Importance of Narrative Skills Assessment to Identify ELL Students at Risk for Language-Learning Disabilities in Speakers of L1 Kannada and L2 English

Sunaina Shenoy; Philip M Prinz

Sunaina Shenoy Post doctoral Research Scholar, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
Philip M Prinz Professor, Graduate College of Education, San Francisco State Univ., San Francisco, California, USA

Keywords: Bilingual assessment, English language learners, Indian education, Language-learning disabilities, Narrative assessment, Special education

Abstract

This study stresses the importance of a narrative skills assessment as a screener to consider while assessing English language learners who are at risk for language-learning disabilities. It was conducted in Bangalore, India, and the sample consisted 104 students in Grades 2–5 from low, middle and high-cost private schools. Student performance scores on a bilingual screening tool were compared with their performance on narrative assessment. A correlation analysis demonstrated a great deal of overlap between scores on both assessments, with narrative assessment scores significantly predicting both English scores (r = .43, pplessthan.01) and Kannada scores (r = .34, plessthan .05) on the bilingual test. Narrative assessment skills were predictive of general language competence in speakers of English and Kannada and an important screener to consider while assessing this population of English language learners who were at risk for language-learning disabilities.