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Diane German, Ph.D.

Title:

Professor Emeritus, Special Education Program,
Diversity in Learning and Teaching Department
Holder of the Ryan Endowed Chair in Special Education
National Louis University, Chicago, IL

Programs/Classes Taught:

Graduate Courses Taught

  • Online Graduate Study at National Louis University
  • SPE 525: Child Word-Finding:  Intervention for Students with Language and Learning Disabilities
  • SPE 526: Expressive Language Difficulties: Impact on Academic Learning
  • SPE 502: Language Development and Challenges in Children and Adolescents With Special Needs

Continuing Education Courses Taught

  • Word-Finding Assessment in Children and Adolescents: Beyond Picture Naming
    ASHA Audio Course Available at ASHA store
  • Child Word Finding: Differential Diagnosis and Intervention
    2015 ASHA Webinar, Language and Literacy in Elementary Schools Online Conference 
  • Intervention in Word Finding
    Online Self Study Course Available at Northern Speech Services

 

Areas of Expertise:

Areas of Expertise:

  • Word Finding Difficulties
  • Language and Learning Disabilities
  • Expressive Language Difficulties
  • Impact of Language Difficulties on Reading
  • Impact of Language Difficulties on Written Language

 

 

Biography:

Dr. Diane German is a professor at National Louis University, Chicago, Illinois and holder of the Ryan Endowed Chair in Special Education. She is an ASHA Fellow and a Fellow in the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities. She is author of the internationally known diagnostic test series for word finding assessment, the Test of Word Finding, Third Edition (TWF-3), the Test of Adolescent/Adult Word Finding (TAWF), and the Test of Word Finding in Discourse (TWFD).  Further, she is author of the Word Finding Intervention Program, Second Edition (WFIP-2) and the trade book, It’s on the Tip of My Tongue, Word-Finding Strategies to Remember Names and Words You Often Forget. She has also authored numerous journal articles, book chapters, newsletter articles, technical reports, conference papers, research posters and presentations focused on her work in child word finding. As one of the world’s leading scholars in the study of Child Word Finding, she is frequently asked to conduct seminars in Child Word Finding at, state, regional, national, and international conferences. Her current research interests are in the areas of differential diagnosis of semantic and phonological word finding disruptions, semantic and phonological retrieval strategies, lexical factors of academic vocabulary words, and word finding and reading.

Education:

B.S. Indiana University 
M.A. Northwestern University
PhD Northwestern University

 

Research and Interests:

Diagnostic Tests Published 

German, D. J. (2015). Test of Word Finding, Third Edition (TWF-3). Austin, Texas: Pro-ed.

 

German, D. J. (2016). Test of Adolescent/Adult Word Finding, Second Edition (TAWF-2). Austin, Texas: Pro-ed. 

German, D. J. (2000). Test of Word Finding, Second Edition (TWF-2). Austin, Texas: Pro-ed. 

German, D.J. (1991). Test of Word Finding in Discourse (TWFD). Austin, TX: Pro-ed. 

German, D.J. (1990). Test of Adolescent/ Adult Word Finding (TAWF. Austin, TX: Pro-ed. 

German, D. J. (1986, 1989). Test of Word Finding (TWF). Dallas, Texas: DLM.

Books Published 

 

 

German, D.J. (2005). Word Finding Intervention Program, Second Edition (WFIP-2). Austin, TX: Pro-ed. 

 

German, D. J. (2001). It's On The Tip Of My Tongue, Word-Finding Strategies to Remember Those Names and Words You Often Forget. Available through School Specialties, Interactive and  Janelle Publishers.

 

German, D.J. (1993). Word Finding Intervention Program (WFIP). Austin, TX: Pro-ed.

Selected Publications 

 

 

German, D. J. (2015). Child word finding, Differential diagnosis guides differentiated assessment and instruction, In, Eds. Elaine Silliman and Ruth Huntley Bahr, Handbook of Communication Disorders, New York:Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. 

 

 

 

German, D. J. (2014). Child word finding: Differentiated reading assessment. Dyslexia Connection, International Dyslexia Association Newsletter. 

German, D. J., Schwanke, J. K., & Ravid, R. (2012). Word Finding: Differentiated vocabulary instruction in the speech and language room. Communications Disorders Quarterly, 33(3), 146-156. 

 

German, D.J. (2009, February). Child word finding, Student voices enlighten us. Featured article in the ASHA Leader. 

 

German, D.J. (2008). Formulate a second hypothesis: Word finding based oral reading errors. Featured article in the Newsletter of the Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ISHA) 33(2), 10-12. 

 

German, D.J., & Newman, R.S. (2007). Oral reading skills of children with oral language (word finding) difficulties. Reading Psychology, 28:5, 397 – 442. 

 

Newman, R.S. & German, D.J. (2005). Life span effects of lexical factors on oral naming. Language and Speech, 48(2), 123-156. 

 

German, D.J., & Newman, R.S. (2004). The impact of lexical factors On children’s word finding errors. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 47 (3), 624-636. 

 

German, D.J. (2002). A phonologically based strategy to improve word-finding abilities in children, Communication Disorders  Quarterly, 23(4), 179-192. 

 

Newman, R. S., & German, D.J. (2002). Effects of lexical factors on lexical access among typical language-learning children and children with word-finding difficulties. Language and Speech, 43(3), 285-317. 

 

Contact Information:

Diane J. German, PhD
National Louis University Wheeling
1000 Capital Drive
Wheeling, IL 60090

847-947-5991 (Phone/Fax)
www.wordfinding.com
dgerman@nl.edu 

Locations

  • CHICAGO DOWNTOWN CAMPUS

    NLU’s Chicago campus on South Michigan Avenue occupies five floors of the historic Peoples Gas Building. This landmark building, across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago and Grant Park, is easily accessible by train, bus and car and is surrounded by restaurants, parking lots/garages and shops.

    122 S. Michigan Avenue
    Chicago, IL 60603
    (888) 658.8632
    Info » | Directions »

  • ELGIN

    Conveniently located in a fast-growing business district off I-90 and Route 31, NLU Elgin features 10 classrooms with high-tech media equipment; a computer lab with high-speed Internet access; two conference rooms; and comfortable student lounges. Parking is free at this recently remodeled and upgraded teaching site, which now includes wireless Internet access.

    620 Tollgate Road
    Elgin, IL 60123
    (888) 658.8632
    Info » | Directions »

  • NORTH SHORE

    Opened in the summer of 2006, NLU North Shore at Skokie is a state-of-the-art modern campus located just off the Edens Expressway near the Old Orchard Shopping Center. The campus includes 44 wireless classrooms equipped with high-tech media equipment; four computer labs with high-speed Internet access, including a walk-in lab in the library; six conference rooms; a public café for beverages and snacks; a student welcome center; a library for research and study; and multiple, comfortable student lounge areas.

    5202 Old Orchard Road
    Skokie, IL 60077
    (888) 658.8632
    Info » | Directions »

  • LISLE

    Located just minutes from the East-West Tollway (I-88), NLU Lisle features 42 wireless classrooms equipped with high-tech media equipment; four computer labs with high-speed Internet access, including a separate walk-in lab in the library; a café for beverages and snacks; a student welcome center; a library for research and study; conference rooms; and six comfortable student lounge areas with wireless access.

    850 Warrenville Road
    Lisle, IL 60532
    (888) 658.8632
    Info » | Directions »

  • WHEELING

    Located in one of Chicago's major northwest suburbs, the newly renovated NLU Wheeling includes 20 classrooms with high-tech media equipment, four conference rooms, four computer labs with high-speed Internet access, large student lounge areas with wireless capabilities and interactive video capabilities, and an extensive research library. The site also houses the university library research collection.

    1000 Capitol Drive
    Wheeling, IL 60090
    (888) 658.8632
    Info » | Directions »

  • FLORIDA (TAMPA)

    Established in 1988 and located in one of Tampa's major business districts, NLU's Florida Regional Center serves students in 13 counties in central Florida. In addition to its classrooms, the National Louis University Tampa Regional Center features a computer lab, student lounges, and conference room.

    5110 Sunforest Drive, Suite 102
    Tampa, FL 33634
    (800) 366.6581
    Info » | Directions »