Sample Size for Measuring Grammaticality in Preschool Children From Picture-Elicited Language Samples

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a shorter language sample elicited with fewer pictures (i.e., 7) would yield a percent grammatical utterances (PGU) score similar to that computed from a longer language sample elicited with 15 pictures for 3-year-old children. Method: Language samples were elicited by asking forty 3-year-old children with varying language skills to talk about pictures in response to prompts. PGU scores were computed for each of two 7-picture sets and for the full set of 15 pictures.Results: PGU scores for the two 7-picture sets did not differ significantly from, and were highly correlated with, PGU scores for the full set and with each other. Agreement for making pass-fail decisions between each 7-picture set and the full set and between the two 7-picture sets ranged from 80% to 100%. Conclusion: The current study suggests that the PGU measure is robust enough that it can be computed on the basis of 7, at least in 3-year-old children whose language samples were elicited using similar procedures. L anguage sample analysis (LSA) is an important part of assessing a child's language. Some LSA provides a fine-grained analysis of a particular aspect of language, such as use of verb tense markers or noun phrase elaboration, for the purpose of determining strengths and weaknesses and selecting treatment goals (e.g., Eisenberg et al., 2008;Leonard, Camarata, Brown, & Camarata, 2004). Other LSA measures, such as mean length of utterance and number of different words, broadly characterize a child's linguistic performance for the purpose of identifying a language impairment (LI) or measuring change over time (e.g., Rice et al., 2010;Scott & Windsor, 2000). These are referred to as general language performance measures. The current article looks at one general language performance measure -percent grammatical utterances-that measures grammaticality (i.e., the extent to which a child's language production conforms to the conventions of English grammar and usage) using picture-elicited language samples.One frequently given reason for not using language sample analysis in clinical work is the amount of time it takes for eliciting, transcribing, and analyzing the sample (Hux, Morris-Friehe, & Sanger, 1993;Kemp & Klee, 1997). This time could be reduced by using shorter samples. However, it needs to be established whether those shorter samples will yield the same results as longer samples. In the current article, we focused on evaluating whether percent grammatical utterances in 3-year-old children varies with the number of pictures that are used to elicit language samples. Why Grammaticality Is ImportantOne aim of the common core educational standard for language is for students to demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when speaking or writing (e.g., State of New Jersey Department of Education, 2010). This standard is particularly relevant for children with LI because the presence of grammatical deficits is a key characteristic of these children ...

Adapting a Picture Description Task for Grammatical Analysis in English–Spanish Bilingual Preschool Children

“…For this reason, it is important to explore feasible elicitation methods that will provide clinicians with adequate language samples to assess the morphosyntactic development of young bilingual children. Shorter language samples have been found to be effective (Eisenberg & Guo, 2015; Heilman et al, 2010). Indeed, Eisenberg and Guo (2015) were able to effectively shorten their original 15-picture task to just 7 pictures for assessing grammaticality in 3-year-old monolingual children.…”

“…In this current study, we sought to extend the use of this picture description task to bilingual children. We explored the feasibility of using an adapted picture description task and grammaticality analysis using seven pictures (Eisenberg & Guo, 2013, 2015) by examining the error patterns produced by young English–Spanish bilingual children living in a border community.…”

“…Shorter language samples have been found to be effective (Eisenberg & Guo, 2015;Heilman et al, 2010). Indeed, Eisenberg and Guo (2015) were able to effectively shorten their original 15-picture task to just 7 pictures for assessing grammaticality in 3-year-old monolingual children. Eisenberg and Guo (2013) utilized this picture description task to examine the diagnostic accuracy of three LSA measures to differentiate young children with and without DLDs.…”

Percent Grammatical Responses as a General Outcome Measure: Initial Validity

“…Any discrepancies in error coding that could not be resolved were considered to be acceptable and were not coded as errors. The reliability of transcription and utterance segmentation/ inclusion for conversational language samples was also checked using the consensus procedure (see Eisenberg & Guo, 2015).…”

Using Language Sample Analysis in Clinical Practice: Measures of Grammatical Accuracy for Identifying Language Impairment in Preschool and School-Aged Children

“…Eisenberg and Guo compared PGU for longer and shorter samples for 3-year-old children based on picture description samples. 31 Sample size was based on the number of pictures used to elicit the sample. PGU was not affected by sample size.…”