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Use of mean morphological units to assess language development
Journal of Communication Disorders
|February 1, 1979
Summary
A minimum of 15 sentences is sufficient for reliably measuring mean morphological units in language samples. This finding offers significant benefits for practitioners by reducing analysis time.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Previous research has proposed varying sentence sample sizes for reliable language analysis.
- Recommendations ranged from 15 to 100 sentences for indices like mean length of response and mean morphological units.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the minimal language sample size required for a reliable index of mean morphological units.
- To evaluate the adequacy of a 15-sentence sample for language assessment.
Main Methods:
- The study analyzed language samples to assess the reliability of mean morphological units.
- The primary method involved comparing reliability estimates across different sample sizes.
Main Results:
- The results indicate that as few as 15 sentences provide adequate data for a reliable index of mean morphological units.
- This sample size is comparable in reliability to larger samples previously recommended.
Conclusions:
- A 15-sentence language sample is sufficient for obtaining a reliable estimate of mean morphological units.
- This finding can significantly streamline the language assessment process for clinicians, reducing time and resources.