Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

A closer look at MLU: what does it really measure?

Laura S Dethorne1, Bonnie W Johnson, Jane W Loeb

  • 1Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-3100, USA. lsd12@psu.edu

Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics
|September 9, 2005
PubMed
Summary

This study found that expressive vocabulary, measured by the number of different words (NDW), significantly predicts mean length of utterance (MLU) in young children. Morphosyntax (tense accuracy composite, TAC) played a smaller role in explaining MLU variance.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Resisting Ableism: A Personal Response to Complex Questions.

Language, speech, and hearing services in schools·2023
Same author

Resisting Ableism in School-Based Speech-Language Therapy: An Invitation to Change.

Language, speech, and hearing services in schools·2023
Same author

It Takes a Community: How Environmental Systems Construct (In)Competence in Autistic Peer Interactions.

Language, speech, and hearing services in schools·2022
Same author

Children Born Prematurely May Demonstrate Catch-Up Growth in Pre-Adolescence.

Language, speech, and hearing services in schools·2021
Same author

Genetic testing and autism: Tutorial for communication sciences and disorders.

Journal of communication disorders·2018
Same author

Clinical Implications for Working With Nonmainstream Dialect Speakers: A Focus on Two Filipino Kindergartners.

Language, speech, and hearing services in schools·2018

Area of Science:

  • Child language acquisition
  • Developmental linguistics
  • Psycholinguistics

Background:

  • Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) is a widely used metric in child language research.
  • The precise linguistic knowledge MLU reflects remains incompletely understood.
  • Understanding MLU's components is crucial for accurate language development assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between MLU and specific linguistic components in typically developing children.
  • To determine the predictive power of expressive vocabulary and morphosyntax on MLU.
  • To clarify what linguistic knowledge underlies MLU variation.

Main Methods:

  • Study included 44 typically developing children aged 28-37 months.
  • Regression analyses were used to predict MLU.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Predictor variables included number of different words (NDW) for expressive vocabulary and a tense accuracy composite (TAC) for morphosyntax.

    • Main Results:

    • Number of different words (NDW) accounted for 51% of the variance in MLU when considered alone.
    • Tense accuracy composite (TAC) accounted for 23% of the variance in MLU when considered alone.
    • When considered together, NDW explained 28% of MLU variance, while TAC explained none.

    Conclusions:

    • Expressive vocabulary (NDW) is a stronger predictor of MLU than morphosyntax (TAC) in this age group.
    • MLU may primarily reflect lexical diversity rather than grammatical complexity in early development.
    • Further research is needed to fully elucidate the linguistic constructs underlying MLU.