Language Sample Analysis Flashcards
Language Sample
Language sample: rich sample of child’s language
○ Analysis: utterance level, across utterances, across partners,
conversational event
○ SLP: good understanding of child’s language and caregiver concerns prior
to analysis
○ Form of language: utterance-level analysis is best
○ Language in context: turns, topics, efficacy of child’s language use
Time consuming approach!
○ Focus on child’s present communication system/skills
○ Focus on areas of suspected difficulty–not an overview analysis
○ Computer programs (i.e. SALT) can assist in analysis
Language Sample Analysis: Communication Partner: Dyad analysis
Communication Partners: parent-child dyad analysis
○ Process focused on language skills of child–helpful to SLP
◉ Parental input: communication process attuned to language skills of child
○ Maternal linguistic complexity→related to child’s comprehension
○ Semantically related utterances→ derived from child’s interests
◉ Approximately 68% of maternal input related directly to child’s
verbal/vocal/nonverbal behavior
◉ Understanding parental communication with child (Too directive? Too
unresponsive?) can help SLP with further direction/training
○ Assess learning contributions–strengths/weaknesses
○ Parent as a collaborator!
Analysis: Stylistic Variations
Style or register and stylistic variations and style differ, style switching
Style/register: manner of talking with specific language
partner/situation
◉ Stylistic variations: formal/casual/varied
○ Style/register: moving from one to another→style switching
○ Styles differ: different topics, vocabulary etc.
◉ Children may display difficulties with register (LD):
○ Not knowing when to make a statement
○ Providing insufficient information to listener
○ Not adjusting register to speaker
Analysis: Stylistic Variations
◉ Interlanguage
Interlanguage –patterns of language use, a combination of L1 and L2 rules, plus
needed rules from neither/both languages
◉ Code-switching - shifting from one language to another within or across
different utterances
○ May be used when inadequate language skills and used for adequate skills
○ Heavily influenced by contextual and situational variables
○ Follows agreed upon rules of language
○ Often occurs to enhance meaning, change topic emphasized
○ Also used to convey humor, ethnic solidarity, show attitude toward listener
◉ Channel availability: SLP should note if less success in communicating with only 1
‘channel’ (i.e. verbal channel over the phone)
◉ SLP–Note interlanguage and code-switching; provide examples in report
Analysis: Referential Communication
What about descriptions, explanations and directions ?
Presuppositions
Referential communication: speaker to identify/select attributes of an entity so
the listener can identify the entity correctly
○ “He has brown hair”–> rather than “The only boy in my history class has
brown hair”
○ Descriptions/Explanations/Directions: difficulty with this can negatively
affect child’s academics
◉ Presupposition: speaker’s assumptions about both the context & listener’s
knowledge, affecting the speaker’s communication
○ Speaker-take conversational perspective of the listener (age 10)
○ Who can have difficulty with this?
○ Difficulties: less likely to adjust, more likely to provide ambiguous,
insufficient information
◉ SLP—Are messages informative? Vague? Ambiguous? Referents clearly
established or not? etc…
Deictics,
Definite reference
indefinite reference
Deictics:
○ relating to a word or expression whose meaning is dependent on the
context in which it is used—must be interpreted by the perspective of the
speaker
○ Ex. here/there, you/me, that/this, come/go, before/after
○ SLP–Note if child has difficulty/describe
◉ Definite/Indefinite Reference:
○ Definite: specific referent (ex. the blue book; the airplane)
○ Indefinite: nonspecific referent (ex. a blue book; an airplane)
○ SLP–Note difficulties to mark information (LI: overuse of ‘the’)
Analysis: Cohesive Devices
Reference (2 terms)
Ellipses
How language joins together (syntax & vocabulary)
◉ Reference–Marking new and old information
○ Initial mention: Mutual reference is clear; new information stated clearly
(i.e. Dennis is my best friend.)
○ Following mention: old information implied–follow up easy; pronoun use
in close proximity to noun, to avoid confusion (i.e. He has red hair.)
○ SLP–Note how child introduces information and refers to it later
◉ Ellipses–process where redundant information is omitted, in order to ease flow
of communication
○ (i.e. “What did you bring?” “A rocket.”
○ SLP– language analysis must look across partners and at fragments
Analysis: Cohesive Devices
Conjunctions
Cohesive ties
Adverbial conjuncts (2 types ) and disjuncts
Contrastive stress
Conjunctions–words used to connect thoughts, and also used to link clauses
○ Ex. and, but, so, then, therefore…
○ (i.e. P: We had a great day at the zoo. I liked the monkeys best.
○ C: And feeding the deer babies.)–>great skill, utterance level analysis may
have missed
◉ Adverbial Conjuncts/Disjuncts
○ Cohesive ties–intersentential forms that show a logical relationship
■ Conjuncts: concordant/discordant: good measures for adolescents
● Concordant: similarly, moreover
● Discordant: rather, in contrast, nevertheless
■ Disjuncts: communicate speaker’s attitude toward topic
● Ex. It’s obvious to me that, honestly, frankly
◉ Contrastive Stress (Emphasis)
○ Negates/corrects previous message of communication partner
○ “Alan went to the store”–> “Danny went to the store”
Analysis: Communication Event
4 parts
Social speech
Communication Event–can represent an entire conversation/portion of
conversation
○ Latency: span of time when individual not engaged in behavior
○ Duration: length of time when child/partner engaged in behavior
○ Density: number of behaviors within certain period of time
○ Sequence: order of events in topic/conversation
◉ Social vs. Nonsocial Communication: SLP must note
○ Social speech: addressed/explicitly adapted to listener
■ Clarity, explicit, repairs breakdowns
■ *obligation for listener to respond
○ Nonsocial speech: (school age children produce very little of this)
■ Not explicit, monologues
■ *No obligation for listener to respond
Analysis: Communication Event
Efficient conversational initiation
How to get attention?
Efficient Conversational Initiation
○ Gain listener’s attention
○ Greet the listener
○ Clearly state topic of conversation
◉ SLP: does child initiate/how? Successful/unsuccessful?
◉ Method & frequency of initiation
○ Gaining attention: eye contact, greeting
○ LI: may begin without greeting/unclear, interrupt, use same opener
○ Rarely initiate: withdrawn, shy
○ Passive, responsive role
○ Interrupt frequently; initiate conversation indiscriminately
○ SLP: Number of initiations (density) over given tim
Analysis: Topic (
Topic: subject matter being discussed (i.e. classroom, favorite toy)
◉ One partner introduces, other partner agrees (comments) or disagrees (changes
topic) or ends the conversation
○ Child with LI: may not establish topics, but adopt topics of others; may not
be able to identify topic, or respond well
○ Child with LI: nonspecific, stereotypical starter “Guess what?”
◉ Identifying topic by name; explicitly stating→mature speakers
◉ Topics are negotiated and based on the shared assumption of each participant
◉ SLP: analyze linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of topic initiation, termination…
◉ SLP: assess appropriateness of topic, determined by context
○ Some always appropriate, some not
Analysis: Topic maintenance what do we look at ?
Continuants
Responses need to be both ?
Topic Maintenance:
○ Look for response contingency–relatedness to the previous utterance (ex.
“Do you live here?” and response is, “I don’t see the cow”–>non-
contingent)
○ Continuants: maintain conversation but don’t add much information: ex.
uh-huh, yeah, really?
○ Child’s responses to questions: “Why is the man eating?” Need to respond
appropriately and accurately:
■ “Food”–inappropriate, but functionally accurate
■ “Because” & “He has to”–appropriate, but too brief to be accurate
■ “So he won’t be hungry” and “He’s hungry”–appropriate/accurate
Analysis: Topic
Wh questions
Topic Maintenance:
○ Question difficulty: hierarchy for analysis and intervention
○ Easier to respond to questions about people/objects in immediate setting
14
Easiest What + be, which,
(where)*
More difficult Who, whose, what + do
Most difficult When, why, what
happened, how
Analysis: Topic
Circumlocutions
Type of topic
manner of initiation
Child should respond with little delay to previous utterance (latency)
◉ Can sustain a topic, as long as conversation partners care to continue to share
relevant information→longer, sustained topics suggest child’s
interest/preference
◉ SLP: note number of turns on a topic
○ Below age of 3, child rarely maintains topic more than two turns
○ More turns for telling story, directing partner through task
○ Elementary school–turns increase for interaction
◉ Turns increase information/provide more information
◉ Circumlocution: talks around topic in one specific manner
○ May occur if child can’t identify topic or retrieve needed words
◉ Type of Topic: How novel: new, related, reintroduced, rolling (p. 189)
◉ Manner of initiation: coherent changing, noncoherent changing, branching,
shading (change of focus on same topic) (p. 189)
Analysis: Topic (Owens, 2014)
◉ Continuous vs. Discontinuous
Continuous vs. Discontinuous
○ Continuous-continue topic in some way
○ Discontinuous-not linked to current topic (new initiations,
off-topic responses)
◉ Relevant, added information to conversation: Important
◉ SLP: Note if difficulties with word searching, incoherent
utterances, ambiguous utterances, incomplete turns; count
number of turns contributing novel information
