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Semin Speech Lang
DOI: 10.1055/a-2709-6424
Invited Review

A Comparative Study of Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) and Black English Sentence Scoring (BESS) in AAE Language Sample Analysis

Autor*innen

  • Platrina Shadon Alexander

    1   Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

  • Carly Rosvold

    1   Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

  • José A. Ortiz

    1   Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

  • Eliza Akua Thompson

    1   Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

  • Nan Bernstein Ratner 

    1   Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
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Abstract

Background

Children who speak African American English (AAE) may have an elevated likelihood of being diagnosed with language disorders. Traditional language sample analysis (LSA) metrics, such as Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS), are based on the morphosyntax of General American English (GAE) and may not accurately reflect the language abilities of AAE-speaking children. We examined the effectiveness of computerized Black English Sentence Scoring (BESS) in distinguishing between typically developing (TD) and developmental language disorder (DLD) in AAE- and GAE-speaking children compared with DSS.

Method

Language samples from 88 children (22 DLD, 66 TD) ages 5;0 to 7;02, comprising 44 AAE-speaking children and 44 GAE-speaking children, were analyzed using Computerized Language ANalysis (CLAN) DSS and BESS options.

Results

Results of a two-level ANOVA did not show evidence of any effect by dialect and scoring method. Logistic regression analyses revealed that both DSS and BESS exhibited poor classification accuracy, suggesting that they are statistically unreliable methods of DLD identification in children who speak either AAE or GAE.

Discussion

Although BESS is intended to minimize linguistic bias compared with DSS, neither approach yielded adequate diagnostic accuracy in this study. However, both can provide valuable information on grammatical features in a child's expressive language to guide intervention.

Keywords

pediatric language - language sample analysis - Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) - Black English Sentence Scoring (BESS) - language variation


Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
04. November 2025

© 2025. Thieme. All rights reserved.

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