Wk1+Language+Sample

Assessing Expressive Language: A Language Sample Summary: >>  Joint attention >>  Verbal development (Grammar MLU) >>  Non-verbal language >>  Theory of mind >>  Pro-social communication >>  Conversational skills >>  >> A language sample is a record of the words your child says spontaneously. For this assessment, it does not matter if those words are clearly spoken. What your child says (expressive language) is more important than how clearly he is saying the words (speech). A language sample can be informal – the result of hearing a child use language spontaneously in a familiar situation.  Also it can be formal – taken during a planned, structured activity such as retelling a story. To take a “formal” language sample find a time when your little one is at his most talkative You don’t need to use only one conversation for your language sample -- use various situations if you want. The easiest way is to record the conversation. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Try to gather at least 25 sentences OR 100 utterances ( I know that there was confusion here and that is my fault). <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here is an article that explains the process. We will go over it again in class. [] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Record what you were doing ( playing with bus)  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Record what you said.  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Make an analysis of what was said. Don’t worry about the analysis my purpose of having you do this is for you to ‘experience’ the differences in language. I want to know what you are thinking about in the language.  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Use language sample data sheet <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Email me the samples: rakovic@cox.net
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> Take a language sample of at least 25 sentences
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> Use language sample sheet [[file:Language Sample word 97-2003.doc]]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> Do an analysis of the sample
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What to consider
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kim: ** || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Me get. (2) **//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">pronoun use // ||
 * || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Get. (1) ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mother: || <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">You get what? ||
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kim: ** || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">That. (1) ** ||
 * || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Get. (1) ** ||
 * || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ball. (1) ** ||
 * || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Me get ball. (3) ** ||
 * || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ball me. (2) ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mother: || <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">You want me to get the ball for you? ||
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kim: ** || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[Shouting] BALL...BALL... (1) (1) **//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> using tone of voice to get message across // ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mother: || <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stop that. ||
 * || <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">That's not the way to ask. ||
 * || <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What do you say? ||
 * || <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kim? ||
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kim: ** || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[sticks his chin out at her] **//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">non verbal communication // ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mother: || <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What's the magic word? ||
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kim: ** || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[Silence] ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mother: || <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">May I please have the ball Mummy. ||
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kim: ** || **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[More silence] ** ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What to consider  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Joint attention  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Verbal development (Grammar MLU)  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Non-verbal language  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Theory of mind  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pro-social communication  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Conversational skills

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">MLU: means Mean Length of Utterance, which simply means count the number of words and divide by the number of sentences / or phrases/ complete thoughts the child has said. So if you do 50 utterances and you count 100 words the MLU would be 2  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Me go ( 2 words)  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I want to go to the zoo. ( 7 words)  <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yup. ( pause) I hungry. ( Two sentences 1st has 1 word, 2nd 2 words) <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**__Purpose:__** <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">  The expectation is NOT that you are able to make a complex analysis of language but more that you have an understanding of what a typical child’s conversation might be. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">  This is to allow us to have a dialogue about language skills. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">  It will serve as a comparison even in terms of how you were able to gather the sample.

Language Samples

The professional literature in speech language pathology provides several best practices guidelines with regard to obtaining and analyzing valid language

sampling procedures (for example, Evans& Craig, 1992; Miller, 1996) to use as abasis for eligibility decisions:

• To obtain a valid sample for analysis, elliptical responses should be minimized by avoiding wh-question prompts and yes/no questions.

When children are prompted to converse through frequent what-where-which-or-when questions, the resulting language data (including MLU) is often skewed and yields invalid findings. Alternative conversational prompts,including modeling and “Iwonder about…” statements are preferable. sampling context.
 * The standards for language sample is that each sample should consist of between 50 and 100 consecutive utterances in one

• Sampling in more than one context and using more than one sample elicitation task (e.g., free play, conversation, narrative) is important since a sampling context itself constrains the characteristics of the language that a student will use (Miller, et al. 2005; Nippold,Hesketh, Duthie, & Mansfield,2005). In order to use any of the several normed databases for comparing a student’s language sample performance to peers, it is essential that speech language pathologists use that same elicitation tasks and contexts as those on which the norms were developed.

• At some point in the language sampling process the speech-language pathologist must create for the student sampling situations that stress and challenge the student’s language use and language system (Lahey, 1990).Informal play, interview, or conversational situations may

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If you are really fascination by language samples this is a great study of the comparison between interview and free play