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Communication Disorders Quarterly
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Productivity, Fluency, and Grammaticality Measures From Narratives

Potential Indicators of Language Proficiency?

Janet Tilstra

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, tils0016{at}umn.edu

Kristen McMaster

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

The purpose of this study was to identify potential general outcome indicators (GOIs) of language proficiency. Brief narratives were elicited from 45 kindergarten, first-grade, and third-grade children using single-picture scenes and a standardized protocol. Measures of language productivity, verbal fluency, and grammaticality were examined for alternate-form reliability and criterion validity. Two verbal fluency measures, total productive words per minute and total number of words per minute, were reliably obtained for students in all grades, demonstrated moderate criterion validity with a standardized oral language measure, and differentiated third-grade students from those in kindergarten and first grade. Additional standards for GOIs are discussed.

Key Words: language assessment • narratives • evidence-based practice • outcome measures • school age • children • language impairment

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Communication Disorders Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1, 43-53 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1525740108314866
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