Abstract
The purposes of this article are (a) to discuss issues related to the selection and development of language assessment procedures for children who speak Spanish and English based on spontaneous language samples and (b) to show how available procedures can be applied to research and clinical aims with these children. Sociolinguistic influences in the language performance of Spanish-speaking children, including patterns of language shift, differences in the amount of exposure to each of a bilingual's languages, and contextual effects of different language-learning environments, are discussed. Methodological issues and effects of codeswitching and dialect are examined concerning use of the Developmental Assessment of Spanish Grammar (DASG), mean length of response in words (MLR-w), mean length of terminable unit (MLTU), and mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLU-m). Measures of Spanish grammar with diagnostic potential are proposed. Clinical suggestions for the language assessment of Spanish-speaking children with different levels of English proficiency and research implications are discussed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 88-98 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Language, speech, and hearing services in schools |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2000 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Analysis
- Assessment
- Language
- Spanish
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
- Speech and Hearing