Abstract:

Objective To explore the feasibility of language sample analysis in assessment of language development in children in order to provide evidences for its clinical application. Methods The study population consisted of a cross-sectional sample of 50 preschool Putonghua-speaking children aged 4 to 6 years. The data on measurement of utterance length (MLU) and lexical diversity (D) were computed from 20 minutes' conversational language samples, and correlation analysis was conducted among MLU, D, age, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). Splited sample analysis by comparing MLU of first one hundred utterances and MLU of last one hundred utterance, D of odd lexicals and D of even lexicals were conducted to test the validity of language sample indictors. Results MLU and D development of the preschool Putonghua-speaking children were positively related to age. MLU, D, age, verbal intelligence quotient (VIQ) and PPVT were associated with each other (P<0.05 or P≤0.01) except age and VIQ(P>0.05). There were significant correlations between MLU of first one hundred utterances and MLU of last one hundred utterances and between D of odd lexicals and D of even lexicals(P=0.000). Conclusion Language sample analysis proves to be feasible in assessment of language development in preschool children aged 4 to 6 years.

Key words: mean length of utterance, lexical diversity, standardized test, language sample analysis