Finite verb morphology composite between age 4 and age 9 for the edmonton narrative norms instrument: Reference data and psychometric properties

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide reference data and evaluate the psychometric properties for the finite verb morphology composite (FVMC) measure in children between 4 and 9 years of age from the database of the Edmonton Narrative Norms Instrument (ENNI; Schneider, Dubé, & Hayward, 2005). Method: Participants included 377 children between age 4 and age 9, including 300 children with typical language and 77 children with language impairment (LI). Narrative samples were collected using a story generation task. FVMC scores were computed from the samples. Split-half reliability, concurrent criterion validity, and diagnostic accuracy for FVMC were further evaluated. Results: Children’s performance on FVMC increased significantly between age 4 and age 9 in the typical language and LI groups. Moreover, the correlation coefficients for the split-half reliability and concurrent criterion validity of FVMC were medium to large (rs ≥.429, ps <.001) at each age level. The diagnostic accuracy of FVMC was good or acceptable from age 4 to age 7, but it dropped to a poor level at age 8 and age 9. Conclusion: With the empirical evidence, FVMC is appropriate for identifying children with LI between age 4 and age 7. The reference data of FVMC could also be used for monitoring treatment progress.