Receptive language and morphology (grammar)

To compare the effectiveness of our DA of vocabulary, we set out to search for an already validated instrument matching the ages and linguistic background of our participants. Linguistische

Sprachstandserhebung für Kinder mit Deutsch als Zweitsprache (Lise-DaZ, Schulz & Tracy, 2011) filled our criteria due to its solid psychometric characteristics that have already been mentioned in section 1.9.3 and most importantly, due to its standardization with children with German with an additional language and the fact that it is a measure of general linguistic (receptive and expressive) linguistic ability.

As a result of practical reasons (time efficiency, length of testing sessions), only certain subtests were chosen, namely the subtests «Understanding of verb meanings” (receptive language), as well as the expressive subtests “Sentence structure”, “Subject-Verb agreement» and «Word classes» (which include evaluation of the ability to use expressive Conjunctions, Prepositions, Verbs, as well Focal parts). The specific items were chosen as they focus either on areas like the ones tested through the DA of vocabulary (semantics) and/or tap on aspects of language that have been known to be frequently impaired in children with SLI in German, such as the ability to form Subject-Verb agreement.

With regard to the standardization and the psychometric qualities of the selected subtests: Each subtest yields a raw score, which then is converted to a T-score (M = 50; SD = 10). It should be noted that the expressive items are all scored by means of the same linguistic sample, i.e., children’s responses to standardized questions based on the short story of “Lise” and her friends.

For reference, the reported internal consistency of these subtests was good, as indicated through the moderate intercorrelations among the different measures; the expressive subtest Sentence Structure, especially, was highly correlated to the rest of the selected items. Convergent validity was, also, acceptable as shown through correlations with the “Sprachentwicklungstest für drei- bis fünfjährige

79 Kinder”/SETK 3-5 (Grimm, 2000). More specifically, the highest correlations were noted between the subtests of prepositions, modal and auxiliary verbs, and conjunctions (Lise-DaZ), and the

corresponding subtests of comprehension of sentences, development of grammar rules and phonological short-term memory (SETK 3-5). Nonetheless, as reported by the authors (Schulz &

Tracy, 2011, p. 107) this comparison only concerned the monolingual speakers and not the CLD children of the sampling group due to the lack of other appropriate measures to use for this population (Lise-DaZ was the first individual test ever to be standardized for this age group and this linguistic background in Germany).

2.3.4.1 A brief description and rationale of each selected Lise-DaZ subtest

Comprehension of Verb meanings (“Verstehen der Verbbedeutung“)

This is one of the three receptive tasks of this battery and was expressly selected as it is the one that focuses more clearly on semantic comprehension, rather than comprehension of syntactic/grammatic forms. More specifically, this task evaluates children’s ability to discriminate between the meanings of end-product verbs versus process-oriented verbs, which is an important semantic milestone in German, as already mentioned in section 1.4.3. For reference, LI children have been found to interpret end-product verbs as process-oriented up to age of 7 (Schulz & Tracy, 2011).

The selected procedure involves a semantic judgment task which has been established as a successful and reliable testing method of comprehension in German that is free of the influence of children’s expressive ability (Schulz & Tracy, 2011, p. 37).

Materials: Set of pictures, hand puppet and scoring forms.

Procedure

Children were shown pictures of two categories of events (verbs), i.e., end-product, such as “open up”

(aufmachen) and process-oriented, such as “paint” (malen), followed by yes-no questions (e.g. “did she open it up?”, “did she paint?”). Children were required to look at these pictures and answer the question that was asked by the hand puppet (snail) with a yes or a no. The sentences are constructed in such a way that it is not possible to guess the correct response; the verbs were selected based on

“prototypical membership” to the semantic verb categories and whether they were acquired early in the expressive vocabularies of young children.

This subtest contains 12 test items (6 per category). If a child receives a score of less than 5 correct verbs per category, then this is considered as an indication of need for further support in this area.

80 Scoring was completed using the corresponding scoring form. All children’s responses were written down to avoid problems with scoring.

Expressive tests

As mentioned, all expressive subtests are evaluated on the same linguistic sample, which is elicited by means of a story (the story of Lise and her friends), including 14 pictures and 26 questions.

Materials: A set of vocabulary cards, the storybook “Lise and her friends”, and a recording device.

Procedure

Before the beginning of this part children were asked to name certain items and animals pictured in the story. Their responses were not scored, and children were provided with the name of an unknown word as the goal of this part was to ensure the best possible understanding of the subsequent section of the assessment. The examiner then read the story and asked the children several questions.

The examiner’s exact instruction was “I will now look at a story with pictures with you. The story is called “Adventures in the park”. There are many different things that show up. We will look at those together. Look, what is that?”. The examiner continued reading the story, showing the corresponding pictures to the children. The questions were of the following format: “There is a little dog in there.

Why does he have a sad face?” or “Look, the boys wave back. And what is Lise doing?”

The examiner’s questions were scripted in colour because they needed to be reproduced verbatim.

Children’s responses were recorded for further analysis. All following subtests were scored based on this initial sample of responses. The recording was made by means of a MARANTZ audio recorder, model PMD620.

a. Word classes (Focal parts/ Conjunctions/ Prepositions/ auxiliary-modal verbs/verbs)

Children’s responses to a set of 13-14 standard questions, following a short story were analysed and scored separately for each of the following subtests/word classes. In other words, children were evaluated as to how many prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary-modal verbs, verbs etc. they used correctly in their answers, receiving a separate raw score for each word class.

According to the authors (Schulz & Tracy, 2011), these word classes were chosen, as they each play a central role for the syntactic development of German. For instance, conjunctions might only be employed within the “left sentence bracket”, whereas auxiliary or modal verbs’ positions depend on the type of the sentence (main or subordinate). Overall, all the above word classes are to be mastered

81 typically at around age three by monolingual German-speakers. However, children with LI frequently have difficulties with the mastery of auxiliary/ modal verbs, as well as prepositions. An additional distinction between these word categories can be found between the so-called “open classes”, such as verbs, which might be arbitrarily expandable, and the “closed word classes”, such as pronouns and conjunctions, which are not. This distinction is of clinical interest as “closed” word classes are frequently acquired later in children with LI (Grimm, 2000); (Schulz & Tracy, 2011).

Furthermore, a qualitative difference between these subtests is that the use of some categories, such as the conjunctions, indicate generally a more advanced linguistic level, as they are linked, for instance, with the appearance of subordinate clauses.

More specifically, a brief description of each expected type of word class follows here:

- Focal parts: also, not, only (“auch, nicht, nur”)

- Verbs: simple verbs, such as paint (“malen”), as well as more advanced, separable (trennbare) verbs, such as paint up (“abmalen”). This word class, also, included all other verb forms apart from participles.

- Modal verbs: will, can, etc.

- Auxiliary verbs: forms of verb “to be/ to have” (when used in conjunction with a particle for example).

- Prepositions (on, under, for. Etc).

- Conjunctions (because, if, that, whether / “weil, wenn, dass, ob”)

Scoring

All children’s responses were transcribed and analysed. Each word class was evaluated separately and was awarded a separate raw score. One point was awarded for the correct use of each word. If a child used the same form more than once this did not count in the scoring.

b. Sentence assembly/ level:

This subtest provides information regarding children’s phrase/sentence development and more specifically, to what extend they have mastered the typical structure of main and subordinate clause, which is quite specific in German. The typical acquisition pattern of these structures in German (monolinguals) is split in four levels, ranging from Level I to Level IV (the referred term is “ESS – Entwicklungsstufe Satzklammer”), and each contains different types of sentence domains (also referred to as fields or brackets). These levels might be illustrated as follows:

82 Table 8. Acquisition patterns of sentence development in German (Adapted from Schluz & Tracy,2011, p.33)

Sentence Assembly Level

VF(Prefield) Left field Middle field Right field NF(Afterfield)

Tür (Door) auf (open). Level-II

Initially, (during Level I phase) children produce one-word phrases (therefore this is not included in this table). Then, usually, at Level II, two-word combinations appear that already follow the “typical”

German word placement (with the verb at the end of the phrase), which is a predecessor of the “right”

sentence structure. During that stage appear words, such as “auch” (also) and “nicht” (not).

Level III typically appears around 2-2;6 and is marked by the use of verbs at the V2 position, which is considered as a main sentence/ clause. At around 3 children start using subordinate clauses which are characterized by the positioning of the verb at the end of the phrase (Schulz & Tracy, 2011).

Scoring

Based on the same sample as in the previous subtest, children’s utterances were anaylsed based on the matrix presented in Table 8. For a child to be awarded a certain sentence level at least three

occurrences of this phrase were required.

c. Subject-Verb agreement

This subtest evaluates to what extent children have mastered subject-verb agreement and verb conjugation and is, therefore, scored only for those children who have already the ability to form 2–3-word phrases and, more specifically, for children that have reached Level III or IV at the previous subtest (Sentence Assembly).

83 Scoring

It is calculated as the proportion between the sum of all correct Subject-Verb utterances to the total of any Subject-Verb utterances. As the authors emphasize, one of the main structures that is tested through this test is not only verb conjugation but, also, the mastery of the principle that only finite verbs are allowed at the so-called “V2/ verb-second word order” of a sentence (whereby the verb is placed at the second position of the phrase with one constituent before it). This skill is to be mastered by around 2;6 by monolingual children and within a year of regular contact where early sequential bilingual are concerned (Schulz & Tracy, 2011, p. 25). Conversely, both adults learning German as well as young children with LI oftentimes present difficulties with said structures.