Using Measures of Oral and Written Language

Why assess Oral and Written Language?

The ability to converse and express thoughts and feelings is a GOAL of
most individuals
Various language processes and skills are believed to underlie
subsequent development
What is Language?
_________________________________________________________________
Hearing
and
production
of
speech
(Articulation)
The study of word meaning (Vocabulary)

sounds

Use of affixes or verb tenses to change the meaning

of words used in sentences
Use of word order to convey meaning
The social context in which a sentence occurs
Second order of analysis required to understand the
meaning of words or sentences

Four Major Communication Skills

ORAL
COMPRE
HENSION
(Listenin
WRITTEN
g)
COMPRE
HENSION
(Reading
)

ORAL
EXPRESSI
ON
(Speakin
WRITTEN
g)
EXPRESSI
ON
(Writing)

Language Subskills for Each Channel of Communication

Language Component

Phonology
Morphology and Syntax
Semantics
Pragmatics and
Supralinguistics
Ultimate Language Skill

Channel of Communication
Reception
(Comprehension)
Hearing and discriminating
speech sounds
Understanding
the
grammatical
structure
of
language
Understanding
vocabulary,
meaning, and concepts
Understanding a speakers or
writers intentions
Understanding
spoken
or
written language

Expression (Production)
Articulating speech sounds

Using the grammatical structure of lan

Using vocabulary, meaning, and conce

Using awareness of
language
Speaking or writing

Considerations in Assessing ORAL Language

Cultural Diversity
Developmental Considerations

social

aspe

Considerations in Assessing WRITTEN Language

A. Content
B. Form
1. Penmanship
2. Spelling
3. Style Rules
Observing Language Behavior
A. Spontaneous Language
Records 50 to 100 consecutive utterances as the child talks with
an adult or plays with toys
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES

B. Imitation
Children translate/repeat adult sentences into their own
language rules
Make sure stimulus sentences are long enough to tax the childs
memory
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES

C. Elicited Language
Picture stimulus (or concrete objects) of objects or scenes is used
to elicit language
The child is asked to do the following:
1. Point to the correct object (receptive vocabulary task)
2. Point to the action picture that best describes a sentence
(receptive language with vocabulary)
3. Name the picture (expressive vocabulary)
4. Describe the picture (expressive language with vocabulary)
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES

Specific Oral and Written Language Tests

A. Test of Written Language-Fourth Edition (TOWL-4; Hamill & Larsen, 2008)

Norm-referenced
Assess written language competence of students between ages 9-17
years old
Individually administered in a contrived and spontaneous format
Assesses three components of written language Conventional,
Linguistic, and Cognitive
Subtests:
The first 5 elicit writing in a contrived context.
1. Vocabulary a student writes correct sentences containing
stimulus words
2. Spelling a student writes sentences from dictation
3. Punctuation Evaluated by the sentences written by a student
from dictation

4. Logical Sentences rewrite illogical sentences so that they make

sense
5. Sentence Combining write one grammatically correct sentence
based on the information in several short sentences
The last two elicit more spontaneous contextual writing.
6. Contextual Conventions the assessment of using appropriate
grammatical rules and conventions of mechanics in context through
the students story
7. Story Composition evaluates a students story on the basis of
the quality of its composition

B. Test of Language Development: Primary Fourth Edition (TOLD P-4;

Newcomer & Hamill, 2008)

Norm-referenced, nontimed, individually administered for children 4-8

years, 11 months
The test is designed to:
1. Identify children who are significantly below their peers in oral
language proficiency
2. Determine a childs specific strengths and weaknesses in oral
language skills
3. Document progress in remedial programs
4. Measure oral language in research studies

Core Subtests:
The six subtests cover the main areas of language Semantics and
Grammar, Listening,
Organizing, Speaking, and Overall Language Ability.
1. Picture Vocabulary ability to understand the meaning of spoken
English words
(Semantics and Listening)
2. Relational Vocabulary a childs understanding and ability to
orally express the
relationships between two words spoken by the examiner (Semantics
and Organizing)
3. Oral Vocabulary ability to give oral directions to common English
words that are
spoken by the examiner (Semantics and Speaking)
4. Syntactic Understanding ability to understand the meaning of
sentences
(Grammar and Listening)
5. Sentence Imitation ability to imitate English sentences
(Grammar and Organizing)
6. Morphological Completion recognize, understand, and use
common English
morphological forms (Grammar and Speaking)
The last 3 subtests measure Phonology.
7. Word Discrimination ability to recognize the differences in
speech sounds
(Phonology and Listening)
8. Word Analysis ability to segment words into smaller phonemic
units
(Phonology and Organizing)
9. Word Articulation ability to produce various English speech
sounds
(Phonology and Speaking)

C. Test of Language Development: Intermediate Fourth Edition (TOLD I-4;

Hamill & Newcomer, 2008)

Norm-referenced, nontimed, individually administered to students 817 years, 11 months

The test is designed to:
1. Identify children who are significantly below their peers in oral
language proficiency
2. Determine a childs specific strengths and weaknesses in oral
language skills
3. Document progress in remedial programs
4. Measure oral language in research studies
Subtests:
The six subtests cover the main areas of language Semantics
and Grammar, Listening, Organizing, Speaking, and
Overall Language Ability.
1. Sentence Combining the student creates a compound
sentence from two or more simple sentences presented verbally
by the examiner (Grammar and Speaking)
2. Picture Vocabulary the pupil identifies, by pointing, the
picture that represents the two-word stimulus
3. Word Ordering the student is to generate a complete,
grammatically correct sentence out of a randomly ordered word
set (Grammar and Organization)
4. Relational Vocabulary The students states how the three
words are alike (Semantics and Organizing)
5. Morphological Comprehension Given verbal sentences,
the student must identify grammatically correct and incorrect
sentences (Grammar and Listening)
6. Multiple Meanings The pupil is asked to generate as many
different meaning for that word as he or she is able to
(Semantics and Speaking)

D. Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS; Carrow-Woolfolk, 1995)

Individually administered to measure receptive and expressive

language from 3-21 years old
This determines levels of language skills and specific performance in
Listening, Speaking, and Writing.
Subtests:
1. Listening Comprehension to measure understanding of spoken
language.
-

The examiner reads aloud a verbal stimulus and the

student has to identify which of the four pictures is the best
response to the stimulus.

2. Oral Expression measures understanding and use of spoken

language.
- The examiner reads aloud a verbal stimulus and shows a
picture. The
student responds orally by answering a question,
completing a sentence,
or generating one or more sentences.
3. Written Expression Assessment of written language for students
5-21 years of age
specifically their ability to use conventions,
syntactical forms, and

ability to communicate meaningfully

- The student responds to direct writing prompts provided by
the examiner.