Abstract:
Objectives: The spontaneous language sample analysis is an important part of the language assessment protocol. Language samples give us useful information about how children use language in the natural situations of daily life. The purpose of this study was to compare Conversation, Freeplay, and narrative speech in aspects of Mean Length of Utterance (MLU), Type-token ratio (TTR), and the number of utterances. Method: By cluster sampling method, a total of 30 Semnanian five-year-old boys with normal speech and language development were selected from the active kindergartens in Semnan city. Conversation, Freeplay, and narrative speech were three applied language sample elicitation methods to obtain 15 minutes of children’s spontaneous language samples. Means for MLU, TTR, and the number of utterances are analyzed by dependent ANOVA. Results: The result showed no significant difference in number of elicited utterances among these three language sampling methods. Narrative speech elicited longer MLU than freeplay and conversation, and compared to freeplay and narrative speech, conversation elicited higher TTR. Conclusion: Results suggest that in the clinical assessment of the Persian-language children, it is better to use narrative speech to elicit longer MLU and to use conversation to elicit higher TTR.
Machine summary:
The purpose of this study was to compare Conversation, Freeplay, and narrative speech in aspects of Mean Length of Utterance (MLU), Type-token ratio (TTR), and the number of utterances.
Conclusion: Results suggest that in the clinical assessment of the Persian-language children, it is better to use narrative speech to elicit longer MLU and to use conversation to elicit higher TTR.
Also, compared to freeplay and conversation, narrative speech samples elicited less mean length of utterances (MLU).
The purpose of present study was to compare conversation, freeplay, and narrative speech on some aspects of language elicited in five-year old Persian language children.
Language samples elicited by conversation, freeplay, and narrative speech were compared in aspects of three language evaluation criteria): Number of utterances, b) Mean length of utterances, and c) Type-Token ratio.
Results The mean and standard deviation of the number of utterances, MLU, and TTR of language samples elicited by conversation, freeplay, and narrative speech are presented in table 1.
Results of ANOVA for comparing number of utterances of language samples elicited by conversation, freeplay, and narrative speech SS df MS F P value Treatment (tre) 2599.
Results of ANOVA for comparing MLU of language samples elicited by conversation, freeplay, and narrative speech SS df MS F P value Treatment (tre) 10.
99 89 Conclusion The results of the present study indicated that there was no significant difference among number of utterances elicited by conversation, freeplay, and narrative speech.