(Solved) Domains of Language : PDF

1. Key domains of language assessed and their importance to the client:
Alexander et al., (2014) stated that there are five different domains in language. Different
domains help a language to set rules of communication in society for various situations. The
five domains of language are Semantics, Syntax, phonology, morphology and pragmatic. The
first domain, which is semantics, is a branch of linguistics that deals with the meaning of any
word. It is the study and interpretation of any word that helps a learner to understand the
meaning of any sentence properly (Cantwell et al., 2014). With the help of this domain, one
can relate the words with the concepts. In the domain syntax, the main concern is basically,
on the pattern and the way of making sentences. It follows some specific rules like subject,
verb, and object format in English. Using the proper syntax, the words in the sentences are
placed together appropriately to make it understandable to readers. The next domain is
phonology and it deals with the sequencing of words. With the help of this domain, it is
possible to understand which word will be there after any particular word to make a sentence
error-free and understandable to others. This is the smallest unit of language that refers to the
shape of syllables and an improper use of phonology, the meaning of a sentence can be
changed also. Phonology is very important in forming any sentence perfectly. The fourth
domain is morphology. This focuses on the structure of the words and the grammar of any
sentence. With the help of this domain, it is possible to improve and modify the word
meanings. The fifth domain which is the last one is, pragmatic. This domain is very much
important for children when they learn to speak. A child learns to speak by looking at the face
of the speaker and observing how they are pronouncing any word. This domain helps any
children to learn how to speak different words.
The client Billy, who is 2 years and 8 months old, is suffering from the difficulty in speaking
the English language with the family members and others. His parents are concerned as he is
unable to speak properly as his other siblings did in his years. So, some language domain is

helpful for the child. As he is unable to speak a whole sentence, syntax and morphology
domain will not work for him. But the domain, semantics, phonology and pragmatic will help
him to learn new words and speak properly after listening to it (Coenen et al., 2016).
2. Interpretation of referral and discussion with reference to Stackhouse and Wells’
model:
From the case, it has been found that Billy’s parents were concerned regarding his speaking
ability as he was unable to speak properly whereas, at his age, his siblings could speak better.
However, it is common that parents take the example of siblings as a reference while
comparing. But, the speaking ability always differs between boys and girls during the first 30
months of life (Kurtz‐Nelson & McIntyre, 2017). Their language development skill also
varies accordingly. The child was having difficulty speaking and in this issue, Stackhouse
and Wells model will work in the assessment session. This model is developed considering
the role of sound in the speech therapy and it works in three different steps. For Billy, the
steps can be integrated in the following way.
Input
• Peripheral auditory processing- In this stage, Billy’s ear will identify or notice a sound
from the environment.
• Speech discrimination- In this stage, Billy will recognize if the sound heard, is a speech or
non-speech sound (Stackhouse, 2014).
• Phonological recognition- Now, Billy will relate the sound or language to his familiar
languages and then try to understand it. With the help of it, it is possible to identify a
particular speech order.

• Phonetic discrimination- This will help Billy to recognize and distinguish between
different types of sounds.
Representation
• Phonological and semantic representation- Billy will be able to store the words according
to their sound and according to their meaning also. This will help him to understand the word
and its meaning properly (Krahn et al., 2015).
This model will effectively help Billy to identify different kinds of sounds and their meaning.
It will help him in learning and understanding new words which will assist him in
overcoming his weaknesses. In this case, Billy was using few single words and gestures to
communicate with others. He uses very few verbs while communicating. His action and
difficulties in speaking develop a hypothesis that he is not completely able to develop
semantic representation and he is unable to understand the meaning of all the words
(McConnell et al., 2014). This approach will help Billy in developing his speech and literacy.
3. Integration of WHO ICF into the assessment plan:
The WHO ICF model focuses on four factors and these are, body structures and function,
activities and participation, environmental factors, and lastly personal factors (Schiariti et al.,
2015). ICF works efficiently in developing a standard framework of language to assist
individuals who suffer from the difficulties in speaking and understanding word meanings. It
is basically a classification of the health-related domain and it is used to evaluate the needs of
any child with any health disability (Geytenbeek et al., 2015). In order to analyze and check
the health-related disability to improve the speech and language developing the skill of Billy,
the ICF framework can be used. To collect in-depth information from the parents of Billy, the
ICF checklist can be used appropriately. The impact of various contextual factors in the

language developing the skill of Billy can be recognized and identified with the use of the
ICF framework which is provided by the WHO (World Health Organization, 2015). So, ICF
assists with some additional measure in the treatment process of Billy’s disability in speaking
and expressing thoughts. It will help in the progress of the treatment procedure of Billy.
4. Use of play context to collect data:
Billy was 2years and 8 months old. So, his playing context will be functional in order to
explore and manipulate several toys and objects. The play context will be specifically
designed according to his age to collect data accordingly which will help to understand the
specific problem of Billy. He was 32 months old and so his play context will include others
and it will be a single scheme pretends (Pears et al., 2015). So he will be given a doll to drink
with a toy cup. He will pretend to drink and will try to feed the doll with the toy-cup in the
symbolic combination playing context. After that, there will be the context with hierarchical
pretend in which he will take out a spoon and other dishes to feed his doll. It will indicate if
he is getting the meaning and capable of distinguishing different objects and its functions.
These activities can be performed in playgroups where children can enjoy and interact with
others. So, to assess his language skill, the playing context will functional as per his age and
he will be provided with some toy cups, spoons, false burger, doll, dishes and others. The
practitioner will also pretend to drink and will notice the child how he is acting with those
object and also record that for saving the data. This method will help in recording the data for
future analysis about how the child is using the objects according to their functions and it will
also provide the information that if the child is growing its semantic skill. The data will be
recorded as per his interaction, responding and social function. His pre-verbal skills and
expressions like eye contact, attention, types of word, vocalization and semantic roles will
also be considered while recoding the data. When Billy will pretend to drink or feed the doll,

his oral skills like eating, swallowing and phonological systems will also be checked and
recorded for further analysis.
5. Recording and analyzing the assessment data:
Recording of data is very much essential for any further analysis and research. Conducting an
interview is very challenging as it requires to build a product as well as a comfortable
relationship and to maintain that also during the whole interview process (Saito et al., 2016).
So, in the case of Billy, the data should be recorded through ethnographic interviews where
the strategy will be “asking the right question in the right ways”. There will be a series of
friendly conversation with Billy, in order to understand his semantic skills and way of
responding (Høffding & Martiny, 2016). When he will be provided external objects the data
will be recorded by asking what he is going to do with the objects like dolls and toy cups in
the ethnographic interview. The interview of Billy’s parents will also be taken in order to get
in-depth information about Billy. The data recorded in the interview round of playing context
will be analyzed using some statistical techniques which will help in getting a more accurate
result. Selection of method of analyzing data is very much critical as the inappropriate
method will be responsible for the wrong result. Again, the questions in the interview should
be asked slowly so that the interview would not turn into a formal interrogative process
which will be uncomfortable. In the analysis of the data which will be collected in the
interview round and playing context should be analyzed with some practical technique in
order to avoid getting any wrong information from the result.

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