BY MARION BLANK, SUSAN A. ROSE, AND LAURA J. BERLIN
The PLAI-2 provides a reliable way to find out if young children can meet the demands of classroom discourse. It tells you how well 3- through 5-year-olds can integrate the cognitive, linguistic, and pragmatic aspects of communication and handle the adult-child exchange that occurs in the classroom.
Standardized Subtests Plus Informal Evaluation
The PLAI-2 includes two distinct parts: a norm-referenced assessment and an informal, nonstandardized evaluation. The standardized portion of the instrument includes six subtests that measure the following skills:
Matching: linking verbal and perceptual information
Reordering: reducing or restructuring perceptual cues
Reasoning: predicting events and justifying ideas
Receptive Mode: requiring a nonverbal response
Expressive Mode: requiring a verbal response
The nonstandardized portion of the PLAI-2 includes the following pragmatic measures:
Adequacy of Response
Evaluates quality of the child’s expressive language on a four-point scale, from “Fully Adequate” to “Inadequate”
Interfering Behaviors
Quantifies two patterns of behavior that hamper interaction: under-responsive (e.g., whispering) and over-responsive (e.g., engaging in extraneous actions)
Early Identification, Instructional Guidance, and Progress Monitoring
The PLAI-2 is an efficient way to identify young children with language and communication problems that might impede classroom performance. Test results allow you to quickly compare receptive and expressive language skills, pinpoint pragmatic behaviors that interfere with communication, and evaluate the effectiveness of intervention. They also serve as a blueprint for adapting instruction and/or therapy to each child’s particular needs.
Relatively brief and easy to administer, the PLAI-2 gives you genuinely useful information. Teachers, speech-language clinicians, and special education professionals can immediately apply test results to help youngsters adjust to the demands of classroom language and interaction.
BY MARION BLANK, SUSAN A. ROSE, AND LAURA J. BERLIN
The PLAI-2 provides a reliable way to find out if young children can meet the demands of classroom discourse. It tells you how well 3- through 5-year-olds can integrate the cognitive, linguistic, and pragmatic aspects of communication and handle the adult-child exchange that occurs in the classroom.
Standardized Subtests Plus Informal Evaluation
The PLAI-2 includes two distinct parts: a norm-referenced assessment and an informal, nonstandardized evaluation. The standardized portion of the instrument includes six subtests that measure the following skills:
Matching: linking verbal and perceptual information
Reordering: reducing or restructuring perceptual cues
Reasoning: predicting events and justifying ideas
Receptive Mode: requiring a nonverbal response
Expressive Mode: requiring a verbal response
The nonstandardized portion of the PLAI-2 includes the following pragmatic measures:
Adequacy of Response
Evaluates quality of the child’s expressive language on a four-point scale, from “Fully Adequate” to “Inadequate”
Interfering Behaviors
Quantifies two patterns of behavior that hamper interaction: under-responsive (e.g., whispering) and over-responsive (e.g., engaging in extraneous actions)
Early Identification, Instructional Guidance, and Progress Monitoring
The PLAI-2 is an efficient way to identify young children with language and communication problems that might impede classroom performance. Test results allow you to quickly compare receptive and expressive language skills, pinpoint pragmatic behaviors that interfere with communication, and evaluate the effectiveness of intervention. They also serve as a blueprint for adapting instruction and/or therapy to each child’s particular needs.
Relatively brief and easy to administer, the PLAI-2 gives you genuinely useful information. Teachers, speech-language clinicians, and special education professionals can immediately apply test results to help youngsters adjust to the demands of classroom language and interaction.
