Stuttering Frequency in Relation to Lexical Diversity, Syntactic Complexity, and Utterance Length

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy A. Wagovich ◽  
Nancy E. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Growth Time ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
Utterance Length ◽  
Language Growth ◽  
Lexical Content

Children’s frequency of stuttering can be affected by utterance length, syntactic complexity, and lexical content of language. Using a unique small-scale within-subjects design, this study explored whether language samples that contain more stuttering have (a) longer, (b) syntactically more complex, and (c) lexically more diverse utterances than samples that contain less stuttering. Children who stutter, ages 2 years 1 month to 4 years 11 months, produced 10 monthly language samples. For each child, samples were divided into the first five (early) and the last five (later). Utterance length, syntactic complexity, and lexical diversity analyses were performed on samples that contained the most and least stuttering for early and later samples. For the later samples but not the early ones, samples with the most stuttering contained longer mean lengths of utterance, more diverse vocabulary overall, and greater syntactic complexity than samples with the least stuttering. Contributions of language growth, time, and specific linguistic factors are discussed.

scholarly journals A Narrative Evaluation of Mandarin-Speaking Children With Language Impairment

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Hao ◽  
Li Sheng ◽  
Yiwen Zhang ◽  
Fan Jiang ◽  
Jill de Villiers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Narrative Skills ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Ambient Language ◽  
Comparable Performance

Purpose We aimed to study narrative skills in Mandarin-speaking children with language impairment (LI) to compare with children with LI speaking Indo-European languages. Method Eighteen Mandarin-speaking children with LI (mean age 6;2 [years;months]) and 18 typically developing (TD) age controls told 3 stories elicited using the Mandarin Expressive Narrative Test (de Villiers & Liu, 2014). We compared macrostructure-evaluating descriptions of characters, settings, initiating events, internal responses,plans, actions, and consequences. We also studied general microstructure, including productivity, lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, and grammaticality. In addition, we compared the use of 6 fine-grained microstructure elements that evaluate particular Mandarin linguistic features. Results Children with LI exhibited weaknesses in 5 macrostructure elements, lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, and 3 Mandarin-specific, fine-grained microstructure elements. Children with LI and TD controls demonstrated comparable performance on 2 macrostructure elements, productivity, grammaticality, and the remaining 3 fine-grained microstructure features. Conclusions Similarities and differences are noted in narrative profiles of children with LI who speak Mandarin versus those who speak Indo-European languages. The results are consistent with the view that profiles of linguistic deficits are shaped by the ambient language. Clinical implications are discussed.

Academic language in elementary school mathematics

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Dokter ◽  
R. Aarts ◽  
J. Kurvers ◽  
A. Ros ◽  
S. Kroon
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Teaching Mathematics ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Elementary School Mathematics ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Language Input

Abstract Students who are proficient academic language (AL) users, achieve better in school. To develop students’ AL register teachers’ AL input is necessary. The goal of this study was to investigate the extent of AL features in the language input first and second grade teachers give their students in whole class mathematics instruction. Five key features could be distinguished: lexical diversity, lexical complexity, lexical specificity, syntactic complexity and textual complexity. Teachers used all features, but the amount in which they used them varied. While all teachers used lexical specific language when teaching mathematics, they did not use very complex language input. The academicness of teachers’ input was significantly higher in grade 2 than in grade 1 with respect to lexical diversity and lexical specificity. The input during explanation and discussion only differed with regard to textual complexity, which was higher during explanation.

An Experimental Parent-Assisted Treatment Program for Preschool Language-Delayed Children

1974 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. MacDonald ◽  
Judith P. Blott ◽  
Kathleen Gordon ◽  
Bernard Spiegel ◽  
Marianna Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Experimental Program ◽  
Preschool Language ◽  
Experimental Subjects ◽  
Utterance Length ◽  
Grammatical Complexity ◽  
Language Growth ◽  
Successful Replication ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Home Programming

Six preschool children with Down’s syndrome were subjects in an experimental program using parents as the primary language trainers. Three children served as experimental subjects and three as controls. The program applied the Environmental Language Intervention Strategy to effect a generalized functional language in children who primarily were capable of only single-word utterances. The major objective was to increase utterance length and grammatical complexity. The two essential procedures were to train immediate generalization of language changes from imitation to parallel conversation and play activities and to educate parents as language trainers to effect immediate transfer of training. The five-month program ran in two stages, two months with professionals and mothers as language trainers and three months in the home with parents as the sole language trainers. Results from the two-month stage indicated marked increases in utterance length and grammatical complexity in imitation and conversation for all experimental subjects but negligible changes for the controls. Follow-up assessment indicated continued language increments for the experimental subjects over three months of home programming with parents as the sole language trainers. The experimental language growth in the mean length of utterance over three months of home programming for the retarded children was comparable to growth for normally developing children. An epilogue reports successful replication of the program with the original control subjects.

Utterance Length and Lexical Diversity in Cantonese-Speaking Children With and Without Specific Language Impairment

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1396-1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Klee ◽  
Stephanie F. Stokes ◽  
Anita M.-Y. Wong ◽  
Paul Fletcher ◽  
William J. Gavin
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Utterance Length

Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states and cross-linguistic transfer

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 914-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATY BORODKIN ◽  
MIRIAM FAUST
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Grammatical Accuracy ◽  
Oral Language Skills ◽  
Linguistic Transfer ◽  
Tip Of The Tongue

This study examined cross-linguistic transfer in oral language skills in a sample of 50 native Hebrew speakers who learned English as a second language. The ability to retrieve phonological forms of words in naming, as manifested by the tendency to experience tip-of-the-tongue states, was correlated across languages. We also found within and across language correlations between this ability and grammatical accuracy, lexical diversity, and syntactic complexity in second language narratives. These findings are consistent with the transfer across languages in oral language skills and provide insights into the processes linking phonological and higher level encoding in production of connected speech.

A Comparison of Natural Language Samples Collected From Minimally and Low-Verbal Children and Adolescents With Autism by Parents and Examiners

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 4018-4028
Author(s):  
Mihaela D. Barokova ◽  
Sommer Hassan ◽  
Collin Lee ◽  
Mengyuan Xu ◽  
Helen Tager-Flusberg
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Standardized Assessments ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Verbal Interactions ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Adolescents With Autism ◽  
Adolescents With Asd ◽  
At Home

Purpose We aimed to compare the speech of parents and examiners as they elicited language samples from minimally and low-verbal (MLV) children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), while following the same semi-structured elicitation protocol, Eliciting Language Samples for Analysis–Adolescents (ELSA-A). We also compared the speech elicited from the MLV children/adolescents by their parents at home and by trained examiners in the lab and assessed the feasibility of parents collecting language samples at home. Method Thirty-three (five female, 28 male) MLV children and adolescents with ASD between the ages of 6;6 and 19;7 (years;months) participated. All participants were administered standardized assessments, and a trained examiner collected an ELSA-A language sample from them in the lab. The parents of 22 of the children/adolescents collected an ELSA-A sample at home. All language samples were transcribed following standard procedures, and measures of expressive language were extracted to assess the quantity of speech, its syntactic complexity, and lexical diversity. At the end of the study, parents filled out a feedback survey about their experiences collecting ELSA-A. Results On average, parents produced twice as much speech as trained examiners during ELSA-A. However, their speech did not differ in syntactic complexity or lexical diversity. When with their parents, the MLV children/adolescents also produced twice as much speech than with trained examiners. In addition, their samples were more lexically diverse. Overall, parents elicited longer language samples but administered fewer of the ELSA-A activities. Nevertheless, the majority of parents rated the experience of collecting language samples at home favorably. Conclusions When parents collect language samples at home, their older MLV children/adolescents with ASD produce more speech and engage in more back-and-forth verbal interactions than when with trained examiners. Because parent-elicited language samples allow for a richer assessment of children's expressive language abilities, future studies should focus on identifying ways to encourage parents to collect data at home.

Children's Story Retelling Under Different Modality and Task Conditions

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Gazella ◽  
Ida J. Stockman
Keyword(s):  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Presentation Modality ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Sentence Complexity ◽  
Story Retelling ◽  
Language Sampling ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
And Task

This study was motivated by the possibility of standardizing a story-retelling task well enough to function as a brief screener of children's global syntactic features. Specifically, the study determined whether the story presentation modality (i.e., audio-only or combined auditory and visual presentation) differentially influenced the quantity of talk, its lexical diversity and sentence complexity, as expressed in children's retold story narratives and responses to direct questions about the story. Twenty-nine Caucasian male preschoolers, who ranged in age from 4;2 to 5;6 (years;months), were randomly assigned to a modality presentation condition. The audio-only group did not differ significantly from the audiovisual group in the amount of talk, lexical diversity, or syntactic complexity of sentences used in the narratives or responses to direct questions. Nevertheless, the story-retelling task yielded the longest and most grammatically complete utterances. Responses to direct questions yielded the largest number of utterances and different words. The clinical implications of these results for standardizing language sampling are discussed.

Utterance Length, Syntactic Complexity, and Childhood Stuttering

1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Scott Yaruss
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Analysis ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Conversational Speech ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Play Interactions ◽  
Utterance Length ◽  
Better Than

This study examined relationships among utterance length, syntactic complexity, and stuttering in children's conversational speech. Analyses extended prior research by examining several different aspects of syntactic complexity, including sentence structure, clause structure, and phrase structure. Subjects were 12 boys who stutter, age 40 to 66 months, who produced 75-utterance conversational speech samples during free-play interactions with their mothers. Group analyses revealed significant differences between fluent and stuttered utterances in terms of all measures of utterance length and several measures of syntactic complexity. Analysis of the relationships between utterance length and syntactic complexity identified several measures of syntactic complexity that influenced stuttering and were independent of utterance length. Logistic regression analyses revealed that utterance length was better than syntactic complexity at predicting whether stuttering would occur, though neither utterance length nor syntactic complexity was a particularly strong predictor for individual subjects' data. Thus, findings suggest that utterance length and syntactic complexity cannot, by themselves, adequately account for the occurrence of stuttering in children's conversational utterances.

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