Language Screening for Infants and Toddlers

Abstract

Children from low-income environments are at increased risk of developing language delays which can negatively affect later academic and social outcomes. As children age, deficits between children with language delays and their typically developing peers continue to widen. In order to prevent future disabilities, efficient early language screening tools are needed to identify infants and toddlers who are at risk of language delay as the first step towards providing early intervention. The purpose of this review was to identify commercially available language screening tools for use with children under three years of age. The psychometric properties of each tool are described—including a specific focus on technical adequacy of the measures for use with diverse families. There are currently four tools available for use with infants and toddlers. The strengths and limitations of each tool are described, as well as the feasibility of using these tools in diverse populations.

Keywords

birth to 3 years age language assessment delays/disorders language/linguistics vocabulary literacy diversity

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Accardo

P. J.

Capute

A. J.

(2005). The Capute Scales: Cognitive Adaptive Test/Clinical Linguistic & Auditory Milestone Scale (CAT/CLAMS). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2008). Roles and responsibilities of speech-language pathologists in early intervention: Technical report [Technical Report]. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/policy

Bayley

(1969). The Bayley Scales of Infant Development. New York, NY: The Psychological Corporation.

Bayley

(1993). Bayley Scales of Infant Development (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

Bayley

(2006). Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition: Technical Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

Belcher

H. M. E.

Gittlesohn

Capute

A. J.

Allen

M. C.

(1997). Using the Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale for developmental screening in high-risk preterm infants. Clinical Pediatrics, 36, 635–642. doi:10.1177/000992289703601104

Black

M. B.

Freeland

C. A. B.

Nair

Rubin

J. S.

Hutcheson

J. J.

(1988). Language screening for infants prone to otitis media. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 13, 423–433.

Bricker

Macy

Squires

Marks

(2013). Developmental screening in your community: An integrated approach for connecting children with services. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

Byrne

Ellsworth

Bowering

Vincer

(1993). Language development in low birthweight infants: The first two years of life. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 14, 21–27.

10.

Bzoch

K. R.

League

(1971). Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.

11.

Bzoch

K. R.

League

(1991). The Bzoch-League Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: ProEd.

12.

Caesar

L. G.

Kohler

P. D.

(2009). Tools clinicians use: A survey of language assessment procedures used by school-based speech-language pathologists. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 30, 226–236. doi:10.1177/1525740108326334

13.

Capute

A. J.

Shapiro

B. K.

Wachtel

R. C.

Gunther

V. A.

Palmer

F. B.

(1986). The Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale (CLAMS): Identification of cognitive defects in motor-delayed children. American Journal of Diseases of Children, 140, 694–698.

14.

Child Trends Databank. (2014). Children in poverty. Retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=children-in-poverty

15.

Clark

Jorgensen

Blondeau

(1995). Investigating the validity of the Clinical Linguistic Auditory Milestone Scale. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 31, 63–75.

16.

Coplan

(1993). Early Language Milestone Scale–Second Edition (ELM Scale-2). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

17.

Coplan

Gleason

J. R.

(1990). Quantifying language development from birth to 3 years using the Early Language Milestone Scale. Pediatrics, 86, 963–971.

18.

Coplan

Gleason

J. R.

Ryan

Burke

M. G.

Williams

M. L.

(1982). Validation of an Early Language Milestone Scale in a high-risk population. Pediatrics, 70, 677–683.

19.

Costarides

A. H.

Shulman

B. B.

(1998). Norm-referenced language measures: Implications for assessment of infants and toddlers. Topics in Language Disorders, 18, 26–33.

20.

Dale

P. S.

(1991). The validity of a parent report measure of vocabulary and syntax at 24 months. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 34, 565–571.

21.

Deniz Can

Ginsburg-Block

Golinkoff

R. M.

Hirsh-Pasek

. (2012). A long-term predictive validity study: Can the CDI Short Form be used to predict language and early literacy skills four years later? Journal of Child Language, 40, 1–15. doi:10.1017/S030500091200030X

22.

Dunn

L. M.

(1965). The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

23.

Dunn

L. M.

Dunn

L. M.

(1981). The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

24.

Dunn

L. M.

Dunn

L. M.

(1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Third Edition. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

25.

Feldman

H. M.

Dollaghan

C. A.

Campbell

T. F.

Kurs-Lasky

Janosky

J. E.

Paradise

J. L.

(2000). Measurement properties of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories at ages one and two years. Child Development, 71, 310–322.

26.

Fenson

Dale

P. S.

Reznick

J. S.

Bates

Thal

D. J.

Pethick

S. J.

Stiles

(1994). Variability in early communicative development. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59, 1–185. doi:10.2307/1166093

27.

Fenson

Pethick

Renda

Cox

J. L.

Dale

P. S.

Reznick

J. S.

(2000). Short-form versions of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. Applied Psycholinguistics, 21, 95–116.

28.

Fernald

Marchman

V. A.

Weisleder

(2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science, 16, 234–248. doi:10.1111/desc.12019

29.

Guralnick

M. J.

(2005). An overview of the developmental systems model for early intervention. In Guralnick

M. J.

(Ed.), The developmental systems approach to early intervention (pp. 3–28). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

30.

Hart

Risley

(1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

31.

Hedrick

D. L.

Prather

E. M.

Tobin

A. R.

(1984). Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

32.

Hoff

(2006). How social contexts support and shape language development. Developmental Review, 26, 55–88. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2005.11.002

33.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1435(a) (2004).

34.

Kids Count Data Center. (2014). Children in poverty by age group. Retrieved from http://www.datacenter.kidscount.org

35.

Klee

Carson

D. K.

Gavin

W. J.

Hall

Kent

Reece

(1998). Concurrent and predictive validity of an early language screening program. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41, 627–641.

36.

Klee

Pearce

Carson

D. K.

(2000). Improving the positive predictive value of screening for developmental language disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 43, 821–833.

37.

Law

Boyle

Harris

Harkness

Nye

(2000). Prevalence and natural history of primary speech and languagedelay: Findings from a systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Language & Communicative Disorders, 35, 165–188.

38.

Lee

V. E.

Burkam

D. T.

(2002). Inequality at the starting gate: Social background differences in achievement as children begin school (Executive Summary). Retrieved from http://epsl.asu.edu/epru/articles/EPRU-0603-138-OWI.pdf

39.

Leiter

R. G.

(1969). Leiter International Performance Scale. Chicago, IL: Stoelting.

40.

Leppert

M. L.

Shank

T. P.

Shapiro

B. K.

Capute

A. J.

(1998). The Capute Scales: CAT/CLAMS—A pediatric assessment tool for the early detection of mental retardation and communicative disorders. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 4, 14–19.

41.

Macias

M. M.

Saylor

C. F.

Greer

M. K.

Charles

J. M.

Bell

Katikaneni

L. D.

(1998). Infant screening: The usefulness of the Bayley Infant Neurodevelopmental Screener and the Clinical Adaptive Test/Clinical Linguistic Auditory Milestone Scale. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 19, 155–161.

42.

Mirrett

P. L.

Bailey

D. B.

Roberts

J. E.

Hatton

D. D.

(2004). Developmental screening and detection of developmental delays in infants and toddlers with Fragile X Syndrome. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 25, 21–27.

43.

Mohay

(2007). The Capute Scales: Cognitive Adaptive Test/Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale [Review of the book The Capute Scales: Cognitive Adaptive Test/Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale, by Accardo

Capute

]. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 54, 135–142. doi:10.1080/10349120601151108

44.

Mossabeb

Wade

K. C.

Finnegan

Sivieri

Abbasi

(2012). Language Development Survey provides a useful screening tool for language delay in preterm infants. Clinical Pediatrics, 51, 638–644. doi:10.1177/0009922812439244

45.

Mullen

E. M.

(1993). Infant Mullen Scales of Early Learning: AGS Edition. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

46.

Pan

E. A.

Rowe

M. L.

Spier

Tamis-Lemonda

(2004). Measuring productive vocabulary of toddlers in low-income families: Concurrent and predictive validity of three sources of data. Journal of Child Language, 31, 587–608. doi:10.1017/S0305000904006270

47.

Rescorla

(1989). The Language Development Survey: A screening tool for delayed language in toddlers. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 54, 587–599.

48.

Rescorla

(2009). Age 17 language and reading outcomes in late-talking toddlers: Support for a dimensional perspective on language delay. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52, 16–30. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2008/07-0171)

49.

Rescorla

Alley

(2001). Validation of the Language Development Survey (LDS): A parent report tool for identifying language delay in toddlers. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 44, 434–455. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2001/035)

50.

Rescorla

Hadicke-Wiley

Escarce

(1993). Epidemiological investigation of expressive language delay at age two. First Language, 13(5), 5–22. doi:10.1177/014272379301303702

51.

Rescorla

Mirak

Singh

(2000). Vocabulary growth in late talkers: Lexical development from 2;0 to 3;0. Journal of Child Language, 27, 293–311.

52.

Roberts

J. E.

Burchinal

Durham

(1999). Parents’ report of vocabulary and grammatical development of African American preschoolers: Child and environmental associations. Child Development, 70, 92–106.

53.

Rose

S. A.

Feldman

J. F.

Jankowski

J. J.

(2009). A cognitive approach to the development of early language. Child Development, 80, 134–150. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01250.x

54.

Rossman

M. J.

Hyman

S. L.

Rorabaugh

M. L.

Berlin

L. E.

Allen

M. C.

Modlin

J. F.

(1994). The CAT/CLAMS assessment for early intervention services. Clinical Pediatrics, 33, 404–409.

55.

Satish

McQuiston

Dennler

Mueller

Urrutia

ElShafie

Peters

(1988a). Developmental testing, I: Correlation of multiple Early Language Milestones (ELM) with Bayley [Abstract]. Pediatric Research, 23, 455.

56.

Satish

McQuiston

Dennler

Mueller

Urrutia

ElShafie

Peters

(1988b). Developmental testing, II: Correlation of multiple Early Language Milestones (ELM) with Bayley [Abstract]. Pediatric Research, 23, 455.

57.

Seymour

H. N.

Roeper

T. W.

DeVilliers

(2005). The Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation, Norm Referenced: Examiner’s manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

58.

Singer

Corley

Guiffrida

Plomin

(1984). The development and validation of a test battery to measure differentiated cognitive abilities in three-year-old children. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 44, 703–712.

59.

Terman

L. M.

Merrill

M. A.

(1976). Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Form L-M. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

60.

Thorndike

R. L.

Hagen

E. P.

Sattler

J. M.

(1986). Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition. Chicago, IL: Riverside Press.

61.

Tomblin

J. B.

Zhang

Buckwalter

Catts

(2000). The association of reading disability, behavioral disorders, and language impairment among second-grade children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 473–482.

62.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2012, May 17). Most children younger than 1 are minorities, census bureau reports. Available from http://www.census.gov

63.

Walker

Greenwood

Hart

Carta

(1994). Prediction of school outcomes based on early language production and socioeconomic factors. Child Development, 64, 606–621.

64.

Walker

Gugenheim

Down

M. P.

Northern

J. L.

(1989). Early Language Milestone Scale and language screening of young children. Pediatrics, 83, 284–288.

65.

Wechsler

(1976). Manual for the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. New York, NY: Psychological Corporation.

66.

Woodcock

R. W.

McGrew

K. S.

Mather

(2001). Woodcock–Johnson III: Test of Cognitive Abilities and Achievement. Itasca, IL: Riverside.

67.

Zimmerman

Steiner

Pond

R. E.

(1979). Preschool Language Scale. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.