Are

used by Can be used to Allow SLPs to

85% of SLPs in
assess
gather valuable
their clinical
syntac:c,
informa:on
prac:ces.
seman:c & about a childs
(Kemp & Klee, 1997 as cited in
discourse
language
i
n
Heilmann, Nockerts, & Miller,
2010)
regula:on skills
natural
(Evans & Craig, 1992)
contexts
(Miller, 1981)

Length

Type of
Ques:ons

Factors
aec:ng a
language
sample

Clinician
Experience

Context
Heilmann, Nockerts & Miller (2010); Miller (1981); Evans & Craig
(1992); de Rivera, GirolameYo, Greenburg & Weitzman (2005).

RESEARCH
QUESTIONS

Ques:on 1

Ques:on 2

Ques:on 3

What
percentage
of clinician
uYerances
are
ques:ons?

What
percentage
of
uYerances
are closed-
ended
ques:ons?

What is the
rela:onship
between
clinician
closed-
ended
ques:ons
and child
MLU and
uYerances?

METHODS

10 rst-semester graduate clinicians (all female)

aYending the UWW ComDis Masters Program
10 children (4 males, 6 females) aYending the
UWW-Childrens Center
Child Age (months)

MLU

Mean (SD)

31.8 (4.07)

3.01 (3.01)

Range

26 to 36

1.54 to 4.87

1. Graduate clinicians audio recorded

10-15 minute language samples in a
childrens center classroom.
2. Afer collec:on, samples were
transcribed by the graduate clinicians.
3. The transcripts were reviewed for
errors by an experienced clinician
familiar with SALT.

Clinician
Child

Percentage of total
ques:ons
Percentage of close-
ended

Total # of
uYerances
MLU in morphemes

Closed
Ques:ons

Open
Ques:ons

Clarica:on, test,
rhetorical, yes/no
& choice ques:ons

Wh- ques:ons

How many do you

have?

No specic response
required by child

Should we play with

blocks or dolls?

What are you trying

to do?

RESULTS



Lang. # Clinician
Sample U:erances
1
69
2
153
3
113
4
118
5
45
6
77
7
70
8
45
9
130
10
101
Mean
99.1
SD
33.05
Range
45-153

% Clinician
Ques?ons
10.14
24.18
25.66
38.26
42.22
45.45
47.14
50.00
55.38
59.41
39.74
15.45
10.14-59.41


Lang.
Sample
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Mean
SD
Range

Child Age
# Child
(months) U:erances
33
105
26
64
34
106
35
76
36
55
36
57
27
56
29
87
27
106
35
109
31.8
82.1
4.07
23.15
26-36
55-109

Child
MLU
3.73
2.22
3.20
4.87
4.31
3.58
1.54
1.55
2.13
3.00
3.01
1.14
1.54-4.87

Examiner
Child
Lang.
% of
Total # Total #

Age in
Sampl Closed UYerance UYeranc MLU Months
e Ques:ons
s
es
2
7
3
6
8
Mean

7.25
20.26
19.80
21.24
26.96
19.1

69
153
101
113
118
110.8

105
64
109
106
76
92

3.73
2.22
3.00
3.20
4.87
3.40

33
26
35
34
35
32.6

Examiner
Lang.
Sampl
e
1
5
9
4
Mean

% of
Total #
Closed UYerance
Ques:ons
s
35.06
77
37.14
70
41.53
45
49.23
130
38.81
73.4

Child
Total #
UYeranc
es
57
56
87
106
72.2

MLU
3.58
1.54
1.55
2.13
2.62

Age in
Months
36
27
29
27
31

Rela:onship Between Percentage of

Closed Ques:ons & Child MLU
6

Child MLU

5
4
3
2
1
0
0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

Percentage of Closed Ques:ons

50.00%

60.00%

22%
Open Ques:ons
Closed Ques:ons

78%

50
45
40

% of Closed
Ques:ons

35
30
25
20

% of Closed
ques:ons w/o
Clarica:on

15
10
5
0

Beginning of
Semester

End of Semester

CONCLUSIONS

On average, 39.74% of
beginning clinicians
uYerances were ques:ons.
Given the eect of closed-ended ques:ons on
child MLU and number of uYerances,
beginning clinicians should be aware of the
eect of closed-ended ques:ons on child MLU
when collec:ng language samples.

However, ques:ons may be

necessary at :mes, especially
when collec:ng an intelligibility
sample.

Heilmann, J., Nockerts, A., & Miller, J.F. (2010). Language sampling:
Does the length of the transcript maYer? Language, Speech, and
Hearing Services in Schools, 41, 393-404.
Miller, J. (1981). Assessing language produc8on in children:
Experimental procedures. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Evans, J. L., & Craig, H. K. (1992). Language sample collec:on and
analysis: Interview compared to free-play assessment contexts.
Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 35, 343-353.
Rivera, C., GirolameYo, L., Greenberg, J., & Weitzman, E. (2005).
Children's Responses to Educators' Ques:ons in Day Care Play
Groups. Am J Speech Lang Pathol American Journal of Speech-
Language Pathology, 14-14.