Like, Comment, and Share: Speech-Language Pathologists' Use of Social Media for Clinical Decision Making.

Many social media sites are dedicated for speech-language pathologists (SLPs); however, the extent to which SLPs utilize them in clinical decision making and evidence-based practice (EBP) is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to explore SLPs' use of traditional and modern resources, including social media, within clinical decision making for assessment and intervention practices. Using a stratified random sampling approach, we invited school-based SLPs in Florida and Ohio and on pediatric-focused, SLP Facebook sites to complete an online survey. The majority (N = 271) reported using social media for professional purposes at least once per week: most frequently Facebook (19-25% of SLPs) or Pinterest (15-18% of SLPs) to learn about new treatment ideas or resources for (12-18%) or read others' summaries of treatment-related research (8-11%), but rarely to pose or answer a clinical question (3-5%). The number of reasons for one's professional social media use was moderately correlated with frequency of social media use, traditional EBP training, and reading a greater number of articles from ASHA and other sources. The results warrant further consideration of how to leverage social media as a tool to increase SLPs' knowledge and implementation of EBP.

Teachers' Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Beliefs Regarding the Use of African American English.

Purpose In order to provide appropriate and effective assessment and instructional activities, teachers are encouraged to develop their cultural competency. Although speech-language pathologists (SLPs) receive training on the linguistic features of nonmainstream dialects of English, such as African American English (AAE), less is known about teachers' training, beliefs, and pedagogical knowledge surrounding this topic. Method Using stratified random sampling by county population, we invited educators within selected Ohio school districts to complete an online survey (n = 17,548). The survey probed teachers' pre- and postservice training, beliefs, and knowledge of linguistic features and terminology relating to AAE. A total of 571 teachers completed at least 50% of the survey items (3.66% response rate). Results Few teachers report receiving training on AAE and demonstrated a limited grasp of linguistic terms commonly found in AAE literature; however, many teachers reported feeling confident in their abilities to identify features of AAE in written language tasks. In terms of school culture, teachers reported that they believed AAE to be more appropriate outside (rather than inside) the classroom, and only one third of teachers received resources to enhance their knowledge of the cultural and linguistic features of AAE. Conclusions Results suggest that teachers may benefit from increased access to training and materials to further develop their cultural competence. Given SLPs' familiarity with cultural and linguistic variability, SLPs may work to support teachers' cultural competence and encourage culturally appropriate assessment and intervention practices. Additional research is needed to determine how teachers' skills in these areas predict effectiveness/teaching ability and which factors are most important in the provision of culturally relevant instruction.

Collecting Words: A Clinical Example of a Morphology-Focused Orthographic Intervention.

Purpose Morphological interventions promote gains in morphological knowledge and in other oral and written language skills (e.g., phonological awareness, vocabulary, reading, and spelling), yet we have a limited understanding of critical intervention features. In this clinical focus article, we describe a relatively novel approach to teaching morphology that considers its role as the key organizing principle of English orthography. We also present a clinical example of such an intervention delivered during a summer camp at a university speech and hearing clinic. Method Graduate speech-language pathology students provided a 6-week morphology-focused orthographic intervention to children in first through fourth grade (n = 10) who demonstrated word-level reading and spelling difficulties. The intervention focused children's attention on morphological families, teaching how morphology is interrelated with phonology and etymology in English orthography. Results Comparing pre- and posttest scores, children demonstrated improvement in reading and/or spelling abilities, with the largest gains observed in spelling affixes within polymorphemic words. Children and their caregivers reacted positively to the intervention. Therefore, data from the camp offer preliminary support for teaching morphology within the context of written words, and the intervention appears to be a feasible approach for simultaneously increasing morphological knowledge, reading, and spelling. Conclusion Children with word-level reading and spelling difficulties may benefit from a morphology-focused orthographic intervention, such as the one described here. Research on the approach is warranted, and clinicians are encouraged to explore its possible effectiveness in their practice. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12290687.

Young children's narrative retell in response to static and animated stories.

BACKGROUND: The format of narrative prompts used within language assessment has remained relatively constant; however, the use of animated video prompts deserves exploration given the increase in access to technology. AIMS: To investigate the effect of story presentation format (static picture book versus animated video) on preschool children's narrative retells. It was hypothesized that children would produce more advanced narrative language elements in response to an animated video than a book. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A total of 73 children between the ages of 3 and 5 years completed two narrative retells. One of these retells was in response to a 3-min animated video presented on a computer; the other retell was in response to static pictures presented in a book format. Children's stories were then transcribed and coded for linguistic and narrative elements. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Paired sample t-tests revealed that children produced significantly longer stories, greater syntactic complexity and lexical variety, and more action verbs when retelling an animated story compared with a book. Furthermore, a post-hoc analysis revealed that examiners provided significantly fewer prompts when eliciting the retell with animation. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Typically developing children demonstrated higher quantity and quality of language within a story retell in response to an animated video than after viewing images from the video presented in a static picture book. Although the extent to which these findings may be similar for children with language disorder has yet to be determined, researchers or clinicians should consider the effect of elicitation procedures on children's retells.

Survey of assessment and intervention practices for students who speak African American English.

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) working with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are encouraged to be "familiar with nondiscriminatory testing and dynamic assessment procedures" (ASHA, 2003). Little is known, however, about the extent to which SLPs implement these methods into their clinical practice. The current study explores the assessment and intervention practices used by SLPs in two states in the US for students who speak African American English (AAE), including the types and frequency of clinical practices. 247 SLPs completed an online survey regarding clinical practices for students who speak AAE as well as a questionnaire regarding their knowledge of the linguistic features of AAE. Half of SLPs reported using modified or alternative assessment practices the majority of the time or some of the time for students who speak AAE; however, SLPs reported using modified or alternative treatment practices less often. Modified scoring of standardized assessments and selecting different intervention strategies were the most commonly reported clinical practices. Knowledge of linguistic features of AAE was a significant predictor of the frequency with which SLPs report implementing modified or alternative assessment and intervention practices and SLPs with the highest levels of knowledge of AAE utilize different clinical practices than those with lower levels of knowledge of AAE. Additional information is needed about the most effective clinical practices for students who speak AAE and the barriers SLPs face to implementing nondiscriminatory clinical practices.

An Investigation of Language Environment Analysis Measures for Spanish-English Bilingual Preschoolers From Migrant Low-Socioeconomic-Status Backgrounds.

PURPOSE: The current study was designed to (a) describe average hourly Language Environment Analysis (LENA) data for preschool-age Spanish-English bilinguals (SEBs) and typically developing monolingual peers and (b) compare LENA data with mean length of utterance in words (MLUw) and total number of words (TNW) calculated on a selected sample of consecutive excerpts of audio files (CEAFs). METHOD: Investigators examined average hourly child vocalizations from daylong LENA samples for 42 SEBs and 39 monolingual English-speaking preschoolers. The relationship between average hourly child vocalizations, conversational turns, and adult words from the daylong samples and MLUw from a 50-utterance CEAF was examined and compared between groups. RESULTS: MLUw, TNW, average hourly child vocalizations, and conversational turns were lower for young SEBs than monolingual English-speaking peers. Average hourly child vocalizations were not strongly related to MLUw performance for monolingual or SEB participants (r = .29, r = .25, respectively). In a similar manner, average hourly conversational turns were not strongly related to MLUw for either group (r = .22, r = .21, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Young SEBs from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds showed lower average performance on LENA measures, MLUw, and TNW than monolingual English-speaking peers. MLUw from monolinguals were also lower than typical expectations when derived from CEAFs. LENA technology may be a promising tool for communication sampling with SEBs; however, more research is needed to establish norms for interpreting MLUw and TNW from selected CEAF samples.