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Study Guide

Sample Selected-Response Questions
Field 31: Special Education: Speech and Language Impaired

Practice Questions

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Subarea I–Understanding Students with Communication Disorders

Objective 0001: Demonstrate knowledge of learning processes and the significance of various disabilities for learning.

1. Which of the following language characteristics typically emerges over time when preoperational children begin to engage in social play?

  1. imitating words spoken by others
  2. egocentric speech
  3. taking turns in conversation
  4. metaphorical speech
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0002: Demonstrate knowledge of communication disorders involving speech.

2. Which of the following is most characteristic of dysarthria?

  1. distortion of sounds
  2. frequent syntactical errors
  3. phoneme substitution
  4. difficulty in initiating speech production
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 0003: Demonstrate knowledge of communication disorders involving language.

3. Among young children, research has most clearly indicated a strong link between early language impairments and:

  1. limited decision-making skills.
  2. reading disabilities.
  3. social deficits.
  4. poor mathematical reasoning.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0004: Demonstrate knowledge of communication disorders involving voice.

4. Inappropriate levels and variation in loudness are symptoms most frequently associated with:

  1. velopharyngeal incompetence.
  2. fluency disorders.
  3. phonological delays.
  4. hearing impairment.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Objective 0005: Demonstrate knowledge of communication disorders involving fluency.

5. Which of the following behaviors exhibited by a preschool child would most likely indicate a fluency disorder rather than a normal nonfluency?

  1. The child makes occasional phrase revisions.
  2. The child has periods of complete fluency alternating with periods of nonfluency.
  3. The child begins making easy, effortless sound repetitions.
  4. The child tends not to use sounds and words that would result in pauses and hesitation.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

 

Subarea II–Assessing Students and Developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)

Objective 0006: Demonstrate knowledge of assessment procedures for evaluating individual differences, including learning strategies, and making placement and programming decisions for students with disabilities.

6. In language assessment, a major advantage of using observations in a variety of settings rather than standardized testing is that observation provides greater information about:

  1. the types of interventions that are likely to be effective for the student's particular disorder.
  2. particular speech and hearing disorders that may be contributing to the student's language disorder.
  3. the student's understanding of language as it is used for communication.
  4. the severity of the student's language disorder in comparison to those of other students.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0007: Apply procedures for assessing students' speech.

7. Use the articulation analysis table below to answer the question that follows.

The table has four columns.

The first column heading is Target Sound. The remaining three columns have a collective heading of Phonemic Position and individual headings of Initial, Medial, and Final. The key indicates that a slash between two letters represents a substitution and a dash represents an omission. I will now read the table.
Target Sound, /s/. Phonemic Position, Initial, t/s; Medial, -/s; Final, t/s.
Target Sound, /z/. Phonemic Position, Initial, d/z; Medial, -/z; Final, d/z.
Target Sound, / esh /. Phonemic Position, Initial, t esh / esh; Medial, -/ esh; Final, t/ esh.
Target Sound, /f/. Phonemic Position, Initial, p/f; Medial, t/f; Final, p/f.
Target Sound, /v/. Phonemic Position, Initial, b/v; Medial, -/v; Final, b/v.

Based on the information presented in the table, which of the following phonological processes is most likely responsible for this child's articulation errors?

  1. stopping
  2. deletion of final consonants
  3. nasalization
  4. devoicing
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 0008: Apply procedures for assessing students' language.

8. Which of the following characteristics would indicate a receptive rather than an expressive language disorder?

  1. difficulties with word retrieval
  2. frequent aphonic breaks
  3. auditory memory deficit
  4. delayed use of proper syntax
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0009: Apply procedures for assessing students' voice production.

9. A stroboscope is used for an instrumental evaluation of a student's voice primarily to check the:

  1. stability of pitch over time.
  2. movements of the vocal folds.
  3. intensity of the voice in decibels.
  4. degree of diaphragmatic support.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0010: Apply procedures for assessing students' fluency.

10. One of the primary advantages of using a formal testing instrument to assess a student's fluency impairment is that the test is designed to:

  1. yield a number that equates to a severity level which can be used to determine eligibility for treatment.
  2. enable a student to recreate the specific nonfluencies that need to be addressed in treatment.
  3. limit the risk of cultural bias being interjected in the evaluation process.
  4. allow a speech-language pathologist to determine the impairment criteria.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 0011: Apply procedures for developing and implementing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with communication disorders.

11. A five-year-old child produced the following utterances while a language sample was taken.

They gone to the store.
We running.
He picking the flowers.

Based on this information, which of the following would be the most appropriate IEP goal for improving this child's expressive language skills?

  1. Use personal pronouns correctly.
  2. Use noun determiners correctly.
  3. Use the plural /s/ marker correctly.
  4. Use auxiliary verbs correctly.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

 

Subarea III–Promoting Student Development and Learning

Objective 0012: Demonstrate knowledge of ways to promote students’ speech.

12. Which of the following would be the most appropriate intervention strategy for a seven-year-old student exhibiting multiple misarticulations and speech that is intelligible only when the topic is known to the listener?

  1. drills to increase auditory discrimination of phonemes
  2. a phonological approach
  3. myofunctional therapy
  4. exercises to improve breath control
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0013: Demonstrate knowledge of ways to promote students’ language comprehension and expression.

13. Which of the following would be the most appropriate method for adapting regular classroom instruction for a student who demonstrates a short-term auditory memory deficit?

  1. Write all orally presented classroom instructions on the board.
  2. Assign the student to a seat in the front of the classroom.
  3. Present classroom lectures using a louder-than-normal voice.
  4. Structure all oral directions similarly.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 0014: Demonstrate knowledge of ways to promote students’ voice production.

14. A speech-language pathologist helps a student practice speaking words such as all, art, each, egg, is, ill, ocean, our, and out. This sort of activity is most typically associated with therapy to address a vocal impairment related to:

  1. psychodynamics.
  2. resonance.
  3. phonation.
  4. respiration.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 0015: Demonstrate knowledge of ways to promote students’ fluency.

15. To use systematic desensitization effectively in therapy with a student who has a fluency impairment, which of the following steps must the speech-language pathologist take first?

  1. Ask family, classmates, and teachers to assess the student's level of interest in speech therapy.
  2. Develop a treatment plan for improving the student's sense of self-esteem.
  3. Determine which forms of positive feedback would be most meaningful for the student.
  4. Identify the phonemes, words, and situations that cause the student to feel anxious or inadequate.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Objective 0016: Demonstrate knowledge of ways to promote the academic achievement and overall development of students with communication disorders.

16. It would be most appropriate to use a key guard on a communication board that is used by a student who has which of the following disorders?

  1. hemiparesis
  2. selective aphonia
  3. aphasia
  4. cerebral palsy
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

 

Subarea IV–Working in a Collaborative Learning Community

Objective 0018: Demonstrate knowledge of ways to establish partnerships with other members of the school community to prevent communication disorders and to enhance learning opportunities for students with communication disorders.

17. A speech-language pathologist wants to help general education teachers identify students in their classrooms who may have communication impairments. Which of the following would be the most effective technique the speech-language pathologist could use to achieve this goal?

  1. Provide the teachers with a checklist of behaviors that may indicate speech or language impairments and have the teachers fill it out as needed.
  2. Periodically ask teachers if they are concerned about the progress any of their students are making in reading or writing.
  3. Show the teachers a video about teaching strategies to use with individuals with speech or language impairments and ask them to discuss their reactions.
  4. Periodically visit each teacher's classroom and observe the verbal interactions between different individuals.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 0019: Demonstrate knowledge of ways to promote strong school-home relationships.

18. A speech-language pathologist is meeting with the parents of a student with a speech impairment to plan home activities and assignments. Which of the following methods would be most effective and appropriate to use for coordinating speech and language techniques used in the school with those used at home?

  1. Conduct occasional therapy sessions in the child's home.
  2. Confer with and provide guidance to parents on a regular basis.
  3. Train parents to conduct formal speech therapy sessions at home.
  4. Have parents submit weekly reports on their child's progress at home.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0020: Demonstrate knowledge of the history and philosophy of special education, key issues, and trends.

19. As the general population becomes more culturally and linguistically diverse, it is most important that speech-language pathologists develop an understanding of:

  1. ways to integrate speech and language activities into the general curriculum.
  2. the language characteristics of diverse learners.
  3. ways to incorporate technology into speech and language instruction.
  4. culturally diverse literature for children and youth.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 0021: Demonstrate knowledge of legal and ethical issues relevant to special education.

20. Before conducting an initial comprehensive speech and language evaluation of a child, a public school is required to:

  1. allow the parents to obtain a second opinion at the school's expense.
  2. receive written consent to evaluate the child from the child's parent or guardian.
  3. hold an IEP conference that includes the multidisciplinary evaluation team and the child's parent or guardian.
  4. implement a remedial program prior to seeking clinical input.
Enter to expand or collapse answer. Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.