Gutiérrez-Clellen Vera F, Simon-Cereijido Gabriela
San Diego State University, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, California 92182-1518, USA.
Semin Speech Lang. 2009 Nov;30(4):234-45. doi: 10.1055/s-0029-1241722. Epub 2009 Oct 22.
Current language tests designed to assess Spanish-English-speaking children have limited clinical accuracy and do not provide sufficient information to plan language intervention. In contrast, spontaneous language samples obtained in the two languages can help identify language impairment with higher accuracy. In this article, we describe several diagnostic indicators that can be used in language assessments based on spontaneous language samples. First, based on previous research with monolingual and bilingual English speakers, we show that a verb morphology composite measure in combination with a measure of mean length of utterance (MLU) can provide valuable diagnostic information for English development in bilingual children. Dialectal considerations are discussed. Second, we discuss the available research with bilingual Spanish speakers and show a series of procedures to be used for the analysis of Spanish samples: (a) limited MLU and proportional use of ungrammatical utterances; (b) limited grammatical accuracy on articles, verbs, and clitic pronouns; and (c) limited MLU, omission of theme arguments, and limited use of ditransitive verbs. Third, we illustrate the analysis of verb argument structure using a rubric as an assessment tool. Estimated scores on morphological and syntactic measures are expected to increase the sensitivity of clinical assessments with young bilingual children. Further research using other measures of language will be needed for older school-age children.
目前旨在评估说西班牙语和英语儿童的语言测试临床准确性有限，无法为规划语言干预提供足够信息。相比之下，用这两种语言获取的自然语言样本能够更准确地帮助识别语言障碍。在本文中，我们描述了几种可用于基于自然语言样本进行语言评估的诊断指标。首先，基于之前对单语和双语英语使用者的研究，我们表明动词形态综合测量与话语平均长度（MLU）测量相结合，可为双语儿童的英语发展提供有价值的诊断信息。文中讨论了方言方面的考量。其次，我们探讨了对说双语西班牙语者的现有研究，并展示了一系列用于分析西班牙语样本的程序：（a）MLU有限以及不合语法话语的比例使用情况；（b）冠词、动词和附着代词的语法准确性有限；（c）MLU有限、主题论元省略以及双及物动词使用有限。第三，我们举例说明了使用评分细则作为评估工具对动词论元结构进行分析。形态和句法测量的估计分数有望提高对年幼双语儿童临床评估的敏感性。对于大龄学龄儿童，还需要使用其他语言测量方法进行进一步研究。
