Sandie Barrie Blackley, MA/CCC & Vicki McCready, MA/CC

1. The Language Structure Knowledge and Knowledge Calibration of Speech-Language Pathology Students in Eight SEUCE Programs 2008 SEUCE ConferenceAsheville, NC September 18-19, 2008 Sandie Barrie Blackley, MA/CCC & Vicki McCready, MA/CC andPeggy Agee, Brenda Beverly, Dawn Botts, Mary Dale Fitzgerald, Sally Ann Giess, Arianne Pait & Elissa Zylla-Jones Thanks to Bill Dudley, Ph.D. and Jamila Minga, MS/CCC-SLPwho worked on the statistical analysis

2. Language StructureFundamentalsHow completely and successfully are we teaching our SLP graduate students these fundamentals…and How much do licensed SLPs know…?

3. Language Structure Parameters • Spoken Language parameters (ASHA, 1983): • phonology • morphology • semantics • syntax • pragmatics • Written Language parameters add: • phonics • orthography Are these included in your curriculum?

4. Language Structure Print is a visual representation of language form and structure: • phonology- the sequence of speech sound • orthography- spelling patterns • Explicit phonics • Implicit phonics • morphology- units of meaning in words • syntax- sentence structure

5. A little history….. During Orientation Week in 2005 SBB & VMc gave incoming UNCG graduate students an adapted version of a word structure survey developed by Cunningham et al. (2004) for K-3 teachers. That pilot survey was focused at the word-level: I. Phonological Knowledge II. Explicit Phonics Knowledge III. Implicit Phonics Knowledge

6. SEUCE Involvement • In the fall of 2006 SBB & VMc presented these pilot findings to SEUCE. • SEUCE members were interested in assessing the language structure knowledge of their SLP students and wanted to expand the survey to include morphology and syntax.

7. Survey Expanded • With the help of SEUCE members, items addressing morphology and syntax were added to the survey. • A multi-site IRB was approved by UNCG in 2005. A modification was approved in 2007.The IRB was recently renewed until August 2009

8. The following programs are included on the UNCG IRB: • Appalachian State U. • Arkansas State U. • Auburn U. • Longwood U. • Tennessee State U. • U. of Central Florida • U. of North Carolina at Greensboro • Southern Alabama U. • Western Carolina U.

9. The following SEUCE programs submitted data for this (multi-site) pilot(listed alphabetically) • Appalachian State University-group #1 (N = 28) • Auburn University (N = 18) • Arkansas State University (N = 20) • Longwood University (N= 11) • Tennessee State University (N = 21) • University of Central Florida-group #1 (N = 29) • University of Central Florida-group # 2(N = 13) • University of NC–Greensboro (N = 29) • University of. South Alabama (N = 20) TOTAL Ss= 204 graduate students

10. For comparison: a group of 36 School-based SLPs The survey was used as an assessment on July 26, 2007 to begin a two day NC Department of Public Instruction continuing education event (A Language-Literacy Tune-Up for SLPs) taught by Barrie-Blackley & McCready and other UNCG Clinical Educators.

11. The Ten Groups (universities listed alphabetically) Appalachian State University-group #1 (N = 28) Auburn University (N = 18) Arkansas State University (N = 20) Longwood University (N= 11) Tennessee State University (N = 21) University of Central Florida-group #1 (N = 29) University of Central Florida-group # 2(N = 13) University of NC–Greensboro (N = 29) University of. South Alabama (N = 20) SLPs licensed in NC (N= 36) TOTAL Ss = 240

12. The Survey • The word-level knowledge items adapted from theCunningham et al. (2004) survey are identified by • New items added to assess morphology and syntax knowledge ( identified by )

13. Overview FormatUniversities:unidentifiedorder Licensed SLPS: Group 8 mean Ss response accuracy • sites (programs)  … only you know your program’s number (s)

14. Part A: Knowledge Calibration Before taking the survey Ss were asked to gauge their knowledge & skill level in five areas of language structure: A) no experience (0) B) minimal skills (1) C) proficient (2) D) expert (3)

15. Language Structure Domains • 1. Phonological Awareness (sound counting) • 2. Explicit Phonics (orthographic concepts) • 3. Implicit Phonics (ID phonologically irregular words) • 4. Morphology • morpheme counting • free & bound morphs. • inflectional & derivational morphs. • grammatical morphs. • 5. Syntax • sentence types • parts of speech

16. Knowledge Calibration (5 questions x 3 = 15 max. score) (Between groups difference is significant < .01) 7.2  sites (programs) 

17. Part B: Knowledge

18. 1. Phonological Awareness:Indicate the number of phonemes in the following words: • sun • laughed • grass • Christmas • though • psychology • scratch • each • say • chalk • exit s-u-n (3) l-au-gh-ed (4) g-r-a-ss (4) Ch-r-i-st-m-a-s (7) th-ough (2) ps-y-ch-o-l-o-g-y (8) s-c-r-a-tch (5) ea-ch (2) s-ay (2) ch-al-k (3) * e-x-i-t (5) k s The reliability of this scale is .85

19. 1. Phonological Awareness: (Between groups difference significant <.001) Accuracy in counting the number of phonemes in 11 words 7.6  sites (programs) 

20. 2. Explicit Phonics Knowledge PHONICS= How >40 English speech sounds are represented by just 24 letters of the alphabet Phonics knowledge was tested through nine multiple choice questions requiring precise definition of terms: syllable syllable type diphthong digraph schwa consonant blend

21. 2. Explicit Phonics Knowledge-1 A syllable is a unit that: • contains at least one consonant • contains one and only one vowel sound • contains a combination of vowels and consonants • is the smallest meaningful unit of language 40%  Percent correct average for all sites

22. 2. Explicit Phonics Knowledge-2 Consonant speech sounds in American-English are represented: • by 18 of the consonant letters of the alphabet plus certain digraphs • by single letter consonants plus their two- and three-letter blends • by consonant-vowel combinations • American English language is too irregular to represent the consonant speech sounds with any degree of accuracy. 57%  Percent correct average for all sites

23. 2.Explicit Phonics Knowledge-3 The open syllable of the nonsense word botem would most likely rhyme with: • cot • hot • ran • low • gem 56%  Percent correct average for all sites

24. 2. Explicit Phonics Knowledge-4 A diphthong is best illustrated by the vowels representing the sound of: • owin snow • ouin mouse • oo in foot • ai in said • a and b 49%  Percent correct average for all sites

25. 2. Explicit Phonics Knowledge-5 The sound of the schwa is represented by the: • a in baited • e in early • e in happen • w in show • all of the above 68%  Percent correct average for all sites

26. 2. Explicit Phonics Knowledge-6 An example of a ‘closed syllable’ is: • desk • home • tight • all of these • none of these 10%  Percent correct average for all sites

27. 2. Explicit Phonics Knowledge-7 If e were the only vowel in an open syllable, the e would most likely represent the same sound as the: • e in pine • ea in meat • y in my • e in set • none of these 41%  Percent correct average for all sites

28. 2. Explicit Phonics Knowledge-8 An example of a consonant blend is the: • ch in chip • sl in slip • th in bath • rl in girl • a and c 34%  Percent correct average for all sites

29. 2. Explicit Phonics Knowledge-9 An example of a digraph is the: • ch in cheese • st in steel • th in thin • mb in thumb • a and c 67%  Percent correct average for all sites

30. 2. Explicit Phonics(Between groups difference significant at <.05) 4.2  sites (programs) 

31. 3. Implicit Phonics Knowledge In this list of (26) words circle the words that contain irregular American-English spelling patterns: done, make, but, skill, on, said, rebate, chunk, the, sir, have, tax, was, five, give, kick, velvet, what, one, does, still, backed, pint, mash, yacht, word See next slide……

32. 3. Implicit Phonics(Between groups difference- significant at <.001) Mean number of correctly identified irregularly spelled words out of 11 targets 4.6  sites (programs) 

33.  4. Morphology A. Indicate the number of grammatical morphemes in each of the following: • dog (1) • is jumping (3) • ran (1) • does*(1) • clapped (2) • Sara’s balls (4) The reliability of this scale is .85 See next slide………..

34.  4. Morphology B. In which of the following does a “third person singular” grammatical morpheme occur? • does • jump • eats • ran 51% (range: 5.3% 17%)  Percent correct average for all sites

35.  4. Morphology C. Indicate if each example is a free (f) or a bound (b) morpheme:

36.  4. Morphology C. Indicate if each underlined example is an inflectional (I) or a derivational (D) morpheme:

37.  4. MorphologyD. From the following sentence give one example of the following grammatical morphemes (1-4): The girl who jumped on the trampoline fell when she dropped her brother’s ball. • a regular past tense verb: jumped or dropped • an irregular past tense verb: fell • an article: the • a possessive form of a noun: brother’s

38. 4. Morphology (Between groups difference is notsignificant at .05) Mean correct for Items IV. A.-D 21  sites (programs) 

39.  5. SyntaxE. In the sentence, It’s not true, the word ‘It’s’ is: • a possessive pronoun • a possessive noun • a pronoun + copula • a pronoun + auxiliary 51%  Percent correct average for all sites

40.  5. Syntax F. Indicate if following sentences aresimple (S), compound (C), or complex (CX): • Mary was admitted to graduate school but she might not go.__C___ • The author, John Lane, autographed his books at Barnes and Noble on the third Saturday in March, 2006. ___S__ • When Sara announced her engagement, her parents cried. __CX__ • The bike that was in the accident was blue.__CX___ Average accuracy on this four item task was 43% across all sites, ranging from 15% accuracy for item 2 to 100% on item 1.

41.  5. Syntax G. Circle all the adverbs in the following sentence. How many adverbs are there? That ferocious dog ran veryfast down the dusty road to chase the elderly mail carrier who was only doing his job. Average percent accuracy across all sites was 27% (range 15.4% - 41%).

42.  5. Syntax H. Circle all the nouns in the following sentences and indicate the number of nouns in each. • It’s a cloudy day. __1___ • Flowers of all kinds dotted the distant landscape. ___3__ • Mandy counted five fish. __2___ • Come here right now Gandalf, you naughty dog! __2___ 69% 27% 92% 73%  Percent correct average for all sites

43.  5. Syntax I. Circle all the pronouns in the following sentences andindicate the number of pronouns in each. • I don’t think it’s important that you give something to everyonewho comes. __6___ • Who was thatwho did not pay her fine? __4___ • If he does whateverhe wants he won’t please himself or you.___6__ 4. Which is best, yours or mine?___3__ 5.4% 5.9% 7.4% 12.3%  Percent correct average for all sites

44. 5. Syntax (Items E.-I.)(Between Group difference is notsignificant at .05) Mean correct out of 14 possible 5.3  sites (programs) 

45. KNOWLEDGE CALIBRATIONIn general, Ss’ self-ratings are not associated with their level of their knowledge. There was a weak association only for the Explicit Phonics items (at <.05). 7.2 Groups differ: <.01  sites (programs) 

46. Language Structure Parameters • Spoken Language parameters (ASHA, 1983): • phonology • morphology • semantics • syntax • pragmatics What are the curricular implications of this data? • Written Language parameters add: • phonics • orthography

47. Poster Session ASHA ~ ChicagoEnglish Language Structure: What Do Our Graduate Students Know? Sandie Barrie Blackley, MA/CCC, & Vicki McCready, MA/CCC and Peggy Agee, Brenda Beverly, Dawn Botts, Mary Dale Fitzgerald, Sally Ann Giess, Arianne Pait & Elissa Zylla-Jones Poster Board 316 Session #1966 Friday 11/21/08 8- 9:30 AM

48. Where do we go from here?? • Develop a skills and knowledge assessment instrument? • Make money for SEUCE? Meet in Hawaii………..! • How to fund it?

49. Thanks!! Sandie: sbblackl@uncg.edu Vicki: cvmccrea@uncg.edu

50. References Blackley, S. B. & McCready, V. Word Structure Knowledge and Knowledge Calibration of First Year Graduate Students in Speech-Language Pathology. A presentation to the Annual Conference of the International Dyslexia Association. Denver, CO, November 10, 2005 Blackley, S. B. & McCready, V. Word Structure Knowledge and Knowledge Calibration of First Year Graduate Students in Speech-Language Pathology. A Poster Session presented at the Annual Convention of the American Speech, Language, Hearing Association. Miami, FL, November 17, 2006. Cunningham, A.E., Perry, K.E., Stanovich, K.E., & Stanovich, P.J. (2004). Disciplinary knowledge of K-3 teachers and their knowledge calibration in the domain of early language. Annals of Dyslexia, 54 (1), 139-167.