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A Japanese version of Main Concept Analysis: Preliminary report

Hitomi Yazu1, Mariko Yoshino2 and Anthony Pak Hin Kong3*
  • 1 Nippon Medical School Hospital, Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Japan
  • 2 University of Tsukuba, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, Japan
  • 3 University of Central Florida, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, United States

Introduction: The Main Concept Analysis (MCA; Kong 2016) is a content-based analytic system for assessing the presence, accuracy, completeness, and efficiency of aphasic spoken discourse. Developed based on the framework proposed by Nicholas and Brookshire (1995), language samples are elicited by description of four sets of sequential black-and-white line drawings. Six measures, including (1) Number of Accurate and Complete concepts, (2) Number of Accurate but Incomplete concepts, (3) Number of Inaccurate concepts, (4) Number of Absent concepts, (5) Total Main Concept Score, and (6) Number of Accurate and Complete concepts per minute, are subsequently used to quantify the production. This assessment has been validated for use in native speakers of American English (Kong, Whiteside, & Bargmann, 2016), Irish English (Kong, Ross, & Pettigrew, 2012), Cantonese (Kong, 2009), Taiwanese Mandarin (Kong & Yeh, 2015), and Mainland Putunghua (Gao, Kong, & Lau, 2016). Positive results of the MCA in discriminating between fluent and non-fluent aphasic, dementia, and normal performance have been reported. Given the current lack of standardized aphasia battery dedicated for evaluating discourse production in Japanese-speaking adults with language disorders, this study aimed to adapt the MCA into Japanese and to examine the validity and reliability of the Japanese-MCA. Methods: The first phase involved establishment of linguistically-specific main concepts (MCs) of the Japanese-MCA. With reference to each picture set, ten speech-language-hearing therapists (STs) listed MCs independently. Next, MCs listed by seven or more STs were included in a preliminary MC list. Sixty unimpaired native monolingual speakers of Japanese (20 young, 20 middle-aged and 20 older speakers) were then invited to orally describe the MCA pictures. MCs on the preliminary list that were mentioned by at least 70% of the healthy participants’ were counted as finalized MCs. The next phase examined the criterion validity and reliability of the Japanese-MCA. Language samples of 14 participants with aphasia, as verified by Standard Language Test of Aphasia (SLTA; Brain Function Test Committee, Japan Society for Higher Brain Dysfunction, 1975, 2003) were used. Concerning the criterion validity of Japanese-MCA, the Main Concept Score were correlated with the mean z-scores of the SLTA as well as its Supplementary Tests (SLTA-ST; Brain Function Test Committee, Japan Society for Higher Brain Dysfunction, 1999) that involved a sequential picture description task. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was calculated and examined for inter-rater, intra-rater, and test-retest reliability. Results and Discussion: The results of Phase 1 revealed a total of 23 MCs for the MCA pictures. In other words, the Japanese-MCA had a smaller number of target MCs than its original versions in English and Chinese (both of which contained 26 MCs). Concerning Phase 2, the Pearson’s r coefficients were statistically significant for correlations between Total Main Concept Score and z-scores of SLTA (0.781, p<0.01 ) and SLTA-ST (0.957, p<0.001). Correlation coefficients were also statistically significant and sufficiently high for inter-rater (ρ=0.800, p<0.01), intra-rater (ρ=0.977, p<0.01) and test-retest (ρ=0.946, p<0.01) reliabilities. Collection of additional aphasic data is underway to examine how well the Japanese-MCA can discriminate different aphasia syndromes.

References

Brain Function Test Committee, Japan Society for Higher Brain Dysfunction. (1999). Supplementary Tests for Standard Language Test of Aphasia (SLTA-ST). Japan, Tokyo: Shinkoh Igaku Shuppansha Co., Ltd.
Brain Function Test Committee, Japan Society for Higher Brain Dysfunction. (2003). Standard Language Test of Aphasia: A manual of directions. Japan, Tokyo: Shinkoh Igaku Shuppansha Co., Ltd.
Gao, G., Kong, A., & Lau, K. (2016). Production of main concepts by Mandarin-speakers with traumatic brain injury in China: A pilot study. Frontiers in Psychology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fpsyg.2016.68.00005
Kong, A. P. (2009). The use of main concept analysis to measure discourse production in Cantonese-speaking person with aphasia: A preliminary report. Journal of Communication Disorders, 42, 442-464.
Kong, A. P. H. (2016). The Main Concept Analysis (MCA) for oral discourse production. Hong Kong: The Commercial Press (H.K.) Limited.
Kong, A. P. H., Ross, A., & Pettigrew, C. (2012). A Main-Concept Analysis for aphasic discourse in Irish-English speakers: Adaptation and preliminary report. Journal of Clinical Speech and Language Studies, 19, 19-43
Kong, A. P. H., Whiteside, J., & Bargmann, P. (2016). The Main Concept Analysis: Validation and sensitivity in differentiating discourse produced by unimpaired English speakers from individuals with aphasia and dementia of Alzheimer type. Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 41(3), 129-141.
Kong, A.P.H., & Yeh, C.C. (2015). A Taiwanese Mandarin Main Concept Analysis (TM-MCA) for quantification of aphasic oral discourse. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 50(5), 580-592. doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.12157
Nicholas, L. E. & Brookshire, R. H. (1995). Presence, completeness, and accuracy of main concepts in the connected speech of non-brain-damaged adults with aphasia. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 38(1), 145-156.

Keywords: discourse, Main Concept Analysis, japanese, assessment, Aphasia

Conference: Academy of Aphasia 56th Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada, 21 Oct - 23 Oct, 2018.

Presentation Type: poster presentation

Topic: Eligible for a student award

Citation: Yazu H, Yoshino M and Kong A (2019). A Japanese version of Main Concept Analysis: Preliminary report. Conference Abstract: Academy of Aphasia 56th Annual Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.228.00079

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Received: 16 Apr 2018; Published Online: 22 Jan 2019.

* Correspondence: Prof. Anthony Pak Hin Kong, University of Central Florida, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Orlando, United States, akong@hku.hk