Language Samples: Documentation & Analysis

• A language sample is a documented recording of speech or expressed language, which can include conversations, monologues, or readings.

Purpose of Language Sample

• To document language abilities both at a single point in time (synchrony) and throughout development (diachrony).

Language Sample vs. Standardized Test

• A language sample is recorded, whereas a standardized test is not.
• Language samples lack standardized norms, unlike standardized tests.
• Language samples are less structured than standardized tests.

Synchrony vs. Diachrony

• Synchrony assesses a child's language at one specific moment.
• Diachrony assesses a child's language skills across their developmental timeline.

Reliability vs. Validity

• Reliability indicates how well the sample represents the child's typical speech.
• Validity determines if the sample adequately measures the child's expressive language for the intended analytical goals.

Impact of Child's State on Language Sample

• A child's bad day or quiet demeanor can lead to low validity.
• Responses limited to "yes" and "no" during sampling can result in low reliability.

Basic Requirements of a Language Sample

• Captures the child's typical language production.
• Includes expressive language suitable for analysis.
• Is sufficiently long to accurately measure development.

Infinitive Verb

• A verb in its basic form, often preceded by "to."
• Can function as a noun, adjective, or adverb within a sentence.

Facilitating Factors for Language Sample

• Minimize the examiner's speech to encourage more child speech.
• Choose topics of high interest to the child, possibly using props.

Recording Language Sample

• Use a recording method that provides quality but is also not distracting.
• Recording standardized tests is not permitted.
• Discrete recording methods are preferable.

Transcribing Language Sample

• The goal is to accurately convert the audio content into a written document for analysis.

Steps to Transcribe

• Choose a transcription format.
• Listen to the entire recording.
• Determine which segments to transcribe.
• Transcribe each utterance on a separate line.
• Add context or clarify topic shifts when needed.

Brown's Stages of Language Development

• Stage 1: 12-26 months, MLU 1.0-2.0
• Stage 2: 27-30 months, MLU 2.0-2.5
• Stage 3: 31-34 months, MLU 2.5-3.0
• Stage 4: 35-40 months, MLU 3.0-3.75
• Stage 5: 41-46 months, MLU 3.75-4.5

Mean Length of Utterance (MLU)

• MLU is the average number of morphemes per utterance.
• Calculated by dividing the total number of morphemes by the total number of utterances.

Total Number of Words

• Used to assess lexical productivity, which relates to the vocabulary used.

Number of Unique/Different Words

• The count of different words used, excluding repetitions.
• Indicates the child's productive vocabulary and lexical diversity.

Type-Token Ratio

• Calculated as the number of unique words divided by the total number of words.
• A high ratio indicates high lexical variation, while a low ratio indicates the opposite.

Percentage of Intelligible Utterances

• Measures how many utterances are understandable.

Percentage of Complete Sentences

• Indicates how many sentences are grammatically complete.
• Measures syntactic complexity.

Grammatical Morphemes in Stages 2/3

• Their use is expanding in complexity, with bound morphemes being added.

Overgeneralized Forms in Stages 2/3

• Occur when children apply language patterns to all words, including irregular forms.
• Examples include "mouses" or "runned."

Pronouns in Stage 2/3

• Children use subjective, objective, possessive, and reflexive pronouns.

Auxiliary Verbs in Stage 2/3

• They are first introduced, aiding in forming voice, tense, or mood.

Phrases vs. Sentences

• A sentence contains a subject, verb, and object.
• A phrase lacks one or more of these but serves a grammatical purpose.

Constituents

• These include noun phrases, verb phrases, infinitive verb phrases, and prepositional phrases.
• They should be able to answer "wh-" questions.

Negations in Stages 2/3

• Negations emerge, starting with nonexistence, rejection, and denial.

Examples of Negations

• Nonexistence: "all gone"
• Rejection: "no night night"
• Denial: "no horsie"

Interrogatives in Stages 2/3

• Rising intonation signals yes/no questions, and "wh-" questions also appear.

Imperatives

• A sentence that gives a request or command.

Imperatives in Stages 2/3

• They have an implied subject and use an infinitive verb, emerging around 31 months, often accompanied by body language and gestures.

Topic Collaboration

• Achieved by repeating part or all of a partner's utterance.

Conversational Repairs

• Involve providing a revised version of a previous utterance.

Print Interest

• Involves linking printed and spoken language.

Grammatical Morphemes in Stages 4/5

• Stage 5 is when the comparative form solidifies, no new grammatical morphemes emerge in Stage 4.

Successes and Challenges in Stages 4/5

• By stage 5, 9 out of 14 grammatical morphemes should be mastered.

Pronouns in Stages 4/5

• Pronoun usage continues to solidify.
• "Who," "whose," and "what" emerge in stage 5.

Verbs in Stages 4/5

• Increased use of "be" and the "-ing" suffix in stage 4.
• Modals are used more frequently in requests.

Modals

• Auxiliary verbs like "can," "could," "shall," "should," "will," "would," "may," "might," and "must" expressing mood or tense.

Negations in Stages 4/5

• Negation is refined for "be" and modals.

Interrogatives in Stages 4/5

• "Is/are" questions are refined.

Clauses vs. Sentences in Stages 4/5

• A clause contains a subject and a predicate.
• A complex sentence includes multiple clauses.

Predicate

• The part of a sentence that tells what the subject is or does, including the verb and object.

Conjoined Clauses

• Clauses linked by conjunctions like "and," "but," or "for."

Embedded Clause

• A clause within a sentence.

Object Complement Clause Example

• "Mary saw what the man dropped."

Specific Types of Embedded Clauses

• Object complement, "wh-" question, relative.

Wh- Question Clause Example

• "The man eats WHAT he likes" OR "I don't know who you talked to."

Relative Clause Example

• "You hid the ball where I cannot find it." OR "The dragon who breathed blue fire has retired."

Indirect Requests

• Use modals to create more polite requests.
• Example: "Could I have some milk?" instead of "I want milk."

Conversational Etiquette

• Skills such as appropriate pauses, interrupting/interjecting, and initiating/sustaining conversations develop.

Logical Sequencing and Causality

• Understanding the cause-and-effect relationships in a logical order.

Print Referencing

• Directing a child's focus to the characteristics, functions, and forms of written language.

Print-Concept Knowledge

• Understanding how books are organized and how to read them.
• Involves knowledge of elements like the title and reading from left to right.

Relational Words

• Terms that identify relationships between people, objects, and events.

Passive Sentences

• The subject receives the action.
• Example: "The cat was petted by Mark."
• Developed later in elementary years.

Active Sentences

• The subject performs the action.
• Example: "Mark petted the cat."

Figurative Language

• Language used non-literally.
• Includes idioms, similes, metaphors, and irony.

Idiom

• A common expression with a non-literal meaning.
• Example: "cold feet" means nervousness.

Grammatical Language Judgement

• Assessing the grammatical correctness of a sentence's structure.

Ambiguity Language Judgement

• Understanding how substituting words can change a sentence's meaning.

Semantic Language Judgement

• Assessing the meaningfulness and coherence of a statement.

Phonological Awareness

• Consciously manipulating sounds of language.

Semantic Awareness

• Disentangling a word from its various semantic meanings across contexts.

Morphological Awareness

• Manipulating morphemes to form different words through spelling.

Syntactic Awareness

• Understanding how words combine and identifying correct word order.

Pragmatic Awareness

• Understanding communicative intent.
• Assessing the appropriateness of questions in context.

Speaking vs. Reading/Writing

• Humans possess a greater inherent drive to speak than to read and write.
• Reading and writing are learned later.

Phonics Skills

• Involve understanding sound-word relationships.
• Includes sounding out words, understanding sound-symbol relationships, and reading with comprehension.

Reading Fluency Skills

• Develop the ability to read accurately, quickly, and with understanding.

Vocabulary Skills

• Expanding word knowledge and usage, contributing to metalinguistic awareness.

Text Comprehension Skills

• Using cognitive strategies to better understand the meanings of words and grasp larger concepts within texts.

Literal Reading Level

• Focuses on word meanings and the relationships between ideas in the text.

Inspectual Reading Level

• Allows for quickly scanning text to identify main ideas.

Analytical Reading Level

• Involves deep processing of information.

Comparative Reading Level

• Reflects on and connects multiple sources to form original ideas.

Stages of Developing Readers

• Stage 3 (9-14 years): Uses reading to gain and disentangle information.
• Stage 4 (15-17 years): Extends stage 3 with more variety and depth.
• Stage 5 (18+ years): Intrinsically motivated to use reading for new knowledge.

Scribbling and Writing

• Cooing is analogous to speaking, as scribbling is to writing.

Types of Readers: Emergent

• Emergent readers are typically 30-48 months old.
• They are not yet reading but are pretending and attempting to.

Types of Readers: Developing (Stages 1 & 2)

• Stage 1: 6-7 years old, receiving direct instruction to connect letters and sounds, reading simple words; vocabulary of 600 words.
• Stage 2: Able to decode more complete words and structures; vocabulary of 3000 words by age 8.

Types of Readers: Independent

• Reading alone, focusing on comprehension rather than decoding.

Models of Acquisition

• Transmission model: Taught through direct instruction, like using a textbook for rules.
• Transactional model: Reading is part of natural language development, involving self-teaching.

Literacy Exposure

• Children benefit from literacy exposure prior to formal schooling through literate homes, books, stories, etc., and preschool with prelinguistic skills.
• Children without these may face disadvantages in school.

Graphophonemic Awareness

• Consciously matching graphemes to phonemes.
• Associating letters of the alphabet with speech sounds.

Prephonemic Stage

• Typically occurs around 3-4 years old.
• Knowing arbitrary letters; first stage where student knows that letters stand for a message, but they cannot link the spelling to meaningful pronunciation.

Early Phonemic Stage

• Typically occurs around 4-6 years old.
• Children use letters (usually capitalized consonants) to represent words.

Letter Name Stage

• Typically occurs around 5-6 years old.
• Learning to spell names.

Transitional Stage

• Typically occurs around 5-8 years old.
• Sounding out words to write, but misspelling complex words.

Preparation Stage of Development

• Typically occurs around 3-6 years old.
• Copying from a model and practicing letters.

Consolidation Stage of Development

• Typically occurs around 7-10 years old.
• Early writing in the form of spoken language.

Differentiation Stage of Development

• Typically occurs around 10-11 years old.
• Transitioning from spoken grammar to more complex written grammar.

Integration Stage of Development

• Typically occurs around 11+ years.
• Using personal expression and creativity within writing.