Protocol - Grammatical Impairments - Grammaticality Judgment Task
- Early Childhood Speech and Language Assessment - Ages and Stages Questionnaire
- Early Childhood Speech and Language Assessment - Speech and Language Assessment Scale
- Phonological Inventory
- Reading Comprehension
- Vocabulary Assessment
- Word Decoding
Description
The Rice Grammaticality Judgment Task is an examiner-administered, 20-item grammar judgment task. The respondent listens to a series of prerecorded sentences (items) and indicates whether the sentence is grammatically correct.
Specific Instructions
For this assessment to be considered valid, the investigator should make sure that the respondent speaks English as a first language. For genetics studies, children should be assessed for hearing or nonverbal cognitive impairment as related factors. The Grammaticality Judgment Task must be administered by audio (the participant cannot read the items) to be considered valid.
Availability
Protocol
The protocol is available for free via an app on the Apple™ Store. Below are instructions on how to download Grammaggio from the Apple App store.
- Select the App store icon on your Apple device.
- On the bottom toolbar, select “Search” on the far right
- Type “Grammaggio” into the search bar at the top of the screen.
- The Grammaggio app preview will pop up; select “Get” at the top right to download the app.
- A window will pop up on the bottom of the screen; press the blue button “Install.” (You may have to enter your Apple password if you have your settings set up to ask for one in order to download apps.)
- When the installation is complete, you can open the app from within the App Store by selecting “Open” on the same screen as above or by clicking the Home button on the Apple device and selecting the Grammaggio icon on the screen to open the app.
The task is administered electronically via the Apple iPhone or iPod with the examiner present. The examiner records the participant’s age in years. The instructions are presented by speaker on the iPhone/iPod. The speaker will ask the user to listen to a sentence and respond whether the sentence is good or not so good. Practice items are provided, followed by 20 test items. The respondent presses a button to indicate “Good” or “Not so good” after each sentence. Examples of practice items are “What is this?’ and “Who am she?” Examples of test items are “What do you like to do?” and “Why you like doing that?” Task time is about 15 minutes. The examiner hands the app to a participant, demonstrating the button press by placing the right thumb over the right-hand-side response button and the left thumb over the other button. Holding the device with both hands works best for ensuring a button response. Most children need no further instructions. The examiner will take the device from the child at the end of the experimental tasks and access the outcome scores on the app for manual recording on research data devices.
Participant’s Age: 4–adult years
Scoring Instructions
A summative outcome score is provided by the iPhone/iPod along with a percentile score for the participant age, calculated based on data reported in Rice et al. (2009) and Rice and Wexler (2001).
Personnel and Training Required
The Rice Grammaticality Judgment Task can be administered by research assistants who are trained in ethical administration of assessments. Formal training in scoring and in interpretation of clinical assessments is not required. Adherence to the same protocol across examiners is required.
Equipment Needs
An iPhone/iPod with audio speakers will be needed to play the test and materials, which can be downloaded free from Cloud storage.
Requirements
| Requirement Category | Required |
|---|---|
| Major equipment | No |
| Specialized training | No |
| Specialized requirements for biospecimen collection | No |
| Average time of greater than 15 minutes in an unaffected individual | No |
Mode of Administration
iPod-presented audio listening task with button-press responses
Lifestage
Child, Adolescent
Participants
Children and adolescents, ages 4–adult
Selection Rationale
The Rice Grammaticality Judgment Task was selected because it is a validated, free, widely used instrument that is easy to administer and score.
Language
Chinese, English
Standards
| Standard | Name | ID | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) | Grammat impairment proto | 62987-3 | LOINC |
| Human Phenotype Ontology | Poor speech | HP:0002465 | HPO |
| Human Phenotype Ontology | Delayed speech and language development | HP:0000750 | HPO |
| Human Phenotype Ontology | Speech articulation difficulties | HP:0009088 | HPO |
| Human Phenotype Ontology | Incomprehensible speech | HP:0002546 | HPO |
| Human Phenotype Ontology | Slurred speech | HP:0001350 | HPO |
| Human Phenotype Ontology | Dysarthria | HP:0001260 | HPO |
Derived Variables
None
Process and Review
The Expert Review Panel #7 (ERP 7) reviewed the measures in the Speech and Hearing domain.
Guidance from the ERP includes the following:
- A new mode of administration (iPhone/iPod)
Back-compatible: no changes to Data Dictionary
Previous version in Toolkit archive (link)
Protocol Name from Source
Rice Grammaticality Judgment Task
Source
Rice, M. L., Hoffman, L., & Wexler, K. (2009). Judgments of omitted BE and DO in questions as extended finiteness clinical markers of specific language impairment (SLI) to 15 years: A study of growth and asymptote. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52, 1417–1433.
General References
Dale, P. S., Rice, M. L., Rimfeld, K., & Hayiou-Thomas, E. (2018). Grammar clinical marker yields substantial heritability for language impairments in 16-year-old twins. Journal of Speech, Language, Hearing Research, 61, 66–78.
Rice, M. L., & Wexler, K. (2001). Rice/Wexler Test of Early Grammatical Impairment. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Protocol ID
200502
Variables
Export Variables| Variable Name | Variable ID | Variable Description | dbGaP Mapping | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PX200502000000 | Protocol 200502 - proprietary. Check DCW for more | N/A | ||
Measure Name
Grammatical Impairments
Release Date
October 8, 2010
Definition
This measure is a test that assesses the respondent's knowledge of grammar.
Purpose
This measure can be used to identify respondents with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) or other categories of language impairment. Language impairment refers to problems acquiring and using language, including the inability to use correct verb forms. Language impairment can appear with or without related impairments of hearing and/or nonverbal cognition.
Keywords
Specific language impairment, SLI, language impairments, Question Grammaticality Test, morphosyntactic impairment, syntactic impairment, syntax, language, finiteness marking, Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, CELF, Rice-Wexler Test of Early Grammatical Impairment, TEGI, speech and hearing, Grammaggio
Measure Protocols
| Protocol ID | Protocol Name |
|---|---|
| 200502 | Grammatical Impairments - Grammaticality Judgment Task |
| 200504 | Grammatical Impairments - Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals |
| 200505 | Grammatical Impairments - Test of Early Grammatical Impairment |
Publications
Rice, M.L. & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2016) Language Phenotypes. In V. Jagaroo and S.L. Santangelo (eds.) Neurophenotypes, Innovations in Cognitive Neuroscience. Springer. 2016 January; doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-3846-5_12