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Language impairment and language difference in EAL pre-schoolers

Language impairment and language difference in EAL pre-schoolers. Kommunika Centre for early intervention in Communication Pathology University of Pretoria. Negotiating the program. The research The materials The methods The collaborative process

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Language impairment and language difference in EAL pre-schoolers

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  1. Language impairment and language difference in EAL pre-schoolers Kommunika Centre for early intervention in Communication Pathology University of Pretoria

  2. Negotiating the program • The research • The materials • The methods • The collaborative process • Distinguishing between difference and impairment

  3. The context and the questions • Multilingual urban context – how multi? • Mother tongue education? • Assessment in primary language?

  4. Language data from 32 pre - school classes in the Sunnyside/Pretoria CBD geographical area (n=760) Language data for LoLT in 32 32 teachers multilingual pre - Languagedatafor760pre - school classes , schoolers L1 L2/3 Home language unknown to Afrikaans English English only 31% teachers (36.9%) (84%) (88%) Official languages of South English Afrikaans Afrikaans only 3% Africa (9%) (19%) 10%+ representation SeSotho SeSotho English and Afrikaans, Sesotho, English, (3%) (9%) Afrikaans 66% and Setswana IsiZulu German Other 0% (3%) (6%) 2% - 10% representation IsiXhosa, Xhosa, Sesotho sa Leboa (the SePedi, Northern So tho varieties), SeSwati, Zulu IsiZulu, XiTsonga, 1% - Dutch, Tshivenda, IsiNdebele, Siswati, Sign Xitsonga language (3% each) Other languages African languages from other African countries (e.g. Swahili), French, Portugues e, other languages (non - African)

  5. Language assessment is complex and multifaceted The stove blood me here • Language form • Phonology • Morphology • Syntax • Language content • Words (vocabulary items) • Figurative language • Meaning of longer units • Language use • Functions • Adaptations • Rules That sounds like fun! And how do you play with the jumping castle? You jump and you bump I went to the doctor. He’s checking me.

  6. Language areas

  7. Research - outline • Research question: can a typical language profile be identified for a small group of EAL pre-school learners in a circumscribed urban area, from which a set of boundaries may be construed for the profile of EAL pre-school learners with potential language learning disorders?

  8. Problem Statement – the South African urban context • Large multilingual pre-school classes • Multilingual/linguistically diverse teachers • Few speech-language therapists, and even fewer speak African languages • English is the language of mutual understanding • Children will be placed in schools with ELoLT • Dearth of data on language behaviours

  9. “Sticky issues” in the multilingual urban pre-school “Language assessment should take place in L1” • What happens if no teacher or therapist can speak the child’s L1? “The child speaks English as Additional Language” • Does the child’s English resemble that of the other EAL pre-schoolers, or are there non-typical characteristics?

  10. Research projectAim: to determine the feasibility of constructing a language profile for pre-school EAL learners in a circumscribed urban area • Select a pre-school with representative demographics • Select materials and methods to elicit a language sample • Transcribe and analyse language samples • Compare typical language behaviours to behaviours typical of children with language impairment

  11. Three age groups: • 4-0 to 4-11 (Junior group) • 5-0 to 5-11 (Middle group) • 6-0 to 6-11 (Senior group) Developmental progress: • Generally speaking, a great leap forward from middle to senior group • Literature: EAL speakers eventually develop towards more EL1-like language behaviours But Early intervention is essential in cases of SLI

  12. Are the results of any practical use? • Elicitation materials to use Table • Analyses to perform Table + info • Designing language development programs in collaboration with teachers Profile of typical language behaviour (2 forms) • Identifying learners with LI Risk profile

  13. Activities/ material Language aspects elicited Language form Language content Language use Conversation Discussing a picture of a birthday party (Minskoff, Wiseman & Minskoff, 1972) Syntactic complexity Syntactic structures Morphology MLU Word counts: TNW TDW TTR TNV TDV TNN Utterances Mazes Connectives Functions, intents and devices Appropriate-ness Turns taken Elicitation materials

  14. Conversation Story map for personal narrative about Going to the doctor (Rollins, McCabe & Bliss, 2000) Syntactic complexity Syntactic structures Morphology MLU TNW TDW TTR TNV TDV TNN Variety of utterances produced Mazes Discourse devices (connectives) Communicative functions, intents and devices Appropriate-ness Turns taken Narratives

  15. Activities suggested for eliciting pragmatic behaviours (Creaghead, 1984) Communicative functions, intents and devices

  16. Pictures and sentence completion (Subtest 9 – Grammatic Closure, from the Illinois Test of Psycho-linguistic Abilities [ITPA] [revised edition.] Kirk, McCarthy and Kirk, 1968).) Morphology

  17. Story based on picture cards, as well as additional response utterances to Items 11-14, from the KLST-2 (Gauthier & Madison, 1998). Syntactic complexity MLU

  18. S subject V verb O object Od direct object Oi indirect object C complement A adverbial c connective Q question/question word Comm command D/det determiner Prep preposition N noun V verb V part. verb particle Aux auxiliary verb Cop copula Adj adjective Pron pronoun Neg negative Syntax - examples

  19. Personal narrative – Rollins, McCabe & Bliss, 2000 High point analysis of personal narratives We were playing outside But my mother’s friend was inside. Now, I was playing with my mother’s friend’s son. He was holding a stick. I looked in the dog’s eye Then I ran And then the dog bit me in the arm. That was a cruel dog

  20. Three-step process for narrative assessment • Eliciting the narrative – conversation map 2. Coding the narrative Transcribed one clause on a line. Each clause assigned with appropriate element: orientation, action, evaluation, resolution, and coda. One clause may be multiply coded. 3. Scoring the narrative. Series of questions:

  21. Are there two past tense events? Are there more than two past tense events? In the real world is there a logical or causal sequence to these events? Does the narrator’s order of the events mirror the sequence in which the events must have logically occurred? Is there a high point? Is there a resolution? If yes One-event narrative Two-event narrative Miscellaneous narrative Leap-frog narrative Chronological narr. End-at-high-point Classic narrative If the answer to a question on the left hand side is no, the narrative structure employed is indicated in the adjacent text box. If the answer to a question is yes, proceed to the next question. no no no no no no yes

  22. Interpersonal Instrumental – satisfy needs Regulatory – control actions of others Interactional – establish interactions Personal – express feelings, attitudes, interest Ideational Heuristic – explore and organise environment Imaginative – create imaginary environment Informative – provide information Language functions in young children- Halliday

  23. Communicative intents - examples Request object Request action Request information Comment Make choices Give reasons Conversational devices – examples Answer Take turns Specify topic Change topic Maintain topic Request clarification Creaghead’s protocol (1984)- Strategies for evaluating and targeting pragmatic behaviours in young children

  24. Suggested classroom activities for • Language form - morphosyntax • Language content - meaning • Language use – conversations and narratives

  25. Language form • Use LARSP/Language Therapy (Lewis & Penn) or some developmental scheme to know what to stimulate. Lewis & Penn also provide ideas on how to stimulate and elicit • Forced alternative • Verbal absurdities • Silence! • Manual code as cue • Focus stimulation • Expanding MLU: the expanding story

  26. Language content • Developing TDW: list types of descriptives one can use, put into practice • Developing TDV: cognitive state verbs (theory of mind) after age 5 • Creating similes from experience

  27. Language use • Narratives: • Story charts for personal experience • Story glove etc. for story grammar • Reflecting and alternatives • Conversations • Playing out stories • Role play and discuss

  28. Identifying learners at risk for SLI • What is SLI? • How many risk indicators are needed to indicate risk? • A practice run

  29. Picture sequence cards

  30. Picture sequence cards

  31. Picture discussion

  32. Picture discussion

  33. Picture discussion

  34. Picture discussion

  35. Personal narrative

  36. Personal narrative

  37. The end…..or is it?

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