Cole, P., & Taylor, O. (1990). Performance of working class African-American children on three tests of articulation. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 21, 171-176.
INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW
This study examined the effects of an African-American dialect, particularly Black English Vernacular (BEV), on the results of three tests of articulation. Articulation tests commonly compare the child’s phonological system to that of standard English, with little adjustment for dialectal variations. BEV is attributed to several West African languages brought to the United States during the era of slave trade, and differs from standard English in many ways including: syntax, morphology, phonology, prosody, and pragmatics. Despite …show more content…
The Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale and its original norming sample would have led to the diagnosis of pathological speech production for seven subjects, versus none who met criterion using dialect sensitive scoring. For the Templin-Darley Tests of Articulation, six of the subjects met criterion for an articulation disorder using standard English norms, and only two met the criteria when BEV rules were taken into account. Thirdly, for the Photo Articulation Test, the number of children who met diagnostic criterion was reduced from three to one when scored with dialect …show more content…
SSD are of interest to the examiners due to the fact that they comprise a large proportion of caseloads for SLPs who work with children. Assessment is of particular importance because it determines whether or not a delay or disorder exists, if the child is eligible for services within the school system, and often helps the SLP to select goals for intervention. There are two main ways to analyze speech sound production, independent analysis and relational analysis. Independent analysis procedures measure the child’s ability to produce speech sounds, whereas relational analysis procedures compare the child’s productions to adult standards and take error patterns into consideration. Overall, there are many factors to be considered when an SLP is going to assess a child with a possible SSD, such as the severity, state guidelines for service eligibility, caseload size. Many assessment procedures are similar, but the main differences between SLPs seems to be in standardized test selection and emphasis on spontaneous language sample
INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW
This study examined the effects of an African-American dialect, particularly Black English Vernacular (BEV), on the results of three tests of articulation. Articulation tests commonly compare the child’s phonological system to that of standard English, with little adjustment for dialectal variations. BEV is attributed to several West African languages brought to the United States during the era of slave trade, and differs from standard English in many ways including: syntax, morphology, phonology, prosody, and pragmatics. Despite …show more content…
The Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale and its original norming sample would have led to the diagnosis of pathological speech production for seven subjects, versus none who met criterion using dialect sensitive scoring. For the Templin-Darley Tests of Articulation, six of the subjects met criterion for an articulation disorder using standard English norms, and only two met the criteria when BEV rules were taken into account. Thirdly, for the Photo Articulation Test, the number of children who met diagnostic criterion was reduced from three to one when scored with dialect …show more content…
SSD are of interest to the examiners due to the fact that they comprise a large proportion of caseloads for SLPs who work with children. Assessment is of particular importance because it determines whether or not a delay or disorder exists, if the child is eligible for services within the school system, and often helps the SLP to select goals for intervention. There are two main ways to analyze speech sound production, independent analysis and relational analysis. Independent analysis procedures measure the child’s ability to produce speech sounds, whereas relational analysis procedures compare the child’s productions to adult standards and take error patterns into consideration. Overall, there are many factors to be considered when an SLP is going to assess a child with a possible SSD, such as the severity, state guidelines for service eligibility, caseload size. Many assessment procedures are similar, but the main differences between SLPs seems to be in standardized test selection and emphasis on spontaneous language sample