Assessment of Morphology & Syntax Expression

ObjectivesWhat is MLUStages of Syntactic DevelopmentExamples of Difficulties in SyntaxWhy preferring the term morphosyntaxThe Assessment Methods of Analysis

What is MLU?

stands for mean length of utterance

a measure of syntax development

is the average number of morphemes or words that a client produces in an utterance

N.B. MLU for words does not reflect the use of bound morphemes (i.e. will be equal to or smaller than the MLU for morphemes)

MLU (Contd)provides important information about language development

i.e. an indicator of a language delay or disorder

For Computing MLU, look at : Box 6-3 Page 205-206 (Lund & Duchan)

Syntactic Development

One word syntaxWord acts like a whole sentenceHolophrase single words express ideas adults would say in a sentence Contains pragmatic & semantic information

One word syntax (Contd)Transition to syntaxend of the of the single-word periodUsing the same word with different intonation patterns or with accompanying gestures to express different intentionsThe use of successive single words that relate to the same eventIndications of moving toward word combinations

Two word combinations18-20 monthsWhen have acquired about 50 single wordsTelegraphic utterancesThey containContent-carrying words (nouns,verbs ,& adjectives) Low-information words (pronouns,articles,prepositions ) + inflectional morphemes

Multiword combinationsUtterances of 3 or more wordsWhen equal numbers of 1-word & 2-word utterances are produced MLU (1.5)Simple clausesSimple clauses that appear at this stagemore expanded (articles, adj., adv., are added)combined to form multiclause utterances

Multiword combinations (Contd)Development of verbsSimple action verbs (e.g. eat & do)Verbs indicating change in location (e.g. put & sit)Verbs indicating the state of the subject (e.g. want & know)Demonstrative pronouns (e.g. this, that & it) appear frequently as the subject of the sentencee.g. That a cow

Multiple clausesAppear between 2-3 years of ageMLU (3+)Appearance of multiple clauses with no connectives (e.g. you take that one, I take that one)Appearance of connective and Connecting wordsConnecting 2 clauses

Multiple clauses (Contd)Appearance of Wh- words (e.g. I remember where it is, when I get big I can lift you up)Appearance of simple relative clauses (e.g. that a box that they put it in)

Difficulties in syntax:

are encountered as a wide range of identifiable phenomenaexamplesdifficulties of message structureconfuses pronouns/prepositionshas few determinersdoes not put endings on verbscan not construct complete sentences

Why the term morphosyntax was chosen instead of sytax?

wide-range of clinical symptomatologyRarely, a disorder will respect a linguistic boundary such as that betweenMorphology & syntaxSyntax & lexisdisorders affecting these areas without affecting the area of meaning

Points to considerSpeakers execute utterances and dont actually speak in sentencesSpeech is executed in units that are smaller or bigger than sentences Within utterances, speech is prosodically structured in tone groupsSo, prosodic factors help to mark the status of a word/phrase Assessment of expressive morphosyntax

Points (Contd)

MLU measure correlates with syntactic complexity until the MLU (3) is reached

MLU above (3) overestimates grammatical complexity of delayed language children

Elicitation proceduresEliciting complementsIntroduce the unexpected (e.g. it is blue)Descriptive gamesVerbal scenarios

Eliciting verb tenses (present and past)Narrative activities

Elicitation procedures (Contd)Eliciting multiple clause sentencesDescription gamesStory telling or retellingEliciting question formsThe messenger gameEliciting negativesCreating the need for objects that are not present Introducing the unexpectedPatterned practice

Elicitation procedures (Contd)

Eliciting lexical verb clausesImprobable picture (e.g. what is wrong with the picture)Description games (e.g. telling a third person what the clinician is doing)

Sample AnalysisSegment sample into utterancesCalculate MLUIdentify all syntactic featuresClose portions -excluded from MLU calculation- in parentheses

Sample Analysis (Contd)Detailed analysis of a language sample (e.g. LARSP-Language Assessment and Screening Procedure)List the structures that are ready to be analyzedOrganize each structure errors

Sample Analysis (Contd)Analysis of Clause Structure ProductionListing transcript of clauses utterancesExclude utterances that were excluded from MLU computationQuestionsIndicate errorsCategorize the utterancesNote Clause types usedFrequency Where errors occurred

Sample Analysis (Contd)Noun Phrase Analysislist the noun phrasesIndicate the errorsEliminate utterances that areStereotyped Direct imitationsInclude Elliptical utterancesQuestions that were excluded from clause analysis

Sample Analysis (Contd)Question AnalysisIdentify all questions, including those formed with intonationList & classify all questions (e.g. yes-no, wh-)Indicate the questions that have errorsNote if child does not use any questionsUses only one form

Sample Analysis (Contd)Negation AnalysisList all syntactic negation formsNote the few instances of syntactic negation usedIndicate the forms with deviations from adult structure

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