Relationships Among Conversational Language Samples and Norm-Referenced Test Scores

Abstract

Methods: This study investigated whether LSA values obtained from conversational language samples shared a relationship with the results of standardized language testing. A total of 16 children ages 43-90 months (M = 61.5 months) completed three subtests of a standardized language test and a 15-minute conversational language sample. Fifty-utterance language samples were analyzed for four LSA values including mean length of utterance (MLUS), total number of words (TNW), clauses per sentence (CPS) and words per sentence (WPS).