nicole kotras masters thesis

children's verbal responses. The reasoning behind this suggestion was that the
responses, for example, to the large picture, are evidence of the child's earliest
capacity for composition. Some children speak at length, enjoying the picture,
searching out as many objects as possible, and talking about them. However, the
time used in recording as much as possible from the large picture, can yield valuable
information for a more complete assessment. Responses can provide information
on such matters as, the number of objects named, parts of speech used, length of
sentences, descriptive sentences, etcetera. Therefore, anything said by the child in
response to the picture, and as much as possible of the child's verbal responses
throughout the examination, should be recorded.
The 20 small pictures of the Hearing and Speech Scale were originally utilized
with children in their fourth sixth month of age, i.e., their second year of life (item
C.II.15). It is at this age that one small picture is utilized in order to obtain a verbal
response. However, due to the revision and restandardization of the Birth to 2 years
Griffiths Mental Development Scales (Huntley, 1996), the Picture Vocabulary (20
small pictures) begins from the third year (C.III.2). The child is expected to name 12
of the small pictures correctly. These pictures are numbered in order of difficulty.
Babbled names can be accepted only if they are well known and likely to be used in
the home: e.g., "wow-wow" for "dog", "pussy" for "cat", etcetera. Immaturity, such as
"poon" for "spoon" is scored plus, but these immature words should be recorded.
The small pictures are shown one at a time in correct order, as numbered on the
back of the pictures. The tester stops if the child fails six pictures consecutively.
The number of pictures which the child needs to name correctly in order to pass the
item, depends on the age of the child being tested (Griffiths, 1954, 1960; Huntley,
1996).
The large picture of the Hearing and Speech Scale is first utilized in the child's
fourth year of life, where they are asked to name 6 or more (6+) objects in the large
picture (Item C.IV.1). The large coloured picture is produced and the child is asked:
"Tell me all about it". The child can be encouraged, but objects must not be pointed
out, nor must questions be asked about details. One may ask: "What can you
52