordered and whether test data established severity levels and programing needs. Tests correctly identified the phonological disorders but failed to reliably differentiate severity…

Ten African-American children, aged five to six, who speak Black English Vernacular were administered three standard English articulation tests. Results showed that a failure to take the issue of dialect variation into account substantially increased the likelihood of misdiagnosing normally speaking African-American children as having articulation…

This study compared cognitive and linguistic development of young children with (N=28) and without (N=29) cleft palate. Children with cleft palate, although well within the normal range, performed significantly below the control group on cognitive and linguistic tests. Cognitive differences were linguistic in nature and were related to hearing…

Purpose: The variable deletion of word-final consonants is a well-known feature of African American English (AAE). This study aimed to show whether African American children exhibit an alveolar bias in their deletion of final voiceless stops as has been observed for their production of final nasals. Method: The data were extracted from more than…

This book is intended for teachers of second and foreign languages who use and construct tests while they teach. The emphasis is on the process of testing, as well as the process involved in taking a test. The five chapters treat the following points: (1) an overview of classroom testing, its nature, process, and value; (2) a theoretical framework…

The visual-auditory integrative ability of 12 language delayed children with nonspecific etiologies was compared with that of 12 normal children matched for age, sex, and IQ. A battery of tests measured auditory-visual integrative ability, visual motor ability, and perception of frequency distorted speech. Significant differences were found…

The object of this study was to measure videotape recorded playbacks as a variable in mastery of a basic speech course in an experimental college program for low income underachieving students. The beginning speech course is required of all these students in the Experiment in Higher Education at Southern Illinois University. Experimental and…

A suggestion is made for solving the problem of testing spoken English. The students were from the Economics Department of a university in Finland. Their needs (practical ones), their courses in spoken English, the form of the test--oral, reading, and writing--and the marking system are considered. (SCC)

Fourteen children (grade K-3) with articulation disorders were compared to 14 children with normal articulation on three tests of phonological awareness (rhyming, phoneme blending, and phoneme counting). Results of the study indicate that the subjects with articulation disorders made significantly more errors on the three phonological awareness…

Speech analyses performed on data from 61 speech-delayed children (ages 3-6) found that, in comparison to the validity of conversational speech samples for integrated speech, language, and prosodic analyses, articulation tests appear to yield neither typical nor optimal measures of speech performance. (Author/JDD)

The Phonetic Level Evaluation was administered to 30 preschoolers with normal hearing. Results indicated that approximately the same error rate was observed for vowel productions as for simple consonants and that scores for all children were considerably poorer for initial consonant blends than for final consonant blends. These findings run…

This annotated bibliography contains 10 items addressing speaking and listening assessment methodology. Specific topics include: (1) a national survey of state practices; (2) criteria for minimal high school requirements; (3) recommendations for instrument development; (4) the impact of listening on other language arts; (5) measuring oral…

The HPI Texas Preschool Screening Inventory (TPSI) is a test to help determine which children might be a risk for learning problems as they enter kindergarten or first grade. The HPI Manual describes the procedure, score interpretation, and rationale for seven components of the test, including auditory memory for numbers and letters, visual memory…

The College Board has identified several basic intellectual competencies thought to be essential for effective work in all fields of college study, among them listening and speaking. An issue that arises in connection with these competencies is the availability of suitable measures to assess students' development in these areas. This report…