SCHOOL-AGE MORPHOSYNTACTIC BATTERY
Grammatical Judgement
Shula Chiat, Jo Piper, &Penny Roy
Department of Language and Communication Science
CityUniversity
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
e-mail:
Phone: 020-7040-8238
Acknowledgement
This test is based on a grammaticality judgement task developed by Janet McDonald and reported in:
McDonald, J.L. (2008). Grammaticality judgments in children: The role of age, working memory and phonological ability. Journal of Child Language, 35, 247-268.
Grammaticality Judgement A
SLIDE 1 – click to make Jelly appear:
This is Jelly.
Jelly is going to say some sentences.
Sometimes Jelly says the sentence right, but sometimes she makes mistakes.
Listen carefully to Jelly’s sentences to see if she makes any mistakes. You can help her by telling her if she got it right, or if she made a mistake.
SLIDE 2
If she gets her sentence right, you can give her a banana(press banana)
SLIDE 3
But if she gets it wrong, you have to give her a red cross(press cross)
SLIDE 4
So remember, Jelly is going to say a sentence and you can give her a banana if she gets it right (press banana). But if she makes a mistake you have to give her a red cross(press cross).Listen really carefully because she only says each sentence once.
Do you understand what you have to do? (Recap. instructions if necessary)
SLIDE 5 – teaching item 1
Note: On teaching items 1 and 2, if the child asks to hear the stimulus for a second time, allow them to do so. But explain – ‘I can let you hear it again because we are just practising, but you should try to listen carefully to Jelly the first time she says her sentence’.
Ok, let’s practise. When you are ready, touch Jelly to hear her sentence.
Did Jelly say it right or did she make a mistake?
Allow child to indicate their choice and give feedback as appropriate:
- If the child gets it right, confirm their choice eg ‘that’s right, Jelly said the baby is cry. She should say the baby is crying. She made a mistake so you gave her a red cross’
- If they get it wrong, say ‘that’s a good try’ and explain/discuss the right answer is eg ‘Jelly said the baby is cry. She made a mistake because she should say the baby is crying. You should give her a red cross because she made a mistake.
On teaching items 1 and 2 give as much feedback as you feel appropriate to teach the task to the child.
SLIDE 6 – teaching item 2
Let’s try another one. When you are ready, touch Jelly to hear her sentence.
Did Jelly say it right or did she make a mistake?
Allow child to indicate their choice and give feedback as appropriate:
- If the child gets it right, confirm their choice eg ‘that’s right, Jelly said there are five dogsin the park. She didn’t make a mistake so you gave her a banana’.
- If they get it wrong, say ‘that’s a good try’ and explain/discuss the right answer is eg ‘Jelly said there are five dogs in the park. She didn’t make a mistake so you can give her a banana.
Ok, are you ready to do some more?
SLIDE 7 and 8 – practice items
When you are ready, touch Jelly to hear her sentence.
Did Jelly get it right or did she make a mistake?
(You do not need to repeat these instructions on every slide, unless the child needs prompting).
On the practice sentences, you may allow the child to hear one of the sentences for a second time if they request to do so. Make it clear that next time they should make sure to listen carefully the first time Jelly says her sentence.
Allow child to indicate their choice.
Do not give feedback on practice items.
SLIDE 9-23 – test items
- The child should hear each sentence once.
- If the child hesitates in choosing, or indicates that they are not sure, encourage them to choose. However, if the child indicates clearly that they don’t know or refuses to choose, you should indicate this on the score sheet and move on to the next item.
- If the child asks for clarification at any point in the test you can repeat the instruction that they should give Jelly a banana if she gets the sentence right, but they should give her a red cross if she makes a mistake.
Allow child to indicate choice, and mark the score sheet accordingly.
On test items do not give any feedback, but give non-specific praise as appropriate.
Give general praise at the end of the test.
Grammaticality Judgement B
SLIDE 1 – click to make Jelly appear:
This is Jelly.
Jelly is going to say some sentences.
Sometimes Jelly says the sentence right, but sometimes she makes mistakes.
Listen carefully to Jelly’s sentences to see if she makes any mistakes. You can help her by telling her if she got it right, or if she made a mistake.
SLIDE 2
If she gets her sentence right, you can give her a banana(press banana)
SLIDE 3
But if she gets it wrong, you have to give her a red cross(press cross)
SLIDE 4
So remember, Jelly is going to say a sentence and you can give her a banana if she gets it right (press banana). But if she makes a mistake you have to give her a red cross(press cross).Listen really carefully because she only says each sentence once.
Do you understand what you have to do? (Recap. instructions if necessary)
SLIDE 5 – teaching item 1
Note: On teaching items 1 and 2, if the child asks to hear the stimulus for a second time, allow them to do so. But explain – ‘I can let you hear it again because we are just practising, but you should try to listen carefully to Jelly the first time she says her sentence’.
Ok, let’s practise. When you are ready, touch Jelly to hear her sentence.
Did Jelly say it right or did she make a mistake?
Allow child to indicate their choice and give feedback as appropriate:
- If the child gets it right, confirm their choice eg ‘that’s right, Jelly said the baby is crying. She said it right so you gave her a banana’.
- If they get it wrong, say ‘that’s a good try’ and explain/discuss the right answer is eg ‘Jelly said the baby is cry. She made a mistake because she should say the baby is crying. You should give her a red cross because she made a mistake.
On teaching items 1 and 2 give as much feedback as you feel appropriate to teach the task to the child.
SLIDE 6 – teaching item 2
Let’s try another one. When you are ready, touch Jelly to hear her sentence.
Did Jelly say it right or did she make a mistake?
Allow child to indicate their choice and give feedback as appropriate:
- If the child gets it right, confirm their choice eg ‘that’s right, Jelly said there are five dogin the park. She made a mistake so you gave her a red cross’.
- If they get it wrong, say ‘that’s a good try’ and explain/discuss the right answer is eg ‘Jelly said there are five dog in the park. She made a mistake because she should say there are five dogs in the park, so you should give her a red cross.
Ok, are you ready to do some more?
SLIDE 7 and 8 – practice items
When you are ready, touch Jelly to hear her sentence.
Did Jelly get it right or did she make a mistake?
(You do not need to repeat these instructions on every slide, unless the child needs prompting).
On the practice sentences, you may allow the child to hear one of the sentences for a second time if they request to do so. Make it clear that next time they should make sure to listen carefully the first time Jelly says her sentence.
Allow child to indicate their choice.
Do not give feedback on practice items.
SLIDE 9-23 – test items
- The child should hear each sentence once.
- If the child hesitates in choosing, or indicates that they are not sure, encourage them to choose. However, if the child indicates clearly that they don’t know or refuses to choose, you should indicate this on the score sheet and move on to the next item.
- If the child asks for clarification at any point in the test you can repeat the instruction that they should give Jelly a banana if she gets the sentence right, but they should give her a red cross if she makes a mistake.
Allow child to indicate choice, and mark the score sheet accordingly.
On test items do not give any feedback, but give non-specific praise as appropriate.
Give general praise at the end of the test.
Child Number: Date:
Tester:
GrammaticalityJudgement Test A
Teaching items: The baby is cry. There are five dogs in the park.
Practice items: The book is on table. Did the boy eat an apple?
Sentence List A / Correct(Banana) / Incorrect
(Cross) / Don’t
Know
1 / Yesterday they waited a long time for the bus. / Yes / No / DK
2 / Every morning the mother washes her hair. / Yes / No / DK
3 / Did the man find some money in his pocket? / Yes / No / DK
4 / There are four cup on the table. / Yes / No / DK
5 / I've got an idea for mum's present. / Yes / No / DK
6 / Those boys play same game every day. / Yes / No / DK
7 / The girl was feeling very happy on her birthday. / Yes / No / DK
8 / She is go on holiday tomorrow. / Yes / No / DK
9 / Both my foot are hurting me. / Yes / No / DK
10 / Drives the teacher a fancy car? / Yes / No / DK
11 / Last night we sleep in a tent. / Yes / No / DK
12 / Yesterday our car broke down. / Yes / No / DK
13 / Did the girl finish her homework? / Yes / No / DK
14 / Likes carrots the girl? / Yes / No / DK
15 / We need some matches to light the fire. / Yes / No / DK
16 / The cat caught two mice in the kitchen. / Yes / No / DK
TotalCorrect (A)
Child Number: Date:
Tester:
Grammaticality Judgement Test B
Teaching items: The baby is crying. There are five dog in the park.
Practice items: The book is on the table. Ate the boy an apple?
Sentence list B / Correct(Banana) / Incorrect
(Cross) / Don’t
Know
1 / We need some match to light the fire. / Yes / No / DK
2 / Those boys play the same game every day. / Yes / No / DK
3 / The cat caught two mouse in the kitchen. / Yes / No / DK
4 / Does the girl like carrots? / Yes / No / DK
5 / She is going on holiday tomorrow. / Yes / No / DK
6 / There are four cups on the table. / Yes / No / DK
7 / The girl was feel very happy on her birthday. / Yes / No / DK
8 / Yesterday they wait a long time for the bus. / Yes / No / DK
9 / Both my feet are hurting me. / Yes / No / DK
10 / Found the man some money in his pocket? / Yes / No / DK
11 / Every morning the mother wash her hair. / Yes / No / DK
12 / Last night we slept in a tent. / Yes / No / DK
13 / Finished the girl her homework? / Yes / No / DK
14 / Yesterday our car break down. / Yes / No / DK
15 / I've got idea for mum's present / Yes / No / DK
16 / Does the teacher drive a fancy car? / Yes / No / DK
Total Correct (B)
Total Correct (A)
Grand total (A+B)
Chiat, Piper, & Roy 2011 Please do not photocopy or cite without permission