LANGUAGE SAMPLE ANALYSIS from an actual child

3) Write a Paper
• Background Information: Provide background information about the child you are evaluating and the context of your language sample. You can make up a name to protect the child’s confidentiality.
o Info such as age, gender, developmental history, significant medical history, family (e.g., who he/she lives with, brothers and sisters, etc…), educational/daycare history (preschool, daycare, kindergarten)
o Report any known communication difficulties or delays.
o Context of the language sample:
 What was happening during the sample?
 Who were the communication partners during the sample?
o Other relevant information…

• Semantic Analysis:
o Indicate your child’s type-token ratio (TTR) results in your paper.
o Be sure to interpret and explain your TTR results and what they mean, as well as explaining what your findings mean in relation to their language development. For example, do they have strong vocabulary diversity, or are they using the same words repeatedly. Use your text, class notes, and outside sources to interpret data.

• Syntactic Analysis:
o Indicate your child’s Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) results in your paper.
o Be sure to state whether or not your child’s MLU is within normal limits and explain what your findings mean in relation to their language development. What do your findings say about the child’s development? Use your text, class notes, and outside sources to interpret data.

• Summary & Conclusions: Tie it all together. Combine your analyses with other observations such as conversational skills, narrative skills, theory of mind, sentence forms, play skills, etc. to paint a picture of your child’s language profile. Use your class notes and readings to cue you on areas you could be covering. This is where you can be creative and show your understanding and breadth of knowledge gained throughout the semester.

• APA: All papers must adhere to APA style. Grammar and writing style will be taken into consideration during grading. You should write the paper as though it were a formal, professional report. Papers should be free of grammatical and spelling errors. CITE PROPERLY throughout using APA style – be cautious. You do not need to cite the actual language sample, just outside sources (including class notes, text, etc.). You do not need to include an abstract, but should follow all other APA rules.