A Sweet Tutorial to the SUGAR Method of Language Sampling

Abstract

Purpose: The purposes of this tutorial are (a) to describe a method of language sample analysis (LSA) referred to as SUGAR (Sampling Utterances and Grammatical Analysis Revised) and (b) to offer step-by-step instructions detailing how to collect, transcribe, analyze, and interpret the results of a SUGAR language sample. Method: The tutorial begins with an overview of current LSA use, including barriers to clinical implementation, followed by an overview of the SUGAR method. Next, the SUGAR method is described in detail, including collecting the sample, transcribing the sample, analyzing the sample, and interpreting the results. To illustrate the method, each section includes an accompanying appendix that provides an example of a sample transcript and the various analyses. Conclusions: SUGAR offers speech-language pathologists one way to conduct LSA that is cost free, valid, and efficient. Clinicians can collect, transcribe, and analyze samples in approximately 21 min. The results of a SUGAR analysis can be used to document the presence of a language impairment, obtain a detailed description of a child's conversational language use, identify intervention targets, and develop intervention goals.