Speak Out April 2017

Association news

EACH YEAR SPA provides funding to support research in a number of categories – Higher Degree by Research, Clinician and Entry Level (available to students undertaking a research project as part of an entry level course). Grants are also provided in two externally funded categories – the Nadia Verrall award, funded in memory of speech pathologist Nadia Verrall, and the Queensland Registration Board Legacy awards, funded through monies remaining when the Queensland Registration Board was discontinued. Recipients provide a summary of their research on completion. This is the first in a regular series of articles which will provide details of research completed with the help of funding from SPA. Higher Degree by Research Grant awarded to Karen James in 2013. The Language and Social Characteristics of Adolescent Students Attending Public Behavioural Schools: A Controlled Group Comparison The research evidence indicates that adolescents with behavioural issues have poor learning outcomes and are unwilling participants in the classroom (Conti-Ramsden, Durkin, Simkin & Knox 2009). A clear link between decreased language skills and poor behaviour (Clegg, Stackhouse, Finch, Murphy & Nicholls 2009) is also well documented. Students attending behavioural schools, seen as a pipeline to the juvenile justice system (Granite & Graham, 2012) may therefore present with language learning problems .The study aimed to determine the language, narrative and social skill characteristics of teenagers attending behavioural schools compared to age and SES matched typically developing peers. A comparison group study was used to compare the language and narrative skills of two groups of 25 participants aged 12;0 – 15;11. The experimental group attended behavioural schools, and the control group consisted of age and SES matched children attending mainstream schools. In both groups, students with known language problems, autism, hearing impairment, intellectual disability or ESL background were excluded. Language skills were assessed using the Test of Adolescent Language-4 (TOAL-4), Expression, Reception and Recall of Narratives Instrument (ERRNI) and the Social Emotional Evaluation (SEE). Questionnaires regarding participant behaviour were completed by teachers. Sixty percent of the students attending behavioural schools had clinically significant expressive structural language problems based on the TOAL-4, 56% had clinically significant narrative problems based on the ERRNI total score and 68% had overall clinically significant social communication problems based on the SEE. Thirty three percent of students in behavioural schools had significant difficulties across all three areas, which appear to be inter-related. With respect to narrative skills, the behavioural group performed significantly more poorly than the control group for story comprehension, the mean length of utterance produced, and various macrostructure elements used. The behavioural group used significantly more utterances than the control group. There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to the semantic content provided or the number of different words used. SPA research grant report

With respect to social communication, group comparison showed significant differences for both receptive and expressive language aspects of social communication, with difficulties more prevalent for students in behavioural schools. Difficulties in receptive skills were recorded for 56 per cent of these students, and 64 per cent experienced difficulties with expressive skills. These findings are consistent with previous research. Specifically, students in the behavioural group had trouble identifying and explaining emotions such as boredom, confusion, worry and guilt. These are common emotions likely to be experienced in a school setting, especially in a behavioural support school. Students are likely to be able to identify when they have done something wrong but are less likely to be able to recognise why it is wrong and how to explain what they should have done instead. No significant correlations were found between language and behaviour when the groups were analysed separately. That is, within the group of students attending a behavioural school no relationship between language skills and behaviour was observed. When the data from both groups were combined significant correlations were found between externalising behaviours and narratives, structural language and social communication. References Conti-Ramsden, G, Durkin, K, Simkin, Z & Knox, E (2009). Specific language impairment and school outcomes. I: Identifying and explaining variability at the end of compulsory education: International Journal of Communication Disorders , 44(1),15–35. Clegg, J, Stackhouse, J, Finch K, Murphy, C, & Nicholls, (2009). Language abilities of secondary age pupils at risk of school exclusion: A preliminary report. Child Language Teaching and Therapy 25(1), 123–140. Granite, E. & Graham, L. (2012). Remove, rehabilitate, return? The use and effectiveness of behaviour schools in New South Wales, Australia. International Journal on School Disaffection , 9(1), 39-50. Karen currently has a number of papers in preparation. She will also be presenting her findings at the 2017 SPA conference. You can contact Karen at karenspeechie@gmail.com.

Cori Williams Senior Advisor Evidence Based Practice and Research

About Cori...

Cori provides support related to research and evidence based practice to the Association and its members. She creates monthly evidence alerts which are disseminated via email, Facebook and Twitter, and works with the Senior Advisor Professional Development and Certification to develop the Evidence Based Practice independent study resource. With administrative support from the Association’s National Office she manages the research grants process.

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April 2017 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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