(Dynamic assessment of narratives: Efficient, accurate identification of language impairment in bilingual students

This study investigated dynamic assessment in evaluations among SLPs and explored whether different procedures would increase its use.

Researchers asked if a shorter DA procedure could produce high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing bilingual children with and without language impairment (LI). If so, they further investigated which of a variety of measures obtained during DA produced the results.

Participants included 42 Spanish-English bilingual children, aged from kindergarten to third-grade, of which 10 had LI and 32 had typical development (TD). Examiners administered two 25-minute DA test-teach-test sessions. Cut scores were established and performance was scored for use of story grammar, subordinate clauses, duration of testing session, and modifiability (learning behaviors during the testing sessions).

Results showed that sensitivity and specificity for bilingual children was much better than most commercially available standardized tests. They found that scores of modifiability, the length required to complete the testing sessions and mean post-test scores were the most accurate indicators in classifying bilingual children with and without LI.

This study further contributed to growing research in using both DA and narratives to assess children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Since the sample size was small and only represents a small portion of the populations likely encountered in the clinical setting, it is important to use DA as part of several assessment measures to improve accuracy in identifying children with LI from different backgrounds.