Bilingual Articulation Phonology Assessment
The Bilingual Articulation and Phonology Assessment (BAPA) is an individually administered clinical tool developed to assess the articulatory and phonological abilities of monolingual and bilingual speakers of English and Spanish. Spanish speakers represent the largest and fastest growing minority group in the US (US Census Bureau, 2011).
Spanish speaking children now represent 75% of all English language learners in US schools (Shatz & Wilkinson, 2010; Swanson, 2009). Through assessing both languages of a student, the professional can more easily rule out or explain second-language influences and describe errors observed in both languages as well as errors specific to each language. This may help reduce the number of students inappropriately identified as disordered (Perez, et al, 2008).
Best practices for assessment of speech sound disorders for bilingual children recommend an assessment of all languages spoken by the child. Certified speech-language pathologists created BAPA specifically to be used as part of a full speech evaluation. Although BAPA is uniquely designed to allow testing in both Spanish and English, the languages are individually normed which makes it appropriate to use with monolingual individuals as well!
The BAPA includes high-quality vibrant images:
As well as a comprehensive narrative report and visual graphs.
How to Use the App
Adding and Editing Users
The BAPA was designed with busy clinicians in mind. Adding and editing students is extremely easy. Simply tap on “Add Student” in the lower left corner of the main screen page to create a new student profile.
A pop-up window will populate asking you to complete the required information to build a student profile. This includes name, date of birth, and language preference.
Once added, the student name will show in the left-hand list of students.
BAPA allows the professional to determine which languages to assess Spanish, English, or Both.
It also allows the professional to mark any Spanish dialectical influences.
To EDIT a student’s information, simply tap on the “i” button next to the student’s name.
A pop-up window will display with the information already populated. Edit as necessary.
Deleting a Student Profile
It is possible to delete a student profile. Simply tap on the “edit” button next to the student roster. Then tap on the red – sign that populates next to the student’s name. A “delete” button will show on the right of their name.
CAUTION: it is not possible to recover lost data if you accidentally delete a student.
The Testing Screen
The BAPA screen offers many features. First, on every screen is a phonetic transcription of the target word with the target sounds in green.
A tap on the “swap” button in the upper right corner changes the phonetic transcription direction to accommodate the professional seated beside or across from the client.
The NOTES feature allows the professional to keep assessment notes handy. Access NOTES in the upper left-hand corner of every screen.
Voice Recorder
The VOICE RECORDER provides an optional way to record utterances for deeper analysis. Simply tap on the microphone to begin recording.
For optional settings in the voice recorder, see the “Settings” area.
To hear the audio file simply tap the “Play” arrow.
A tap to the HOME button in the upper right corner will end the screening. If the screening is not finished, the profile page will show the test as “incomplete.”
Documenting Errors
Recording errors on the BAPA is very simple. Each transcribed word is composed of phonemes colored in black and in green (see image below). Targeted phonemes are in green.
When the student’s product is not accurate, the professional taps the phoneme to indicate that the production was not accurate. A pop-up menu displays for the professional to choose which type of error the client made. Simply select the appropriate option.
The type of errors available to select will depend on the specific phoneme. For instance, gliding will not appear on a phoneme that is not a liquid, and fronting will not appear on a phoneme that is not a velar. The type of errors also depends on the placement of the phoneme in the word (initial, medial, final). If a phoneme is marked in error, simply tap it again to remove the error.
If “Substituted” is selected, a list of phonemes will display. Simply select the sound the client uttered instead of the target sound.
Because some children will substitute vowel sounds for consonant sounds, the BAPA allows the professional to mark either as a substituted sound.
Simply tap on the button to select the phoneme used in place of the target sound. This information will be saved and interpreted by BAPA.
If the production is accurate, do not tap on any phoneme; simply proceed to the next screen by swiping left.
Prompt to Continue
When testing both languages, BAPA will stop after the first eight (8) words and ask if the child is performing well enough to continue in the first language. To continue, simply tap “Yes.” If the child is not performing well (e.g., does not know enough words), simply tap “No” and the app will move to the second language.
Note: The first language tested is selected at the beginning of each new assessment and occurs when the student profile lists the student’s language as “both.”
Intelligibility Rating
At the end of each assessment, an intelligibility-rating screen will display allowing the professional to enter his or her professional estimate regarding the overall intelligibility of the student.
Multisyllabic Word Probes
When a child does not produce the /f/ in teléfono, is it because she cannot produce medial /f/ or because she reduced a syllable from a 4-syllable word? Phoneme analysis in the BAPA is limited to 1- to 3-syllable words to avoid counting a phoneme in error when the difficulty is a result of the production of multisyllabic words rather than the actual phoneme.
Instead, multisyllabic productions are assessed independently in the last five stimuli of the test. The inclusion of 4- and 5-syllable words also provides a way to identify the process of weak syllable deletion.
Multisyllabic words are included for both Spanish and English assessment.
SETTINGS
Reinforcements
The BAPA has optional auditory reinforcements. If the reinforcements are turned on, when the stimulus picture changes, a reinforcement will sound. This reinforcement can be either a tone, or verbal praise in the language that is being tested.
Voice Recording Type:
The BAPA settings contain two options for voice recording:
Per Word: Selecting this option will allow the SLP to record several voice files and save each one individually.
Single Audio File: Selecting this option will allow SLPs to record one single voice file throughout the assessment by simply pressing the record/pause button for each desired production. At the end of the assessment, there will be one audio file containing all the recordings.
Written Cues:
It is possible to turn off the written target word below each image by turning the “Display written word” button OFF.
Interpreting Results
Once the testing is completed, the screening results are available from the student profile page. Simply tap on the test results you wish to view.
The BAPA provides results in six different categories. To view these, simply click on “Preview Results” in the selected assessment. The categories include: Position, Manner, Voicing, Words, Multisyllabic Words, and Errors.
Standardization!
No need to drag out clunky manuals and expensive scoring sheets!
The BAPA is STANDARDIZED and provides standard scores, confidence intervals, and percentile ranks with every completed assessment automatically.
If both languages are assessed, BAPA provides TWO sets of scores!
Standardization Information for the Bilingual Articulation and Phonology Assessment App
The BAPA was standardized on 438 children ages 3;0 to 10;11 in the Central Texas area. There are three sets of standardized scores: English only, Bilingual English, and Spanish/Bilinguals in Spanish. The decision to combine the children who were in the Spanish only group and the Bilingual Spanish group was made based on statistics that indicated that there were no significant differences in the groups’ performance on the test. This is consistent with related research findings (Fabiano–‐ Smith & Golstein, 2010; Arnold, Curran, Miccio, & Hammer, 2004; Goldstein & Washington, 2001; Goldstein, Fabiano, & Washington, 2005).
The language groups were determined by a number of factors that included use of language in the home by mother, father, grandparents, and siblings, media exposure in each language, parent ratings of their child’s receptive and expressive proficiency in each language on scale that ranged from 0 to 3 (see below), hours of exposure during the day (see below), and the child’s ability to perform the task in each language. If they were not able to label any of the first seven test items spontaneously, the test was not administered in that language.
Please circle the language(s) each person communicates in daily with your son/daughter and indicate the amount of time each person spends with your child on an average weekday.
A proficiency score was calculated based on the information provided by the parent. If a child received at least four points in a given language, and they were able to spontaneously label at least one of the first seven test items, the test was administered in that language.
239 children were included in the Spanish/Bilinguals in Spanish group, ages 3;0-10;11.
194 children were included in the Bilinguals in English group, ages 3;0-10;11
199 children were included in the English Only group, ages 3;0–‐10;11.
194 children were included in the Bilinguals in English group, ages 3;0-10;11
199 children were included in the English Only group, ages 3;0–‐10;11.
All of the children resided in Central Texas. Mexican Spanish was the dialect reported for 95% of those who speak Spanish. 90% of the children in the Bilingual and Spanish groups were in dual language education programs, in which they were learning to read and write in both languages.
For the analyses of Sensitivity and Specificity, the children who participated in the standardization sample, and an additional 86 students were included. 63 were in the English group and 23 were in the Bilingual English and Spanish/Bilingual group.
Sensitivity and specificity were calculated with three cut-points for each group that correspond with the common clinical cut-points of 1 standard deviation below the mean (Standard Score=85), 1.5 standard deviations below the mean (Standard Score=77)., and 2 standard deviations below the mean (Standard Score 70). The results are as follows.
Sharing Results
The professional can e-mail the results of the screening immediately after administration. To email the results information, tap on the “share” button found in the upper right hand corner on the Results screen.
A pop-up screen will display with options for sharing results by e-mail, exporting the results to the Therapy Report Center, or opening in another app of your choice (e.g., dropbox, PDF viewer).
Users can e-mail the results to themselves in order to save for their records and keep a backup of the student’s assessment, or to send to the parents. The e-mail is set up as a simple report and can be sent as HTML or a PDF.
Recommendations
BAPA is a unique assessment tool in that it provides an optional way to add recommendations to the assessment information. Simply tap on the “add/edit” recommendations button that is present on every student assessment results screen. A pop-up window will display where recommendations can be entered.
Video Tutorial
Features
Bilingual Articulation and Phonology Assessment has the following features.
– A comprehensive report is automatically prepared and ready to be emailed or printed
– Ability to enter student information and track progress
– Option to cancel testing in the second language prior to completion
– Opportunity for all phonemes in Spanish and English, including consonant clusters
– Ability to choose to test in one or both languages, and decide which language to test first
– Ability to produce an audio recording of the student’s productions
° Recordings can be single word production or of the entire evaluation
° Recordings can be reviewed and compared months after recording
– Ability to e-mail test results and voice recording files immediately after administration
– Automatically calculates analyses of phonemes based on:
° Manner of Articulation
• Phoneme
• Position in the word
• Voicing features
• Multisyllabic words
° Error Type
•Deletions
•Substitutions
•Distortions
•Consonant Cluster Reduction
•Sequence Reduction
•Initial, Medial, & Final consonant deletion
•Assimilation
•Stopping
•Deafrication
– Administrator’s phonemic display of targets can be rotated to work alongside or across from a student for optimal
– placement
– Auditory and written support for child can be activated
– A sample recording of targeted word is available as you touch images
– Written word can be displayed below images
– High quality vibrant images for easy identification
– Compatible with iPad running iOS 5.1.1 or later
Reviews
“I think the Bilingual Articulation Phonology Assessment app is a great value when you compare it to the price of most articulation assessments available on the market. It is well designed and gives you a very detailed picture of a child’s articulation and phonology skills. I feel it would be an excellent tool for SLPs looking for a cost-effective alternative to the traditional paper-based articulation tests!” http://www.thecommunicationwindow.com/
Lindsay Oesch
“…this app is extremely easy to use and efficient for speech therapists who work with individuals who present with articulation and phonological difficulties.” http://bilingualspeechtherapist.com/
Lauren
“It’s a much needed tool, since there isn’t many bilingual or Spanish articulation assessments out there. I love having an assessment on an iPad, making it super portable. This is really good for me since I travel to test my bilingual kids.” http://busybeespeech.com/
Tatyana
“The ability to generate a full report is definitely one of the coolest features of this app, because its not just incredibly time saving but also very detailed.” http://www.smartspeechtherapy.com/
Sources
Goldstein, B. (2001). The effect of dialect on phonological analysis: Evidence from Spanish-speaking children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 10, 394–406.
Perez, B., Skiba, R.J., & Chung, C. (2008). Latino students and disproportionality in special education. Bloomington, IN: Center for Evaluation & Education Policy. www.indiana.edu/~equity/docs/LatinoStudentsAndDisproportionality.pdf
Prezas, R., Hodson, B, & Schommer-Aikins, M. (2014). Phonological assessment and analysis of bilingual preschoolers’ spanish and english word productions, American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 23, 176-185.
Roseberry-McKibben, C., & O’Hanlon, L. (2005). Nonbiased assessment of English-language learners: A tutorial. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 26(3), 178–185.
Shatz, M. Wilkinson, L. C. (2010). Introduction. In Shatz, M. Wilkinson, L. C. (Eds.), The education of English language learners: Research to practice (pp. 1–22). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Skahan, S. M. Watson, M. Lof, G. L. (2007). Speech-language pathologists’ assessment practices for children with suspected speech sound disorders: Results of a national survey. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology,16, 246–259.
Swanson, C. B. (2009). Perspectives on a population: English-language learners in American schools. Bethesda, MD: Editorial Projects in Education.
United States Census Bureau. (2011). Origin of race and Hispanic origin: 2010. Retrieved from www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf
