Abstract
Purpose: This study examines the classification accuracy and interrater reliability of a dynamic assessment (DA) of inferential word learning designed to accurately identify kindergarten through sixth-grade students with and without language disorder. Method: The participants included 127 school-age children from a mountain west school district who were administered a DA of inferential word learning that entailed a pretest, a teaching phase, an examiner rating of the child's ability to infer word meaning (modifiability), and posttests. Results: Hierarchical logistic regression and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analyses revealed that combining all posttests, the modifiability total, and the final examiner judgement scores from this DA yielded the strongest sensitivity (.83) and specificity (.80). The static measures and the dichotomized final examiner judgement had excellent reliability; yet the individual modifiability measures (with the exception of disruption and frustration) had poor reliability. Conclusion: In concordance with a previous study, results indicate that a dynamic assessment of inferential word learning may be an efficacious method of identifying language disorders in school-age populations.
Degree
MS
College and Department
David O. McKay School of Education; Communication Disorders
Rights
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Newey, Britney Ann, "The Classification Accuracy of a Dynamic Assessment of Inferential Word Learning for School-Age Children With and Without Language Disorder" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 8672.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8672
Date Submitted
2020-08-06
Document Type
Thesis
Handle
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd11418
Keywords
dynamic assessment, context clues, vocabulary, inferential word learning
Language
English