Dr. Christine Dollaghan is the lead author in one of the first meta-analysis studies to examine the accuracy of tests currently being used to diagnose language impairments in the large and growing number of bilingual Spanish-English children in the U.S. The study, currently in press, can be accessed online in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. Dollaghan co-authored the study withUT Dallas graduate student Elizabeth Horner.
“Children with language impairments have an increased risk of reading and academic difficulties, so it’s important to diagnose them as early as possible,” Dr. Dollaghan said.
Dollaghan, a professor in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and Horner found that evidence on accuracy could be located in 17 measures of language skill; ranging from standardized tests to professional observations to parent questionnaires.
Although no measure was found to be definitive for diagnosing language impairments in this population, the majority yielded suggestive results. The study concluded with several suggestions for strengthening future research on diagnostic accuracy.
Article: “Bilingual Language Assessment: A Meta-analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy”
