Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research Vol.53 648-669 June 2010. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0039)
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Articles

Narrative Assessment for Cantonese-Speaking Children

Carol Kit-Sum To
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong-SAR-China

Stephanie F. Stokes
Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia

Hin-Tat Cheung
National Taiwan University, Taipei

Benjamin T'sou
City University of Hong Kong

Contact author: Carol Kit-Sum To, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, 5/F Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong-SAR-China. E-mail: tokitsum{at}hku.hk.

Background: This study examined the narrative skills of Cantonese-speaking school-age children to fill a need for a normative language test for school-age children.

Purpose: To provide a benchmark of the narrative skills of Cantonese-speaking children; to identify which of the microstructure components was the best predictor of age; and to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the test components.

Method and Procedure: Data were collected from 1,120 Cantonese-speaking children between the ages of 4;10 (years;months) and 12;01, using a story-retell of a 24-frame picture series. Four narrative components (syntactic complexity, semantic score, referencing, and connective use) were measured.

Outcomes and Results: Each measure reflected significant age-related differences in narrative ability. Regression analyses revealed that vocabulary and syntactic complexity were the best predictors of grade. All measures showed high sensitivity (86%–94%) but relatively low specificity (60%–90%) and modest likelihood ratio (LR) values: LR+ (2.15–9.42) and LR– (0.07–0.34).

Conclusion and Implications: Narrative assessment can be standardized to be a reliable and valid instrument to assist in the identification of children with language impairment. Syntactic complexity is not only a strong predictor of grade but was also particularly vulnerable in Cantonese-speaking children with specific language impairment. Further diagnostic research using narrative analysis is warranted.

KEY WORDS: narrative, school-age children, assessment, Cantonese


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C. K. S. To, S. Stokes, Y. Man, and B. T'sou
An Analysis of Noun Definition in Cantonese
Language and Speech, March 1, 2013; 56(1): 105 - 124.
[Abstract] [PDF]