Sentence Imitation Research Articles

Elicited imitation and the Oral Language Sentence Imitation Screening Test (OLSIST): content or context?

Ten language-normal children, aged 2:1-3:3 (yrs:mos), and eight language-impaired children, 3:7-4:1, in Brown's (1973) Stages II or III received two subtests of the Oral Language Sentence Imitation Screening Test (OLSIST: Zachman, Huisingh, Jorgenson, & Barrett, 1978) in a contextually supported condition and in a standardized test condition. Also, children's generation of eight grammatical morphemes in a spontaneous language sample condition was compared to their imitative control of the same structures on the OLSIST. Results indicated significantly enhanced imitative performance for the language-impaired children but not for the language-normal children in the contextually cued condition. Stage III language-normal children earned significantly better imitative scores than language-impaired subjects and Stage II language-normal children, regardless of test condition, although OLSIST subtests did not differentiate performance of any group. With only one exception, morpheme difficulty orders on the OLSIST did not predict morpheme orders in spontaneous language samples. Presence of cues, moreover, did not significantly increase the OLSIST's predictive ability. With the exception of Stage III language-normal subjects, all children displayed greater productive control of most morphemes in their spontaneous speech. Conclusions were drawn relative to the clinical significance of contextual reliance as well as alternatives to imitation testing for estimating the grammatical skills of the language-impaired child.

Erratum: Sampling Reliability in Elicited Imitation

In the February 1983 JSHD report entitled Sampling Reliability in Elicited (Fujiki & Brinton), the Oral Language Sentence Imitation Diagnostic Inventory was cited incorrectly in the tex...

A Comparison of Phonological Processes Identified Through Word and Sentence Imitation Tasks of the PPA

An investigation was conducted to determine whether or not similar phonological processes would be identified when responses obtained through a delayed word imitation task were compared to those ob...

The use of elicited imitation as a measure of expressive grammar: a question of validity.

Elicited imitation has been suggested as an alternative to Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) as a means of measuring grammatical performance. Numerous investigators, however, have demonstrated that short-term memory is a confounding variable during elicited imitation. In the first experiment the imitative skills of 4 year old were assessed as a function of sentence comprehension and delayed imitation. The second experiment examined the relationship between the Carrow Elicited Language Inventory (CELI) and DSS under three imitative conditions; 0, 3, and 5 second delays. Results indicated that subjects were able to accurately repeat sentences which they did not understand as long as imitation was immediate. Delaying imitation 3 seconds adversely affected imitation of noncomprehended sentences while having no significant effect on comprehended sentences. A 3 second delay on the CELI also improved its correlation with DSS from -.77 (standard procedures) to -.90. The validity of elicited imitation as a test of expressive grammar is challenged.

THE INTERPRETATION OF ELICITED SENTENCE IMITATION IN A STANDARDIZED CONTEXT

Elicited imitation has been used to study language acquisition and ability, language disorders, and nonstandard dialects While it was initially assumed that elicited imitation reflected knowledge of grammar, later work suggests considerable variability in performance, e.g., children do not always imitate sentences they are known to have spontaneously produced at another time. This paper reviews research on elicited sentence imitation, distinguishing naturalistic and standardized applications of the technique. A six‐year program of research is summarized which suggests that elicited imitation in a standardized context yields highly stable individual difference scores, improvement with age in accuracy of imitation, superior performance by middle class students, correlations between “imitation” tests and natural environment language performances, significant correlations between elicited imitation and widely used tests of general verbalability, and statistical evidence that elicited imitation reflects knowledge of grammar, short‐term memory, and knowledge of vocabulary The inconsistency of child imitations noted by some researchers may be a function of age and nonstandardized observation procedures.

Correlates of syntactic development in kindergartners: Deficiency vs. proficiency

In a search for correlates of oral language deficiency, a sentence imitation task (SOLST) was used to select 20 syntactically deficient and 20 syntactically proficient kindergarten subjects. The groups were compared on a battery of tasks measuring oral language comprehension and production, verbal and nonverbal intelligence, visual-motor skill, manual dexterity, right-ear advantage, reading readiness, and later reading achievement. On 8 of the 11 variables, the delayed group performed significantly less well than the controls, although Pearson correlation coefficients of other measures with measures of syntax were generally low to moderate. Negative correlations of some variables with right-ear advantage raise the possibility of reverse dominance in some of the experimental subjects. In addition, there was confirmation for poor performance on the Stephens Oral Language Screening Test resulting in subsequent reading difficulties.

Effects of Delay Interval and Pictorial Cues on a Sentence Imitation Task

40 preschool children performed a sentence imitation task under four conditions (10 subjects in each condition): immediate imitation of auditorily presented stimuli, delayed imitation of auditorily presented stimuli, immediate imitation of auditorily and pictorially presented stimuli, and delayed imitation of auditorily and pictorially presented stimuli. The subjects in the immediate imitation conditions produced fewer total errors and more verbatim responses than the subjects in the delay interval conditions. These findings are discussed in relation to prior findings.

Generalization and maintenance of skills acquired in Non-Speech Language Initiation Program training.

Thirty-one non-verbal children who had completed training on the Non-Speech Language Initiation Program designed by Carrier were pre- and posttested on a generalization test battery involving number matching, color matching, sentence imitation, command-following, receptive and expressive vocabulary, and spontaneous speech in an unstructured setting. Ninety percent of the subjects showed six months of maintenance and generalization which was unrelated to age, sex, or presence of siblings. However, less generalization occureed among institutionalized subjects who were more severely retarded and more organically handicapped than children who resided in the community. These differences were most apparent on subtests involving production of speech.

Talking to children: the effects of rate, intonation, and length on children's sentence imitation.

ABSTRACTTwelve nursery school children (mean age = 3; 9) attempted to imitate sentences which varied systematically in rate of presentation, intonation and length. The children more successfully imitated shorter sentences than longer ones, and sentences spoken at a rate nearer their own than sentences spoken at slower or faster rates. The imitation of long sentences read with normal intonation was superior to the imitation of long sentences read with flat intonation. Since adults frequently address children in short sentences, spoken slowly and with exaggerated intonation, these results indicate that these speech modifications may enhance the children's language comprehension.

A Comparison of Three Sentence Imitation Tests

The purpose of the present study was to compare three tests of sentence imitation to determine: validity, reliability, administration time, scoring time, ease of scoring, and special features specific to one or more of the tests. The Stephens Oral Language Screening Test (SOLST), Say What I Say test (SWIS), and the Carrow Elicited Language Inventory (CELI) were administered to 16 randomly selected subjects, ages five years zero months to five years eleven months. Correlations were determined between different measures. Results indicated the SWIS correlated significantly with the SOLST, the SOLST correlated significantly with the CELI, and that an infignificant correlation was established between the CELI and the SOLST.

Taalstimulering Bij Zwakzinnigen

Two recently developed language programs for the mentally retarded are discussed: 1. A program aiming at the improvement of syntactic skills. 2. A program designed to teach locative expressions with the prepositions 'in', 'on' and 'under'. In addition, the results of a training study that incorporates the syntax program are reported. In this study, two groups of 17 MR children were given training on Dutch subject-verb-object sentences. During the first half of the training period, experimental group I was trained on the use of SOV word orders which, while grammatically incorrect, are very common in the language of young Dutch children; during the second half of the training period, the subjects were trained on (correct) SVO orders. Exp. gr. II was trained only on (correct) SVO orders. The aim of the study was to see whether training on the incorrect 'child model' (SOV) sentences would facilitate the later learning of the correct 'adult model' sentences. Pre- and posttests included a sentence imitation task, a picture description task and a video-description task. Pretest results showed that the children indeed had a marked preference for the OV-word order. Pretest-posttest comparisons showed significant gains for both experimental groups when compared with a control group (no training) on a sentence complexity score. The two experimental groups did not differ from each other in this respect. With respect to the use of word order, experimental groups showed an increase in the use of the VO order. The increase was, however,much more pronounced in exp. gr. II. These results are discussed in the light of possible implications for speech therapy with the mentally retarded.

Observations on elicited language imitation with the severely retarded.

Word, phrase, and sentence imitation responses by 42 institutionalized, severely retarded adolescents were examined with a view to validity of imitation in language assessment with the retarded, and for developmental characteristics of language processing by retarded speakers. High response consistency in imitation, and semantic and syntactic substitutions were interpreted as evidence of internalized control of grammar by these speakers. A mental-age but not chronological-age correlation with imitation ability was found. One third of the speakers did not produce good imitations for three-word, Subject-Verb-Object phrases; speakers who did produce good imitations of such phrases could also imitate longer phrases and sentences. Evidence of metalinguistic awareness was presented, and results and teaching implications were discussed in terms of speakers' ability to process basic semantic relationships.

Effects of sentence structure on sentence elicited imitation responses.

This study investigates the effects of sentence structure on the number of error sentences and response latency in a sentence-repetition task. Forty female college students repeated short and long test sentences containing either a single self-embedded or right-branching subject-focus or object-focus relative clause. Sentences were also controlled for deletion of the relative pronoun of the relative clause. Sentence structure was found to affect sentence elicited imitation response accuracy and latency in a manner similar to the effects of structure on ease of comprehension. The findings are consistent with a canonical-sentoid strategy explanation of sentence processing during sentence imitation.

Selective imitation of complex sentences in a preschool setting.

Selective imitation of complex sentences in a preschool setting.

Selective imitation of complex sentences in a preschool setting.

An experiment was conducted to determine the conditions under which selective imitation of relative clauses could be produced in preschool. Seventy-two preschoolers took part in a 2 (modeling, imitation training) X 2 (instructions, no instructions) X 2 (reinforcement, no reinforcement) X 3 (baseline, Probe 1, Probe 2) factorial design. Imitation training was more effective than modeling alone, and instructions and reinforcement were effective in an additive manner. Relative clause usage increased significantly after imitation training but not after modeling or no treatment. The results are discussed in terms of the efficiency of various teacher techniques in increasing language usage. Implications for the role of imitation in language development are also discussed.

Can Cultural and Cognitive Insights Be Obtained From Sentence Imitation Tasks?

Can Cultural and Cognitive Insights Be Obtained From Sentence Imitation Tasks?

Meaningfulness as a factor in the successful imitation of spoken sentences

The purpose of the investigation was to discover whether there might be a connection between success in imitating short utterances and the meaningfulness of the utterance to the imitators.

Standard and Nonstandard Dialect Competencies of Hawaiian Creole English Speakers

In the context of a larger study designed to investigate the cognitive implications of speaking a Creole variety of English, some data were collected which call into question the common assumption of linguists and educators that speakers of a variety of English do not have a functional command of Standard English. High school students in a remote rural town on the island of Hawaii were found to be equally competent in Standard and Hawaiian English as measured by parallel forms of a sentence imitation test. The implications of this finding for educational practices in Hawaii are discussed, and it is concluded that educators should no longer discourage the use of Hawaiian English in the classroom, since the primary educational goal should be the development of the general linguistic ability which underlies both dialects. During the past several years there has been a marked shift in the approach educators have taken toward students who speak nonstandard varieties of English. Educators used to strive for the elimination of the use of a variety of English and its replacement with Standard English. It has now become widely accepted that the principal goal should be rather the supplementation of the linguistic repertoire of such speakers through the development of their ability to use Standard English. This supplementation approach is based on the work of linguists such as Labov (1966) who have argued convincingly that there is no inherent connection between varieties of English and the problems of loose or sloppy thinking often associated with their use. The newer approach often amounts to nothing more than a change in the educator's attitude toward varieties of English; the result has been that there is no longer such a strong tendency to label varieties as wrong, sloppy, etc. Both approaches, however, call for a heavy emphasis on Standard English instruction in the classroom. A tacit assumption underlying both of these approaches is that anyone who uses a variety of English at * The research reported here was supported by the National Institute of Education

Comprehension, selective imitation, and the CIP hypothesis

The role of comprehension training in the selective imitation of indirect-direct object sentences was assessed for six preschool children. A modeling condition resulted in normal usage of indirect-direct object sentences for five of six subjects, but reversed usage was not obtained when modeling was reversed. Subsequent receptive comprehension training on normal and reversed forms of indirect-direct object sentences resulted in generalization to the productive mode. These results were related to an hypothesis about language acquisition in which selective imitation is a function of comprehension.

Normal and Scrambled Grammar in Discrimination, Imitation, and Comprehension

BOHANNON, JOHN NEIL, III. Normal and Scrambled Grammar in Discrimination, Imitation, and Comprehension. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1976, 47, 669-681. Previous studies suggested the possibility that 5-7-year-old children may not be able to discriminate between normal and scrambled syntax. This study examined the relationship between syntax discrimination and other language skills with 50 children each in kindergarten, first, and second grade. In addition to the discrimination task, the children were asked to imitate and show comprehension (select a criterion picture from an array after hearing a stimulus sentence) of normal and scrambled grammar sentences. The results showed that the percentage of discriminators (those who made less than 5 errors on the discrimination task) changed significantly over age from the minority (22%) in kindergarten to the majority (78%) in second grade. While minimal differences existed between discriminators and nondiscriminators in imitating or comprehending scrambled sentences, children who discriminated between random and grammatically correct sentences were superior for both imitation and comprehension of normal sentences.