Model Eval-English.Spanish.5-1.pdf
MS, a 5;1 year old bilingual/bicultural (English-Spanish) male was evaluated for speech and language. After a language evaluation, it was determined that MS’s language skills were within normal limits.MS was born in the United State in Corona Queens, New York. Mrs. S was born in Elmhurst, New York. Mr. S was born in Corona Queens, New York. MS’s mother is a bilingual (Spanish/English) speaker and Mr. S is a bilingual (Spanish/English) speaker. Mrs. S’s highest level of education is a Master’s Degree and his father’s highest level of education is a Bachelor’s Degree. Mrs. T (maternal grandmother and primary caregiver until the age of 3) completed high school in the Dominican Republic. Mrs. S served as the reliable informant for background information. Evaluation was conducted to assess overall current language abilities.
As per interview MS was born full term at 9 months. His birth and medical history are unremarkable. Developmental motor milestones were reported developmentally appropriate as sitting emerged at approximately 5 months, crawling at 8 months and walking at 14 months. MS was reported to be toilet trained at approximately 2 years of age. Developmental speech and language milestones were reported to be within normal limits as single words emerged at 7 months and sentences at 17 months. Mrs. S states there have been no significant changes in the family structure in the last six months. MS currently resides with his mother, his father, and his younger brother (3;6 years old) in Queens, New York. Per parental report, family history is unremarkable for speech and language, or academic problems.
Per parent interview, Mrs. S expressed concerns regarding development of expressive language, stating MS currently communicates using sentences but is not able to tell a story “correctly”. For example, when asked how his school day went, MS usually answers with “ok” or limited phrases such as, “we read”. Mrs. S stated she noticed MS’s expressive difficulty last year, when comparing MS to his younger brother. She noted that MS’s expressive language “sounds differently” than his 3;6 year old brother’s expressive language. In addition she states that he also sounds different when compared to his peers at school. However she does note that he sounds more similar to his peers while in the community (“at the playground, at the corner store, and at the neighborhood pool”). Mr. S mentioned that his teacher’s have hinted that MS should be evaluated for speech and language development.
Prior to the evaluation day, Mrs. S provided clinicians with 10 examples she collected throughout the week of MS’s best communications:
- “Why did you make that? I don’t wanna eat,”
- “She doesn’t like me… because I don’t do nothing with her barbies,”
- “When you play single player, there is a sidekick that helps you,”
- “Give me controller in 5 minutes when I am ready,”
- “Phone is damage I think its no blinking,”
- “I wanna read a book before I go to bed,”
- “I’ll see the little and big pictures,”
- “There are no pictures in the book,”
- “My tummy, it hurts,”
- “Broccoli I don’t like.”
MS’s 10 best examples indicate the following: predominantly compound sentences, minimal elaboration and minimal detail/information. In addition, several examples were noted to have a Spanish syntax. “Broccoli, I don’t like”—> ”El brocoli no me gusta (The broccoli I don’t like)”
MS reportedly enjoys listening to stories, as well as playing with Power Rangers, Wii, Legos, and watching Kung Fu Panda. When asked how ‘do you know MS is smart’, Mom stated that he is a very nice, social boy and reported his counting and money skills as a strength.
Language Background and Use
MS was born in United States and resides in a predominantly monolingual English speaking household, where English is spoken approximately 80% of the time, and Spanish approximately 20% of the time (when maternal grandmother is present). English is the primary language spoken at home and in MS’s school. He goes to public school, which he attends 5 days a week from 8:15 to 2:15. MS is currently exposed to Spanish as his maternal grandmother eats dinner with MS and his family every night. MS is reportedly a simultaneous bilingual as he was exposed to Spanish and English before the age of 3 (Mom reports that maternal grandmother was his daily caretaker from 9-6 pm until he was 3 years old. Maternal grandmother watched MS’s brother until he was 1;5 and then he was placed in daycare. Maternal grandmother is a monolingual Spanish speaker from the Dominican Republic. She speaks a Dominican dialect of Spanish.
MS has not been to the Dominican Republic, and relatives rarely visit. Mr. S’s parents were also from the Dominican Republic but passed away before MS was born. Mom reported that both parents speak English to one another and use Spanish only when speaking to maternal grandmother. They both speak a Dominican dialect of Spanish. Per mother’s report, MS is exposed to English at home, at school and through interactions with his brother and television. Mrs. S stated that he is currently only exposed to Spanish through his maternal grandmother at dinner time. Additionally, mom reports that he will solely communicate expressively in English with his grandmother, even when grandmother communicates in Spanish with him. Mom reported that this was not always the case. Mom reported that in the past (before 3) MS would spontaneously use Spanish to communicate with grandmother. She stated that once he started daycare at about 3 years old he was reluctant to communicate in Spanish. At school MS is exposed to Standard American English. In his community, MS is exposed to Dominican dialect of Spanish and Domican-influenced English.
Given MS’s English language background and current exposure to Spanish, today’s assessment was conducted in English with Spanish clinical probes to fully assess his language profile. Initial reports indicate that MS’s dominant language is English, and he exhibits characteristics of language loss in Spanish and language transfer. His performance in today’s evaluation might display aforementioned characteristics (minimal Spanish use and Spanish-influenced English).
Evaluation
Assessment Materials
- Parent Interview
- Oral-Peripheral Examination
- Hearing Screening
- Dynamic Assessment
- Narrative Skills Analysis
- Writing Sample
- Language Sample
- Clinical Observation
- Clinical Opinion
Oral-Peripheral Examination
MS presented with symmetrical facial features, adequate symmetry and strength of the jaw, symmetrical elevation of the velum during phonation and adequate labial/lingual strength, symmetry, and range of motion (ROM) necessary for speech production.
Feeding and Swallowing
Feeding and swallowing were evaluated during a snack break consisting of a turkey sandwich, Snicker’s bar, and water to observe for signs of difficulty tolerating different textures and overall airway management. MS was observed to exhibit a mature rotary chew appropriate for his age and tolerate all food textures.
Audition/Voice/Fluency
Based upon a recent audiological evaluation, MS has hearing adequate to develop age appropriate speech and language. Parent reported that he does not have a history of middle ear infections. Voice and resonance were also assessed to determine whether vocal pathologies were present. MS’s vocal parameters for pitch, quality, and resonance were judged to be normal for his age and gender. Fluency was also assessed throughout the evaluation to determine whether primary and secondary characteristics of stuttering that may affect communication are present. MS’s rate and rhythm of speech were within normal limits for his age and gender.
Teacher Interview/ Academic Performance
MS’s Kindergarten teacher, Ms. P, was contacted regarding his academic performance for the 2012-2013 school year. She stated concerns only with how MS communicates. Ms. P stated “He just doesn’t communicate like his peers, his speech is scattered and words in sentences are not in the right order.” Mrs. S stated that his grades are average. He currently does not receive any services.
Articulation/ Intelligibility
MS’s articulation and phonology were assessed throughout the assessment to determine whether his articulation and phonology fall within normal limits. When assessing a bilingual child’s phonology it is important to remember that there are two sound systems at play and one must determine how sounds from one language may interact with another. When examining MS’s phonology his second language acquisition was taken into consideration as he has had moderate exposure to a second language in his past. As MS has been exposed to a Dominican dialect careful attention was placed on his consonant development. The consonant classes primarily affected by dialectal changes are fricative, liquids, glides, and nasals (Goldstein & Iglesias, 1996). No dialectal influence or difficulty was noted.
The phonological acquisition of Spanish is similar to English where majority of phonemes are mastered by age 4 in both languages (Jimenez, 1987 as cited by Goldstein, 2000). As MS is 5;1 he should have a full phonemic inventory and be intelligible to an unfamiliar listener. MS’s articulation was judged to be within normal limits, and he was 100% intelligible to clinicians.
Play
MS and clinicians engaged in unstructured and structured play. It was noted that MS engaged in pretend play as he took the voice of different toys/characters. During play it was noted that MS used age appropriate language for example “Where did she go?,” “What is your name (speaking to his toys)?” “I don’t want to play with this right now.” When prompted, “How does this work?” MS was able to tell clinicians how to play Hungry Hungry Hippos without difficulty. Additionally MS was able to turn take and maintain appropriate eye contact throughout play. When asked, “Why do these go here?” MS appropriately responded, “Because those are the rules.” Mrs. S states that MS demonstrates interactive play with his peers and sibling.
Receptive Language
During the assessment MS’s receptive skills were assessed through his ability to follow directions of increasing complexity while playing the game Simon Says as well as while drawing and coloring pictures. During the tasks MS was asked to follow several single step and multi-step (2-3) related commands (e.g. “Simon Says touch your nose and then stomp your feet,” “Before sitting down, get the markers and take out the crayons,” “Before you color his nose red, color his ears yellow,” “Color my dog’s feet green, and then color your dog’s feet red,” “Put the yellow marker in the box and the black crayon on the table”). MS was observed to easily understand and follow one step directions (e.g. “Can you give me the small eraser please?”, “Simon says turn around”), however he benefitted from repetitions and visual cues for 3 step commands during both tasks, evidenced by requests to repeat commands (e.g. “Simon says jump like a frog after you do three jumping jacks,” to which MS responded, “Say it again,” “You do it first”). Following directions was also assessed in Spanish to probe for Spanish receptive skill level. MS was observed to moderately understand Spanish commands (e.g. “Pon el marcador adentro de la caja,” “Dame la crayola azul, y guarda el borrador pequeño,” “Simón dice levanta tus dos manos, y después salta 3 veces”). One-step commands were consistently followed; however, MS benefitted from translating two and three-step commands in English to himself before executing them. Therefore, Spanish receptive assessment was minimally done throughout.
Additionally MS’s ability to categorize or recognize semantic relationships was assessed. Multiple related and non-related objects were placed on the table (crayons, camera, paper, envelope, ruler, backpack, and pens). MS was prompted “Show me what you need to color,” and “Show me what you need to take a picture.” MS appropriately selected desired items without difficulty.
Throughout the evaluation the clinicians frequently posed age appropriate wh-questions to assess receptive language skills during unstructured tasks (e.g., Where is mommy? Where is your favorite toy? What is your favorite game? What did you color?) MS demonstrated ability to answer “wh” questions appropriately during unstructured tasks. For example when asked “Where is your favorite toy” MS pointed to the toy chest and said, “In there. You wanna see it?”
Expressive Language
Based on the language sample via narrative samples and conversation MS used frequently occurring nouns, adjectives, verbs and prepositions (e.g. “The little mouse went outside to the emergency dentist”, “He put chocolate in the salad”, “The door hurt his knee”). MS also used regular plural nouns throughout (e.g. “He only wants to eat chocolates”). MS consistently used regular past tense forms; however, it was noted that he overgeneralized the use of past tense ‘ed’ during conversation several times (e.g. swimmed, bleeded, builded). Additionally, MS sporadically used highly detailed complete sentences (e.g. “I don’t eat chocolate like the mouse, it make my teeths hurt because it has too much sugar!”).
Additionally MS’s expressive language and problem solving skills were assessed using a picture of a man getting his foot caught in a subway door. When prompted, “Tell me about this picture,” MS stated, “The foot of the man got stuck. He was probably running. Maybe to the school or the work, ya know?,” which demonstrates age-appropriate inferencing skills. When prompted, “What would you do in this situation?,” MS responded, “I would not get caught in the door. I too fast.” Additionally he stated “In the subway the doors beep to tell everybody that the doors are closing.”
When prompted “Tell me about your favorite movie” MS stated: I like Finding Nemo. It is my favorite movie. I like Kung Fu Panda but Nemo is best”. When asked what happened in the story, he responded:
“Nemo is a fish, a clown fish, he got lost; well he kind of ran away, but then he got lost. And his dad was so scared. He didnt wanna go in the the ocean cus he was scared of everything ya know. But he did it. He went looking for nemo with Dori, this other fish he found, she was blue. Then they swimmed and almost got eaten by a shark! Maybe a hammerhead shark! When they got to end they found Nemo. He looked dead but he wasn’t. He wasn’t. This movie I like”.
When prompted “What is the lesson of the story?” MS responded, “You gotta listen to your parents! He got in trouble because he swimmed away from his dad and he wasn’t suppose to.” When asked what he would have done if he were Nemo, he said, “I wouldn’t swim away. Then I get in trouble like Nemo,” demonstrating age-appropriate problem solving skills.
Clinician’s used Spanish probes to assess for expressive language “Que te gusto mas de la pelicula?” and “Cual es tu personaje favorito y porque?” MS answered both answer in English and was reluctant to provide any Spanish responses despite clinician’s request.
MS demonstrated ability to fast map (e.g. the ability to learn a new concept or word) in English. An example of this was seen during dynamic assessment when the clinicians presented the term ‘knickerbocker’ three times during different instances and asked MS, “What is this?” to which MS correctly stated “knickerbocker.” Fast Mapping was also attempted in Spanish. MS was able to Fast Map appropriately for the word “Portino”.
Lexical Sparkle
- Common nouns, adjectives, and verbs: mouse, mommy, brother, running, eating, beautiful
- Higher level nouns, adjectives, and verbs: emergency dentist, emergency, hammer head shark, interesting, clown fish
Summary and Recommendations
It was noted that MS’s language exhibits characteristics of language transfer. For example, MS used sentences with Spanish sentence structure, as well as double negatives commonly used in Spanish such as: “Broccoli I don’t like,” “This movie I like,” “The foot of the man got stuck,” “I don’t know nothing about that,” and “She doesn’t like nothing like that.” It is important to note that MS was exposed to Spanish from 9 am to 6 pm until the age of 3, and is currently exposed to Spanish at home and in his public school, which is located in a Spanish community. Therefore, as MS’s language consists of age appropriate as well as several higher level sentences and vocabulary, a relative strength for MS, his expressive language is deemed to be within normal limits as no language disorder was observed; however, MS exhibits language difference as Spanish influence on syntax was noted. In conclusion, it is noteworthy that MS’s Spanish-influenced English is typical of children exposed to dual languages who in addition, experience language loss. Mrs. S was in agreement with today’s findings.
At this time no speech and language services are recommended. However, it is recommended that teachers be informed on how MS’s English is typical for his language background. It is also recommended that Mr. and Mrs. S continue to encourage MS’s expressive Spanish development in the home during their dinner time routine so that MS may begin to spontaneously use Spanish. In addition, reading books in Spanish with MS may be helpful because he can capitalize on his strengths in the domain of receptive language in Spanish. It is recommended that Mr. and Mrs. S ask WH questions in Spanish so MS can utilize his inference and problem-solving strengths in English to develop his expressive skills in Spanish.
References
Crowley, C. (2003). Diagnosing Communication Disorders in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students Digest E650, EDO-EC-03-11. Arlington, VA: ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education.
Goldstein, B. (2001) Transcription of Spanish and Spanish-Influenced English. Communicative Disorders Quarterly, 23 (1), 54-60.
Goldstein, B. (2000). Resource guide on cultural and linguistic diversity. San Diego, CA: Singular Publishing Group.
Goldstein, B.A., & Iglesias, A. (1996). Phonological patterns in normally developing Spanish-speaking 3- and 4-year-olds of Puerto Rico descent.Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 27, 82-90.
Paradis, J., Genesee, F. &. Crago, M. (2010). Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualsm and Second Language Learning (2nd Ed.) Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
