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OWLS- II Oral and Written Language Scales, Second Edition

OWLS- II Oral and Written Language Scales, Second Edition. Elizabeth Carrow-Woolfolk , PhD. Theoretical Background of OWLS-II. Based on author’s theory that language facilitates the communication of ideas

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OWLS- II Oral and Written Language Scales, Second Edition

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  1. OWLS-IIOral and Written Language Scales, Second Edition Elizabeth Carrow-Woolfolk, PhD

  2. Theoretical Background of OWLS-II • Based on author’s theory that language facilitates the communication of ideas • “In our world, there are an infinite number . . . of subjects to talk about. Humans could not communicate about the world with efficiency if we did not have a shortcut, a way of referring to the world using a code to represent things and ideas.” • Language is this code

  3. Using Theory to Inform Assessment • The OWLS-II measures the receptive and expressive aspects of oral and written language • These are represented by the four major communication processes: listening, speaking, reading, and writing • The theory also highlights understanding the specific elements of language that cause difficulty for a child

  4. OWLS-II Scales Scale Listening Comprehension (LC) Oral Expression (OE) Reading Comprehension (RC) Written Expression (WE) Process Oral language reception: Listening to and comprehending spokenlanguage Oral language expression: Speaking Written language reception: Reading and comprehending written language Written language expression:Writing Item format Items are presented verbally and pictorially;responses are given primarily by pointing onmultiple-choice items Items are presented verbally and pictorially;responses are given verbally Items and responses are presented in text;responses are given by pointing or saying the number of the response on multiple-choice items Items are presented verbally and visually(some in text, some pictorially); responses are written

  5. OWLS-II Scale Comparisons • Listening, speaking, reading, and writing have common elements • Each process draws upon the same information • It is noteworthy when a person experiences problems with one of the processes and not with the others • Measurement of LC/OE grouped together; RC/WE grouped together

  6. OWLS-II Improvements • Standardization of all four scales on the same population • Provision of parallel forms for progress monitoring • Addition of new items that measure language used in the classroom (e.g., perpendicular) • Revision of stimulus materials • Labeling each item by the linguistic structure it measures

  7. OWLS-II Improvements (continued) • Addition of a Reading Comprehension Scale • The theory upon which the OWLS-II is based, as well as much recent research, illustrates the importance of integrating reading assessment with oral language assessment

  8. OWLS-II Improvements (continued) • Revision of the Written Expression scoring guidelines to provide more clinical information • Many writing tests focus on the student’s abilities in a general fashion • OWLS-II evaluates each writing response for skills in multiple areas • Can easily be compared with specific skills on other scales

  9. OWLS-II Improvements (continued) • Development of alternative, acceptable responses for students who speak dialectical variations of English • It is essential that individuals are not penalized for speaking or writing in a way that is consistent with their culture and dialect • OE and WE scales provide examples of common responses by speakers of African American English

  10. Categories of Linguistic Structures Measured by the OWLS-II Category Description of linguistic structures Lexical/Semantic Vocabulary: nouns, verbs, modifiers, idioms, prefixes, and suffixes SyntacticGrammatical morphemes: function words (e.g., pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliaries, determiners) and inflections (e.g., possessives, plurals, verb tense, noun–verb agreement) Sentence structure: word order, sentence complexity, accuracy, and type SupralinguisticNonliteral language: double meaning, inference, verbal reasoning, figurative language, indirect requests, and humor Pragmatic Functional and social characteristics of language Text Structure (RC and WE only) Knowledge and performance of the combination of all other categories to create lengthy text passages to be read or written Conventions (WE only) Letter formation (fine motor), spelling, punctuation, and capitalization Note. The term linguistic structure is used to describe elements of language, such as nouns, conjunctions, and so on. The term category is used to group structures having common functions.

  11. Comprehensive Measurement • Each of the four scales has items that measure the same linguistic structures • This allows for qualitative comparison of item type across scales • This also helps guide intervention planning

  12. Conclusions • The OWLS-II retains the best of the original OWLS • It makes important improvements in items, scoring, stimulus materials, and functionality • It is the most comprehensive measurement of language available

  13. For more information contact: WPS www.wpspublish.com 800.648.8857

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