SAMPLE LANGUAGE ANALYSIS SUMMARY/ DEVELOPMENTAL CHECKLIST SUMMARY
After completing all of the analysis sheets you will be able to write a summary of your childs language skills. This summary should be typed (double spaced) and will be approximately two two pages in length. For this summary you will have to have the exact age of your child at the time of the taping (years and months) since Browns stages is very specific to age. Begin by writing a paragraph that describes the nature of the interaction with your child, what toys you played with, activities, setting, etc. You can also include any information about interruptions, or distractions that may have influenced your child. Also let me know how well you knew the child at the time of the taping. Next, compare the MLU you obtained with the MLU your child should have produced based on their age. Your best source of information for this will be the Browns stages chart I gave you at the beginning of this semester. Guide to Analysis of Language Samples has the information as well. You should then discuss your childs use of various sentence types (syntax) and grammatical morphemes. Again, your Browns stages outline will be your best source of information. For example, if your childs MLU was 4;4, then they should be using most of the grammatical morphemes as listed on your Browns stages sheet. That same child should also be using well formed negative and yes/no questions types, and most of the time produce well-formed wh-questions. Your analysis should compare what your child actually produced to what would be predicted to produce based on their MLU. If your child didnt produce any examples of a particular syntax category (e.g, wh-questions); mention the omission and possible reasons. Next, discuss the childs use of semantic relations. In this area you will report if the child used a variety of relations, and if they combined relations to produce longer utterances. Also note what relations your child did not produce and possible reasons for the omissions. Report on how well your child was able to use these semantic relations to produce appropriate content during your interaction. Your pragmatic analysis discussion should report the reasons your child had for communicating, ability to stay on topic, respond to questions etc. In general, you will be describing your childs communication abilities from a social perspective. In all areas, be descriptive and use examples. After looking over your language samples, it appears that many of you interacted with children that have relatively advanced language skills, so you will be able to discuss that as well. Conclude this summary with some hypothesis as to why you feel your child responded as they did. Perhaps they did not do as well as expected due to a distracting environment, tired, being not feeling well, unfamiliar with you, not the right toys, etc. Perhaps your child exceeded expectations, so you may want to make some guesses as to why they did
so well. Also comment on the nature of your interaction with the child. Note: you will not lose points because you asked the child a lot of questions or had toys the child wasnt interested in. Im looking for your insight as to how an adult can influence the quantity and quality of communication from a child. I will be looking for accuracy of your interpretation, and use of examples to support your conclusions. Use of good writing skills is mandatory, see grading sheet. Developmental Checklist Summary Attach this summary as an additional page to the language sample summary. This will be much shorter than your language sample summary. In the introductory paragraph explain how you obtained your information (i.e., over time, within a short time frame, how much teacher report was needed, etc.). Then discuss your childs abilities across the developmental areas you observed, including strengths and weaknesses and general impressions of the childs abilities. You do not have to discuss each behavior within all of the domains, instead summarize your findings and highlight with a few examples.
Reminder of LANGUAGE SAMPLE PART 2 Language sample part 2: consists of Counting morphemes for each utterance (done from part 1)* Determining MLU and Browns stage (done from part 1) Semantic analysis worksheet Morphological analysis worksheet Syntax analysis worksheet Pragmatic analysis worksheet Developmental Checklists and summary Summary
*turn in your transcript from part 1. Information on counting morphemes was given to you at the beginning of the semester. . If you are currently enrolled in ComD 266, this information will make more sense as you complete the course. Worksheets: The worksheets can be handwritten if done neatly and legibly. Read the directions for each work sheet since they vary across language components. In most instances you are to try to find one example of each structure. If your child did not produce a particular structure, then leaving that area blank is a correct response. You are more likely to have more blanks with younger children demonstrating lower MLUs. Also the syntax sheet was designed to cover a wide range of language behaviors, so everyone should have categories without examples. The analysis sheets also correspond with handouts and notes I presented in 266. At anytime you can see me or one of the graduate assistants to ask questions, get things checked over, etc. Note: I have presented these analysis documents to the clinical supervisors in the department. It is likely you will continue to do similar procedures as you become involved in clinic. .