Expressive Language Test - 4th Edition: Normative Update

Linda Bowers, Rosemary Huisingh, Carolyn LoGiudice and Jane Orman

Ages: 5-0 through 11-11

Testing Time: 30–40 minutes

Administration: Individual

The ELT-2:NU measures spoken language expression and flexibility. This assessment is unique in that the language skills tested are those commonly identified by researchers, teachers, and clinicians as the most predictive of classroom learning difficulty.

The test has four subtests (Sequencing, Metalinguistics, Morphology/Syntax, and Defining Categories). Its results can help identify those children with true expressive language disorders and reduce the chance of over-identification.

The Sequencing tasks measure narrative ability. A low score is an important predictor of academic strength.

The Metalinguistics tasks tap students’ awareness of, and ability to express, the meanings of words and to use those words in context. Students with expressive language disorders may not have the vocabulary, or know how to focus more discretely on the set of features that belong to a word, to do well on these tasks.

Morphology/Syntax measures the ability to repair a grammatical or syntactical error and rearrange words into a sentence. Deficits in these areas affect a student’s ability to communicate meaningfully.

Defining Categories measures the ability to give verbal definitions and is well recognized as a strong correlate of academic success and literacy attainment.

New Features

• Characteristics of the normative sample were stratified by age relative to region, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic factors, and other critical variables are the same as those reported for the school-age population reported the Statistical Abstract of the United States 2016(ProQuest, LLC, 2016).
• Each item on the test was evaluated using both conventional item analysis to choose good items and differential analyses to find and eliminate potentially biased items.
• The subtests and composite score were thoroughly examined for floor and ceiling effects.
• The test was subjected to diagnostic accuracy analyses, particularly rigorous techniques involving the computation of the receiver operating characteristic/area under the curve (ROC/AUC) statistic.
• New normative scores for the subtests were calculated in terms of scaled scores that have a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3.
• The Total Score was renamed the Expressive Language Index and calculated as a composite score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The composite reflects a direct linear transformation of the sums of scaled scores and gives equal weight to each of the subtests that constitute the Expressive Language Index.
• The Examiner’s Manual was reorganized and rewritten to provide more detailed information on the administration, interpretation, and statistical characteristics of the test.

Description of the Test

The ELT-2: NU consists of four components: an Examiner’s Manual, Examiner Record Booklets, a Stimuli Book, and one set of Picture Sequence Cards. The Examiner’s Manual includes a comprehensive discussion of the test’s theoretical and research-based foundation, item development, standardization, administration and scoring procedures, norm tables, and guidelines for using and interpreting the test’s results. The Examiner Record Booklet provides space to record responses; transform raw scores to age equivalents, percentile ranks, and scaled scores; and calculate the Expressive Language Index. The test kit also includes a Stimuli Book, which includes the items for the Sequencing and Morphology/Syntax subtests and the Picture Sequence Cards for the Sequencing subtest.

Reliability and validity studies were conducted with individuals with typical language ability and individuals who had be previously diagnosed with a language impairment or received other special education services. The average coefficient alpha ranges between .78 and .83 for the subtests and is .93 for the Expressive Language Index. Studies were conducted to examine the test's ability to differentiate students who have language impairments from those who do not. The results demonstrate that an Expressive Language Index cutoff score of 90 resulted in a sensitivity of .72 and a specificity of .79 and a ROC/AUC of .72.

COMPLETE TEST INCLUDES: Examiner’s Manual, Stimuli Book, Picture Sequence Cards, and 25 Examiner Record Booklets, all in a sturdy storage box. (©2018)