The Impact of Dialect Density on the Growth of Language and Reading in African American Children

The Growth of Complex Syntax in School-Age African American Children Who Speak African American English

PURPOSE

Syntax provides critical support for both academic success and linguistic growth, yet it has not been a focus of language research in school-age African American children. This study examines complex syntax performance of African American children in second through fifth grades.

METHOD

The current study explores the syntactic performances of African American children (N = 513) in Grades 2-5 on the Test of Language Development-Intermediate who speak African American English. Multilevel modeling was used to evaluate the growth and associated changes between dialect density and syntax. Analyzed data were compared both to the normative sample and within the recruited sample.

RESULTS

The results suggest that dialect density exerted its impact early but did not continue to influence syntactic growth over time. Additionally, it was not until dialect density was accounted for in growth models that African American children's syntactic growth resembled normative expectations of a standardized language instrument.

CONCLUSION

The current study suggests that failure to consider cultural language differences obscures our understanding of African American students' linguistic competence on standardized language assessments.

Morphological Assessment Features and their Relations to Reading: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling Study

Morphemes are the smallest meaningful unit of language (e.g., affixes, base words) that express grammatical and semantic information. Additionally, morphological knowledge is significantly related to children's word reading and reading comprehension skills. Researchers have broadly assessed morphological knowledge by using a wide range of tasks and stimuli, which has influenced the interpretation of the relations between morphological knowledge and reading outcomes. This review of 103 studies used meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) to investigate the relations between commonly occurring morphological knowledge assessment features (e.g., written versus oral, spelling versus no spelling) in the literature to reading outcomes, including word reading and reading comprehension. Meta-regression techniques were used to examine moderators of age and reading ability. Morphological assessments that used a written modality (e.g., reading, writing) were more predictive of word reading outcomes than those administered orally. Assessments of morphological spelling were more predictive of both word reading and reading comprehension outcomes than those that did not examine spelling accuracy. Age was a significant moderator of the relation between morphology and word reading, such that the relation was stronger for the younger than the older children. Younger children also demonstrated higher relations between multiple task dimensions and reading comprehension, including oral tasks, tasks without decoding, and tasks that provided context clues. These findings have important implications for future morphological intervention studies aimed to improve children's reading outcomes, in particular the use of orthography and spelling within the context of teaching morphology.

An exploratory study on dialect density estimation for children and adult's African American Englisha)

This paper evaluates an innovative framework for spoken dialect density prediction on children's and adults' African American English. A speaker's dialect density is defined as the frequency with which dialect-specific language characteristics occur in their speech. Rather than treating the presence or absence of a target dialect in a user's speech as a binary decision, instead, a classifier is trained to predict the level of dialect density to provide a higher degree of specificity in downstream tasks. For this, self-supervised learning representations from HuBERT, handcrafted grammar-based features extracted from ASR transcripts, prosodic features, and other feature sets are experimented with as the input to an XGBoost classifier. Then, the classifier is trained to assign dialect density labels to short recorded utterances. High dialect density level classification accuracy is achieved for child and adult speech and demonstrated robust performance across age and regional varieties of dialect. Additionally, this work is used as a basis for analyzing which acoustic and grammatical cues affect machine perception of dialect.

Grammaticality Judgments of Tense and Agreement by Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder Across Dialects of English

PURPOSE

Within General American English (GAE), the grammar weaknesses of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have been documented with many tasks, including grammaticality judgments. Recently, Vaughn et al. replicated this finding with a judgment task targeting tense and agreement (T/A) structures for children who spoke African American English (AAE), a dialect that contains a greater variety of T/A forms than GAE. In the current study, we further tested this finding for children who spoke Southern White English (SWE), another dialect that contains a greater variety of T/A forms than GAE but less variety than AAE. Then, combining the SWE and AAE data, we explored the effects of a child's dialect, clinical group, and production of T/A forms on the children's judgments.

METHOD

The data were from 88 SWE-speaking children (DLD, n = 18; typically developing [TD], n = 70) and 91 AAE-speaking children (DLD, n = 34; TD, n = 57) previously studied. As in the AAE study, the SWE judgment data were examined both with A' scores and percentages of acceptability, with comparisons between dialects made on percentages of acceptability.

RESULTS

As in AAE, the SWE DLD group had significantly different A' scores and percentages of acceptability than the SWE TD group for all sentence types, including those with T/A structures. Additional analyses indicated that the judgments of the TD but not the DLD groups showed dialect effects. Except for verbal -s, overt production and grammaticality judgments were correlated for the TD but not for the DLD groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Children with DLD across dialects of English present grammar difficulties that affect their ability to make judgments about sentences. More cross-dialectal research is needed to better understand the grammatical weaknesses of childhood DLD, especially for structures such as verbal -s that are expressed differently across dialects of English.

fNIRS Studies of Individuals with Speech and Language Impairment Underreport Sociodemographics: A Systematic Review

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a promising tool for scientific discovery and clinical application. However, its utility depends upon replicable reporting. We evaluate reporting of sociodemographics in fNIRS studies of speech and language impairment and asked the following: (1) Do refereed fNIRS publications report participant sociodemographics? (2) For what reasons are participants excluded from analysis? This systematic review was preregistered with PROSPERO (CRD42022342959) and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol. Searches in August 2022 included the terms: (a) fNIRS or functional near-infrared spectroscopy or NIRS or near-infrared spectroscopy, (b) speech or language, and (c) disorder or impairment or delay. Searches yielded 38 qualifying studies from 1997 to present. Eight studies (5%) reported at least partial information on race or ethnicity. Few studies reported SES (26%) or language background (47%). Most studies reported geographic location (100%) and gender/sex (89%). Underreporting of sociodemographics in fNIRS studies of speech and language impairment hinders the generalizability of findings. Replicable reporting is imperative for advancing the utility of fNIRS.

Home language variation in the narratives of urban First Nations Australian children in their first year of school

First Nations children may speak a dialect of English that has different grammatical rules from Standard Australian English (school language). Limited studies have investigated Aboriginal English (home language) dialect in First Nations children and its impact on differential diagnosis of language disorder. This study measured the density of home language dialect and grammatical accuracy in oral narratives produced by typically developing First Nations children. Non-standardised assessment narrative protocols were used to elicit language samples from 27 Australian First Nations children aged 4.5-6 years. Local home language dialectal features were coded into the sample and grammatical accuracy was calculated separately for school language and home language. All children displayed some use of home language features. The most common home language features used were alternative use of regular past tense and irregular past tense, zero use of regular and irregular past tense, and alternative use of pronouns. Dialect density varied highly amongst participants. Grammatical accuracy was higher for home language than school language. Speech pathologists and teachers need to be aware of differences between home and school language for First Nations children to avoid misdiagnosis of language disorder. More research is required to gain normative data that informs culturally appropriate assessment practices for this population.

Modern Assessments of Intelligence Must Be Fair and Equitable

Historically, assessments of human intelligence have been virtually synonymous with practices that contributed to forms of inequality and injustice. As such, modern considerations for assessing human intelligence must focus on equity and fairness. First, we highlight the array of diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns in assessment practices and discuss strategies for addressing them. Next, we define a modern, non-g, emergent view of intelligence using the process overlap theory and argue for its use in improving equitable practices. We then review the empirical evidence, focusing on sub-measures of g to highlight the utility of non-g, emergent models in promoting equity and fairness. We conclude with suggestions for researchers and practitioners.

Grammaticality Judgments of Tense and Agreement by Child Speakers of African American English: Effects of Clinical Status, Surface Form, and Grammatical Structure

PURPOSE

We examined the grammaticality judgments of tense and agreement (T/A) structures by children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD) within African American English (AAE). The children's judgments of T/A forms were also compared to their judgments of two control forms and, for some analyses, examined by surface form (i.e., overt, zero) and type of structure (i.e., BE, past tense, verbal -s).

METHOD

The judgments were from 91 AAE-speaking kindergartners (DLD = 34; typically developing = 57), elicited using items from the Rice/Wexler Test of Early Grammatical Impairment. The data were analyzed twice, once using General American English as the reference and A' scores and once using AAE as the reference and percentages of acceptability.

RESULTS

Although the groups differed using both metrics, the percentages of acceptability tied the DLD T/A deficit to judgments of the overt forms, while also revealing a general DLD weakness judging sentences that are ungrammatical in AAE. Judgments of the overt T/A forms by both groups correlated with their productions of these forms and their language test scores, and both groups showed structure-specific form preferences ("is": overt > zero vs. verbal -s: overt = zero).

CONCLUSION

The findings demonstrate the utility of grammaticality judgment tasks for revealing weaknesses in T/A within AAE-speaking children with DLD, while also calling for more studies using AAE as the dialect reference when designing stimuli and coding systems.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.22534588.

An examination of 3rd and 5th grade students' use of dialect specific forms during a written editing task

PURPOSE

The goal of the current study was to examine the role of variety and frequency of dialectal features in relation to General American English (GAE) editing ability. This study focused on speakers of dialect-specific forms and their ability to edit to GAE. To gain insight into this relation, the following research questions were posed: (1). How do third and fifth-grade students differ in the variety of features of dialect-specific forms they use, the frequency of their use, and their editing ability to GAE? (2). Is there a significant relation between dialect use and editing ability?

METHODS

Participants included 68 third and fifth-grade students who produced at least one dialect-specific form. We measured students' ability to edit to GAE during a written editing task. Frequency and variety of dialect use were based on an oral language sample where students were asked to share their favorite game or sport.

RESULTS

Fifth-grade students are significantly better at editing written dialect specific forms to reflect GAE writing conventions as compared to third-grade students. However, there was not a significant difference in the dialect specific form usage between the two grades. Finally, there was not a significant relation between dialect specific form use and editing ability.

CONCLUSIONS

These results offer relevant clinical and educational implications for increasing cultural responsivity and promote the use of multiple measures across modalities to gain relevant information when assessing students who use dialect specific forms. Further, the results from this study provide further insights into how written editing ability exhibited through the awareness of GAE conventions improves with age despite the influence of dialect specific forms.

Evaluating Different Scoring Systems for a Picture Description Task Among Preschool Children Who Speak African American English

PURPOSE

Measures of grammatical accuracy are effective measures of children's language skills. However, many measures, such as percent grammatical utterances, were developed for children who speak General American English (GAE) and, therefore, may not be appropriate for students who speak other dialects. This study examines different scoring systems for a picture description task to explore the impact of different systems for children who speak African American English (AAE).

METHOD

Eighteen preschool-age children who speak AAE completed a play-based language sample and a picture description task. The Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn) was calculated for the play-based language samples and used as the reference measure. The picture description task was scored using four scoring systems: an expansive AAE scoring system, a GAE scoring system, and two strategic scoring systems. Scores were compared for each scoring system, and correlations between IPSyn scores and picture description scores were conducted.

RESULTS

Scores on the picture description task were highest in the expansive AAE scoring system, followed by scores in the strategic scoring systems, all of which were higher than scores in the GAE scoring system. There was a significant correlation between IPSyn scores and picture description scores when using the GAE scoring system and the strategic scoring systems, but not when using the expansive AAE scoring system.

CONCLUSIONS

Different scoring systems affect AAE-speaking preschoolers' scores on measures of grammatical accuracy, and the use of an expansive AAE scoring system, based on lists of nonmainstream features, may diminish the ability to differentiate between children with different ability levels. Future research is needed to refine scoring systems and to explore the validity of different scoring systems for detecting differences between preschoolers who speak AAE, with and without developmental language disorder.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21498618.

Home language and literacy environment and its relationship to socioeconomic status and white matter structure in infancy

The home language and literacy environment (HLLE) in infancy has been associated with subsequent pre-literacy skill development and HLLE at preschool-age has been shown to correlate with white matter organization in tracts that subserve pre-reading and reading skills. Furthermore, childhood socioeconomic status (SES) has been linked with both HLLE and white matter organization. It is important to understand whether the relationships between environmental factors such as HLLE and SES and white matter organization can be detected as early as infancy, as this period is characterized by rapid brain development that may make white matter pathways particularly susceptible to these early experiences. Here, we hypothesized that HLLE (1) relates to white matter organization in pre-reading and reading-related tracts in infants, and (2) mediates a link between SES and white matter organization. To test these hypotheses, infants (mean age: 8.6 ± 2.3 months, N = 38) underwent diffusion-weighted imaging MRI during natural sleep. Image processing was performed with an infant-specific pipeline and fractional anisotropy (FA) was estimated from the arcuate fasciculus (AF) and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) bilaterally using the baby automated fiber quantification method. HLLE was measured with the Reading subscale of the StimQ (StimQ-Reading) and SES was measured with years of maternal education. Self-reported maternal reading ability was also quantified and applied to our statistical models as a proxy for confounding genetic effects. StimQ-Reading positively correlated with FA in left AF and to maternal education, but did not mediate the relationship between them. Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of considering HLLE from the start of life and may inform novel prevention and intervention strategies to support developing infants during a period of heightened brain plasticity.

African American English speaking 2nd graders, verbal-s, and educational achievement: Event related potential and math study findings

A number of influential linguistic analyses hold that African American English (AAE) has no verbal-s, the-s that, for example, turns drink into drinks in more mainstream English varieties.On such accounts, sentences like Mary drinks coffee are ungrammatical in AAE. Previous behavioral studies suggest that in addition to being ungrammatical, AAE speaking children find these sentences cognitively demanding, and that their presence in mathematical reasoning tests can depress scores. Until now, however, no online sentence processing study nor investigation of neurophysiological markers has been done to support these findings. Aimed at addressing this gap in the literature, the auditory ERP experiment described herein revealed two different processes associated with AAE speaking 2nd graders listening to this type of sentence: a morphosyntactic structure building problem, reflected in a bilateral early anterior-central negativity; and an increase in working memory load, indicated by a bilateral late long-lasting anterior-central negativity. Study participants also took an orally administered test of math word problems. Consistent with previous findings, results showed they answered fewer questions correctly when those questions contained verbal-s than when they did not.

Exploring boundary conditions of the listening comprehension-reading comprehension discrepancy index

Conversations about the nature of dyslexia and how dyslexia impacts reading and listening comprehension get to the heart of classification and identification models of dyslexia. Recently, this conversation has been expanded to include efforts to estimate the prevalence of dyslexia in the population through the introduction of a discrepancy index of listening comprehension and reading comprehension. This discrepancy index was proposed to serve as a proxy for dyslexia when estimating its prevalence in the population. Individuals whose reading comprehension is considerably lower than their listening comprehension are thought to exhibit unexpected reading deficits. However, the index could underrepresent certain groups within the population. The current study explored this possibility using data from a sample of 4078 public-school students. We hypothesized that students from historically marginalized or otherwise disenfranchised groups (i.e., poor and minority groups) would be less likely to have a positive listening comprehension - reading comprehension (LC-RC) discrepancy index. Based on the results of multilevel linear mixed effect modeling, socioeconomic status (SES) contributed to differential performance on the discrepancy index when it was calculated using residual scores. Moreover, African American students were identified as having a reliably lower discrepancy index regardless of how it was calculated. It appears that this index, which only looks at the comprehension of language and not production, may, in fact, disadvantage students for whom oral language production differs from General American English (GAE). These outcomes suggest that this measure may lack the sensitivity to identify bidialectal students with dyslexia.

Language Variation in the Writing of African American Students: Factors Predicting Reading Achievement

Purpose This study aims to examine the predictive relation between measures obtained from African American students' written narrative language samples and reading achievement, as measured by standardized academic assessments. Method Written language samples were elicited from 207 African American students in Grades 1-8. The samples were examined for morphosyntactic variations from standardized written Generalized American English (GAE). These variations were categorized as either (a) specific to African American English (AAE) or (b) neutral across AAE and standardized written GAE (i.e., considered ungrammatical both in AAE and in standardized written GAE). Structural equation modeling was employed to then examine the predictive relation between the density of AAE-specific forms in students' writing and their performance on standardized assessments of literacy and reading vocabulary. This relation was examined while accounting for the density of dialect-neutral morphosyntactic forms, reported family income, age, and written sample length. Results The written samples were highly variable in terms of morphosyntax. Younger students and those from lower income homes tended to use AAE-specific forms at higher rates. However, the density of AAE-specific forms did not significantly predict standardized literacy scores or reading vocabulary after accounting for dialect-neutral variations, income, and sample length. Conclusions These results support the ongoing need to better understand the language, literacy, and overall academic development of students from all backgrounds. It may be essential to focus on dialect-neutral language forms (i.e., morphosyntactic forms that are consistent across both AAE and standardized written GAE) in written samples to maximize assessment validity across students who speak varying dialects of English. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16879558.

Literacy instruction for autistic children who speak languages other than English

LAY ABSTRACT

Many autistic children across the globe speak languages other than English. However, much of the research about teaching children with autism to read and write is derived from studies including people who speak English and no other languages. Here, we review the research on teaching children with autism to read and write in languages other than English. We did this because the world's languages, and the ways they are represented in written form, vary greatly. A broader overview that encompasses languages other than English can help us better understand how learning to read and write can be supported for autistic children around the world. The studies included in our review highlight some potential differences in effective literacy teaching for autistic children learning to read and write using different writing systems. The studies we reviewed tended to include relatively small samples of autistic children, among other limitations. We hope that our review will increase awareness and research efforts in the area of autism and global literacy.

An Interprofessional Approach to Dialect-Shifting Instruction for Early Elementary School Students

Purpose Dialect-shifting has shown promise as an effective way to improve academic outcomes of students who speak nonmainstream dialects such as African American English (AAE); however, limited studies have examined the impacts of an interprofessional approach with multiple instructional methods. In this study, we developed a dialect-shifting curriculum for early elementary school students who speak AAE and evaluated the curriculum for feasibility and preliminary impacts. Method Forty-one kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-grade students and their teachers in one elementary school participated in a 7-week dialect-shifting instruction co-taught by the classroom teachers and a speech-language pathology graduate clinician. Students' use of dialect-shifting and dialect density was measured by calculating dialect density measures in retells presented in AAE and mainstream American English and responses to situational dialect-shifting and applied dialect-shifting tasks. Teacher surveys and interviews about the feasibility and perceived impacts were conducted. Results Initial impacts of the curriculum demonstrated increased dialect awareness for all students, with grade-level differences when students were asked to explicitly dialect-shift. In particular, second- and third-grade students were more proficient at dialect-shifting AAE features included in the curriculum. Additionally, high rates of administrator, teacher, and student satisfaction, teacher generalization, and maintenance of incorporating contrastive analysis instruction into class activities were reported. Conclusions Literacy and play-based instruction are feasible methods to create a dialect-shifting curriculum tailored to younger students. Furthermore, the feasibility and effectiveness of the curriculum were supported by an interprofessional approach. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13524317.

How the Science of Reading Informs 21st-Century Education

The science of reading should be informed by an evolving evidence base built upon the scientific method. Decades of basic research and randomized controlled trials of interventions and instructional routines have formed a substantial evidence base to guide best practices in reading instruction, reading intervention, and the early identification of at-risk readers. The recent resurfacing of questions about what constitutes the science of reading is leading to misinformation in the public space that may be viewed by educational stakeholders as merely differences of opinion among scientists. Our goals in this paper are to revisit the science of reading through an epistemological lens to clarify what constitutes evidence in the science of reading and to offer a critical evaluation of the evidence provided by the science of reading. To this end, we summarize those things that we believe have compelling evidence, promising evidence, or a lack of compelling evidence. We conclude with a discussion of areas of focus that we believe will advance the science of reading to meet the needs of all children in the 21st century.

Production of Morphosyntax Within and Across Different Dialects of American English

Purpose This study examined the production of morphosyntactic markers by school-age children with and without developmental language disorder. Comparisons were made between students who speak mainstream American English (MAE) dialects and nonmainstream American English (NMAE) dialects. Method First- and second-grade students (N = 82) completed assessments of dialect use and language ability, which are designed for students who speak NMAE dialects. Students also completed an experimental production task targeting three morphosyntactic features: past tense -ed marking, third-person singular -s marking, and plural -s marking. Past tense marking and third-person singular are produced differently across MAE and NMAE dialects, whereas plural marking is produced more similarly across dialects. Results When comparing across dialects, children with typical language skills who spoke NMAE dialects overtly marked past tense and third-person singular less often compared to MAE peers. However, when comparing to same-dialect peers with language disorders, children with typical language skills who spoke NMAE dialects overtly marked these morphosyntactic markers more often than peers with developmental language disorder. Conclusion The results underscore the importance of considering a child's dialect use when assessing language ability, in particular with measures that include features that are variable in NMAE dialects. At the same time, within-dialect comparisons suggest that a broader set of morphosyntactic features may provide useful information for evaluations of language ability. Future research should investigate the source of these differences, including the extent to which students with language disorders have acquired the social and linguistic factors that condition the use of variable features.

Language and Literacy Predictors of Dialect Density Among School-Age African American Children From Two Geographic Regions

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral language, literacy skills, age, and dialect density (DD) of African American children residing in two different geographical regions of the United States (East Coast and Midwest). Method Data were obtained from 64 African American school-age children between the ages of 7 and 12 years from two geographic regions. Children were assessed using a combination of standardized tests and narrative samples elicited from wordless picture books. Bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to determine relationships to and relative contributions of oral language, literacy, age, and geographic region to DD. Results Results of correlation analyses demonstrated a negative relationship between DD measures and children's literacy skills. Age-related findings between geographic regions indicated that the younger sample from the Midwest outscored the East Coast sample in reading comprehension and sentence complexity. Multiple regression analyses identified five variables (i.e., geographic region, age, mean length of utterance in morphemes, reading fluency, and phonological awareness) that accounted for 31% of the variance of children's DD-with geographic region emerging as the strongest predictor. Conclusions As in previous studies, the current study found an inverse relationship between DD and several literacy measures. Importantly, geographic region emerged as a strong predictor of DD. This finding highlights the need for a further study that goes beyond the mere description of relationships to comparing geographic regions and specifically focusing on racial composition, poverty, and school success measures through direct data collection.

The Relation Between Dialect Density and the Codevelopment of Writing and Reading in African American Children

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the influence of spoken dialect density on writing and on the codevelopment of reading and writing in African American English-speaking (AAE) children from first through fifth grades. The sample included 869 students, ranging in age from 5.8 to 12.5 years. Results indicated that dialect density had a negative influence concurrently and longitudinally on reading and writing in AAE-speaking children. High dialect users tended to have weak reading and writing skills and heavier dialect density slowed growth in reading and writing. However, this effect was moderated by the effects of reading and writing on each other. Reading had a facilitative effect on writing even in the presence of heavy dialect use.

Developing a Longitudinal Scale for Language: Linking Across Developmentally Different Versions of the Same Test

Purpose Many language tests use different versions that are not statistically linked or do not have a developmental scaled score. The current article illustrates the problems of scores that are not linked or equated, followed by a statistical model to derive a developmental scaled score. Method Using an accelerated cohort design of 890 students in Grades 1-5, a confirmatory factor model was fit to 6 subtests of the Test of Language Development-Primary and Intermediate: Fourth Edition ( Hammill & Newcomer, 2008a , 2008b ). The model allowed for linking the subtests to a general factor of language and equating their measurement characteristics across grades and cohorts of children. A sequence of models was fit to evaluate the appropriateness of the linking assumptions. Results The models fit well, with reasonable support for the validity of the tests to measure a general factor of language on a longitudinally consistent scale. Conclusion Although total and standard scores were problematic for longitudinal relations, the results of the model suggest that language grows in a relatively linear manner among these children, regardless of which set of subtests they received. Researchers and clinicians interested in longitudinal inferences are advised to design research or choose tests that can provide a developmental scaled score.

Prologue: Toward Accurate Identification of Developmental Language Disorder Within Linguistically Diverse Schools

Purpose

Although the 5 studies presented within this clinical forum include children who differ widely in locality, language learning profile, and age, all were motivated by a desire to improve the accuracy at which developmental language disorder is identified within linguistically diverse schools. The purpose of this prologue is to introduce the readers to a conceptual framework that unites the studies while also highlighting the approaches and methods each research team is pursuing to improve assessment outcomes within their respective linguistically diverse community.

Method

A disorder within diversity framework is presented to replace previous difference vs. disorder approaches. Then, the 5 studies within the forum are reviewed by clinical question, type of tool(s), and analytical approach.

Conclusion

Across studies of different linguistically diverse groups, research teams are seeking answers to similar questions about child language screening and diagnostic practices, using similar analytical approaches to answer their questions, and finding promising results with tools focused on morphosyntax. More studies that are modeled after or designed to extend those in this forum are needed to improve the accuracy at which developmental language disorder is identified.