Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts' (SALT) transcribing method and Narrative Assessment Protocol (NAP) online coding method: are they interchangeable?

Purpose: A narrative is a reliable tool for assessing the child's oral language. There are various narrative assessment tools. Most of them follow the Language Sample Analysis method such as Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) which is time-consuming and needs extensive training. The Narrative Assessment Protocol (NAP) offers a free and faster method of assessment to administer. The current study compared the NAP online and offline coding methods.Methods: Fifty-two kindergarteners (40-66 months old) were voice-recorded while generating a story. A transcriber coded the samples using both online and offline methods. Then, relative and absolute reliabilities were measured.Results: The results indicate a high correlation between the NAP offline and online scoring methods. Aside from a few items, both methods showed good correlations with each other.Conclusions: The NAP online coding method can be used as an alternative to an offline transcription to obtain a quick picture of a child's microstructure measures in narration.