| This study examined the relationships between norm-referenced test scores and language sample measures from oral narratives in 14 children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 14 age-matched peers with typical language (TL). Correlational analyses between the Expressive Language Index (ELI) of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, fourth edition and Oral Narration portion of the Test of Narrative Language (TNL) indicated two significant relationships between the norm-referenced test scores and narrative language sample measures for the TL group. However, no correlations were significant for the SLI group. This suggests that the evaluation tools are assessing different aspects of language for children with SLI. Additionally, effect sizes were consistently larger in the TL group than in the SLI group, suggesting less consistent performance across contexts for children with SLI. The results support the use of language sample analysis in conjunction with norm-referenced tests for accurate diagnosis of children with language deficits.
Key Words: specific language impairment, norm-referenced tests, language sample analysis, school-age children, language assessment, narrative, Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts, Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, fourth edition, Test of Narrative Language |