Speech and language screening of kindergarten children in American Samoa

The purpose of this study was to obtain pilot data regarding administration of a speech and language inventory to American Samoan kindergartners. Currently there are no formal instruments available to assess American Samoan children in their native language. This study was conducted using O le STS, an inventory developed by Wallace and Tilo (1990). This tool includes the areas of articulation, vocabulary, auditory comprehension, and sentence repetition. 43 subjects were rated by their teachers and given audiological screening prior to administration of O le STS. The teacher ratings were used as an attempt to validate the obtained scores on the inventory. Teachers rated their students using a 5 point scale in each area assessed by O le STS. Subjects were considered "normally developing" or "impaired" on each subtest based on the teacher rating. Analysis of the results revealed a weak relationship between the teacher ratings and obtained scores; as well as a weak correlation between subtests. High performance and low variability of scores was found for the sample tested. There are several possible factors which may have influenced these results. These include cultural differences, lack of background information regarding development of the Samoan language, and a difference in the definition of "impairment" between the Samoan teachers and the researchers.