Language Sampling and MLU Flashcards
When conducting a language sample, it’s important to consider
spontaneity vs control; variety of tasks; setting, topics, and conversation partners;
What are the goals of LSA?
allow a child to see that language is beneficial and useful; obtain a representative sample of a child’s language use; to assess a child’s language in a variety of contexts
What are norm referenced analyses of LSA?
MLU, type token ratio, and t-units/c-units
What are criterion referenced analyses of LSA?
eclectic analyses based on an SLP’s knowledge of language acquisition
What are the types of LSA that are available?
Computer assisted; norm referenced; and criterion referenced
What are control devices that make a child passive in a conversation and negatively harm the collection of a robust language sample?
Using closed-ended questions. (You don’t count responses to closed set questions). If you ask a binary question, springboard to an open-ended question. Using sentence completion
Using imperatives (e.g., Tell me.)Choosing topic for a child. Presenting authority.
Imposing linguistic demands.
What is MLU?
average morphological length of a child’s utterances gatehred from their spontaneous language
What is an utterance?
A complete thought that may be short or long, is divided from others by pauses, sentence boundaries, or drop in voice, and can reveal multiple clauses
What type of phrases do not count as an utterance?
unintelligible ones; incomplete/abandoned ones; non-spontaneous (songs, nursery rhymes, counting routines, or text read directly from books); copying adult verbalizations or repetition of child’s own verbalization within 3 utterances
What specific contractions are counted as 1 morpheme unless constituents are present?
let’s, don’t, won’t, ain’t, and can’t (ain’t and can’t do not have constituents)
