Language ENvironment Analysis System Research Articles

The Effect of LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) for Children with Hearing Loss in Denmark including a Pilot Validation for the Danish Language.

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether day-long recordings with Language Environment Analysis (LENA) can be utilized in a hospital-based Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) program in Denmark for children with hearing loss and to conduct a pilot validation in the Danish language. Methods and materials: A license for the LENA system (LENA SP) was purchased, and trials were offered to three families enrolled in the AVT program. Each family made two day-long recordings with 3-4 months in between and received feedback during the therapy sessions. From 18 × 10-min clips randomly pulled out of the recordings, a comparison of adult word counts (AWC) between the LENA algorithm counts and the counts made by two human transcribers was made and used for the pilot validation. Results: LENA proved to be valuable as a guiding tool for Danish parents. Pilot validation showed good correlations and an acceptable limit of agreement (LoA). Conclusions: LENA holds the potential for Danish validation and use in AVT/clinical practice. When used in clinical practice, parents must be informed of the biases and limitations, and possible ethical issues must be considered. Because of the GDPR rules, there is a need to discuss the possibility of implementing this tool clinically in Denmark and the EU.

The Language ENvironment Analysis system (LENA): A validation study with Italian-learning children.

This study is a validation of the LENA system for the Italian language. In Study 1, to test LENA's accuracy, seventy-two 10-minute samples extracted from daylong LENA recordings were manually transcribed for 12 children longitudinally observed at 1;0 and 2;0. We found strong correlations between LENA and human estimates in the number of Adult Word Count (AWC) and Child Vocalisations Count (CVC) and a weak correlation between LENA and human estimates in Conversational Turns Count (CTC). In Study 2, to test the concurrent validity, direct and indirect language measures were considered on a sample of 54 recordings (19 children). Correlational analyses showed that LENA's CVC and CTC were significantly related to the children's vocal production, a parent report measure of prelexical vocalizations and the vocal reactivity scores. These results confirm that the automatic analyses performed by the LENA device are reliable and powerful for studying language development in Italian-speaking infants.

A comparison of automatic and manual measures of turn-taking in monolingual and bilingual contexts.

The Language ENvironment Analysis system (LENA) records children's language environment and provides an automatic estimate of adult-child conversational turn count (CTC) by automatically identifying adult and child speech in close temporal proximity. To assess the reliability of this measure, we examine correlation and agreement between LENA's CTC estimates and manual measurement of adult-child turn-taking in two corpora collected in the USA: a bilingual corpus of Spanish-English-speaking families with infants between 4 and 22 months (n = 37), and a corpus of monolingual families with English-speaking 5-year-olds (n = 56). In each corpus for each child, 100 30-second segments were extracted from daylong recordings in two ways, yielding a total of 9300 minutes of manually annotated audio. LENA's CTC estimate for the same segments was obtained through the LENA software. The two measures of CTC had low correlations for the segments from the monolingual 5-year-olds sampled in both ways, and somewhat higher correlations for the bilingual samples. LENA substantially overestimated CTC on average, relative to manual measurement, for three out of four analysis conditions, and limits of agreement were wide in all cases. Segment-level analyses demonstrated that accidental contiguity had the largest individual impact on LENA's average CTC error, affecting 12-17% of analyzed segments. Other factors significantly contributing to CTC error were speech from other children, presence of multiple adults, and presence of electronic media. These results indicate wide discrepancies between LENA's CTC estimates and manual CTCs, and call into question the comparability of LENA's CTC measure across participants, conditions, and developmental time points.

Comparing Different Measures of Bilingual Input Derived From Naturalistic Daylong Recordings.

Measuring language input, especially for infants growing up in bilingual environments, is challenging. Although the ways to measure input have expanded rapidly in recent years, there are many unresolved issues. In this study, we compared different measurement units and sampling methods used to estimate bilingual input in naturalistic daylong recordings. We used the Language Environment Analysis system to obtain and process naturalistic daylong recordings from 21 French-English bilingual families with an infant at 10 and 18 months of age. We examined global and context-specific input estimates and their relation with infant vocal activeness (i.e., volubility) when input was indexed by different units (adult word counts, speech duration, 30-s segment counts) and using different sampling methods (every-other-segment, top-segment). Input measures indexed by different units were strongly and positively correlated with each other and yielded similar results regarding their relation with infant volubility. As for sampling methods, sampling every other 30-s segment was representative of the entire corpus. However, sampling the top segments with the densest input was less representative and yielded different results regarding their relation with infant volubility. How well the input that a child receives throughout a day is portrayed by a selected sample and correlates with the child's vocal activeness depends on the choice of input units and sampling methods. Different input units appear to generate consistent results, while caution should be taken when choosing sampling methods. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.22335688.

Parent coaching from 6 to 18 months improves child language outcomes through 30 months of age.

Interventions focused on the home language environment have been shown to improve a number of child language outcomes in the first years of life. However, data on the longer-term effects of the intervention are still somewhat limited. The current study examines child vocabulary and complex speech outcomes (N=59) during the year following completion of a parent-coaching intervention, which was previously found to increase the quantity of parent-child conversational turns and to improve child language outcomes through 18 months of age. Measures of parental language input, child speech output, and parent-child conversational turn-taking were manually coded from naturalistic home recordings (Language Environment Analysis System, LENA) at regular 4-month intervals when children were 6- to 24-months old. Child language skills were assessed using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) at four time-points following the final intervention session (at 18, 24, 27, and 30 months). Vocabulary size and growth from 18 to 30 months was greater in the intervention group, even after accounting for differences in child language ability during the intervention period. The intervention group also scored higher on measures of speech length and grammatical complexity, and these effects were mediated by 18-month vocabulary. Intervention was associated with increased parent-child conversational turn-taking in home recordings at 14 months, and mediation analysis suggested that 14-month conversational turn-taking accounted for intervention-related differences in subsequent vocabulary. Together, the results suggest enduring, positive effects of parental language intervention and underscore the importance of interactive, conversational language experience during the first 2 years of life. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Parent coaching was provided as part of a home language intervention when children were 6-18 months of age. Naturalistic home language recordings showed increased parent-child conversational turn-taking in the intervention group at 14 months of age. Measures of productive vocabulary and complex speech indicated more advanced expressive language skills in the intervention group through 30 months of age, a full year after the final intervention session. Conversational turn-taking at 14 months predicted subsequent child vocabulary and accounted for differences in vocabulary size across the intervention and control groups.

The home language environment in rural China: variations across family characteristics

BackgroundA rich language environment is an important element of a nurturing home environment. Despite their proven importance, vocabulary and conversation have been shown to vary widely across households—even within the same socio-economic class. One significant gap in the existing literature is its nearly exclusive geographic focus on Western and developed settings, with little attention given to poorer communities in lower/middle income countries. The purpose of this study was to empirically illustrate the characteristics of the home language environment in the low SES, non-Western cultural setting of rural China.MethodsUsing Language Environment Analysis (LENA) automated language-analysis system, this study measured the home language environment of 38 children aged 20-27 months in Northwest rural China. Our primary measures of the home language environment were Adult Word Count (AWC), Conversational Turn Count (CTC) and Child Vocalization Count (CVC). Multivariate linear regression models were used to examine the association between home language environment and family/child characteristics, and language skills (Measured by MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory score).ResultsIn this paper, by comparison, we found that the home language environment of our rural sample fell far behind that of urban households. We also identify significant, positive correlations between language skills and both AWC and CTC. Our analysis finds no significant correlations between home language environment and family/child characteristics.ConclusionIn this paper, we present the first ever findings using the LENA system to measure the home language environment of young children from poor rural communities in China. We found that the home language environment of lower-SES household was significantly worse than high-SES households, and demonstrated the importance of the home language environment to language skills, pointing to a need for more high-quality studies of the home language environment in rural China to better understand possible mechanisms behind low levels of parent-child language engagement and ways to improve the home language environment.

Language environment and parent-infant close contact in neonatal care and emerging lexical abilities of very preterm children-a longitudinal study.

This longitudinal study investigated associations between language environment and parent-infant close contact in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and preterm children's lexical abilities. NICU language environment of 43 very preterm infants (born<32 gestational weeks) was measured with the Language Environment Analysis System (LENA; variables: number of adult words, conversational turns, and child vocalisations). Parent-infant close contact (holding and skin-to-skin contact) in the NICU was reported using parental closeness diaries. At 15 and 18months' corrected age, lexical development was measured with screening methods, and eye tracking-based lexical processing was assessed at 18months. N varied between 29 and 38 in different outcome measures. LENA measured conversational turns and child vocalisations, and parent-infant close contact associated positively with lexical development (r=0.35-0.57). High numbers of NICU adult words associated negatively with lexical processing (r=-0.38- -0.40). In regression models, conversational turns and parent-infant close contact explained 34%-35% of receptive development. Findings suggest that adult-infant turn taking and parent-infant close contact in the NICU are positively associated with lexical development. High numbers of overheard words in the NICU may not favour later lexical processing. Further research is warranted on the significance of NICU language environment on later lexical abilities.

Student Perspectives on Learning Language Sample Analysis Using LENA

Language sample analysis (LSA) is valuable clinical tool and an important component of comprehensive language assessment. However, LSA is underutilized in real-world practice. SLPs have identified time constraints, insufficient training, and lack of confidence in LSA skills as barriers to regular LSA implementation. Communication science and disorders (CSD) programs have opportunities to provide LSA instruction to address these barriers and prepare students to reliably, feasibly, and confidently use LSA in clinical practice. This pilot study examined CSD students’ perspectives on LSA instruction using the Language ENvironment Analysis System (LENA). Undergraduate students (n = 38) completed a series of two electronic surveys prior to and following LSA instruction using LENA. Changes in students’ self-ratings of knowledge and skills in collecting and analyzing language samples, attitudes towards studying LSA and child language development, and critical thinking skills were assessed. Significantly higher student ratings were found for all items measuring language sampling knowledge and skills following digital LSA instruction compared to baseline. In addition, student ratings of enthusiasm for and confidence in studying LSA and child language development were also significantly higher. Students’ self-ratings of critical thinking skills did not increase significantly following instruction in digital LSA. Implications for LSA teaching and learning are discussed.

Language input in late infancy scaffolds emergent literacy skills and predicts reading related white matter development.

Longitudinal studies provide the unique opportunity to test whether early language provides a scaffolding for the acquisition of the ability to read. This study tests the hypothesis that parental language input during the first 2 years of life predicts emergent literacy skills at 5 years of age, and that white matter development observed early in the 3rd year (at 26 months) may help to account for these effects. We collected naturalistic recordings of parent and child language at 6, 10, 14, 18, and 24 months using the Language ENvironment Analysis system (LENA) in a group of typically developing infants. We then examined the relationship between language measures during infancy and follow-up measures of reading related skills at age 5 years, in the same group of participants (N = 53). A subset of these children also completed diffusion and quantitative MRI scans at age 2 years (N = 20). Within this subgroup, diffusion tractography was used to identify white matter pathways that are considered critical to language and reading development, namely, the arcuate fasciculus (AF), superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi, and inferior occipital-frontal fasciculus. Quantitative macromolecular proton fraction (MPF) mapping was used to characterize myelin density within these separately defined regions of interest. The longitudinal data were then used to test correlations between early language input and output, white matter measures at age 2 years, and pre-literacy skills at age 5 years. Parental language input, child speech output, and parent-child conversational turns correlated with pre-literacy skills, as well as myelin density estimates within the left arcuate and superior longitudinal fasciculus. Mediation analyses indicated that the left AF accounted for longitudinal relationships between infant home language measures and 5-year letter identification and letter-sound knowledge, suggesting that the left AF myelination at 2 years may serve as a mechanism by which early language experience supports emergent literacy.

Vocal Turn-Taking in Families With Children With and Without Hearing Loss.

Vocal turn-taking is an important predictor of language development in children with and without hearing loss. Most studies have examined vocal turn-taking in mother-child dyads without considering the multitalker context in a child's life. The present study investigates the quantity of vocal turns between deaf and hard-of-hearing children and multiple members of their social environment. Participants were 52 families with children who used hearing aids (HA, mean age 26.3 mo) or cochlear implants (CI, mean age 63.2 mo) and 27 families with normal-hearing (NH, mean age 26.6 mo) children. The Language ENvironment Analysis system estimated the number of conversational turns per hour (CTC/hr) between all family members (i.e., adult female, adult male, target child, and other child) during full-day recordings over a period of about 1 year. The CTC/hr was lower between the target child and the adult female or adult male in the CI compared with the HA and NH groups. Initially, CTC/hr was higher between the target child and the adult female than between the adult male or the other child. As the child's age increased, turn-taking between the target child and the adult female increased in comparison to that between the target child and the adult male. Over time, turn-taking between the target child and the other child increased and exceeded turn-taking between the target child and the adult caregivers. The increase was observed earlier in families with siblings compared with those without. The quantity of vocal turn-taking depends on the degree of child hearing loss and the relationship between the children and the members of their social environment. Longitudinally, the positive effect of an assistive device on the quantity of turns between the children and their family members was found. The effect was stronger in families with siblings.

Home Auditory Environments of Children With Cochlear Implants and Children With Normal Hearing.

Early home auditory environment plays an important role in children's spoken language development and overall well-being. This study explored differences in the home auditory environment experienced by children with cochlear implants (CIs) relative to children with normal hearing (NH). Measures of the child's home auditory environment, including adult word count (AWC), conversational turns (CTs), child vocalizations (CVs), television and media (TVN), overlapping sound (OLN), and noise (NON), were gathered using the Language Environment Analysis System. The study included 16 children with CIs (M = 22.06 mo) and 25 children with NH (M = 18.71 mo). Families contributed 1 to 3 daylong recordings quarterly over the course of approximately 1 year. Additional parent and infant characteristics including maternal education, amount of residual hearing, and age at activation were also collected. The results showed that whereas CTs and CVs increased with child age for children with NH, they did not change as a function of age for children with CIs; NON was significantly higher for the NH group. No significant group differences were found for the measures of AWC, TVN, or OLN. Moreover, measures of CTs, CVs, TVN, and NON from children with CIs were associated with demographic and child factors, including maternal education, age at CI activation, and amount of residual hearing. These findings suggest that there are similarities and differences in the home auditory environment experienced by children with CIs and children with NH. These findings have implications for early intervention programs to promote spoken language development for children with CIs.

The validity of the Language Environment Analysis system in two neonatal intensive care units.

To evaluate the validity of the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system's automatic measures in two neonatal intensive care units supporting parent-infant closeness, and in two Finno-Ugric languages: Finnish and Estonian. The sound environment of 70 very preterm infants was recorded for 16h in the neonatal intensive care units with the LENA system roughly at the gestational age of 32 (+2) weeks. Of these, the recordings of 14 infants (20%, two 5-min samples with a high percentage of speech, totally 140min) were analysed in detail and in two different ways. Parental closeness diaries were used to document the presence of the parents. Agreements between LENA system and human coder estimates were analysed. Findings showed a high variation in agreements. The highest agreements were found in female and adult word counts (r=0.91 and 0.95). The agreements for child vocalisation count, conversational turns and silence were modest or low (r=-0.03 to 0.64). Our study provides novel information on the validity of the LENA system in the neonatal intensive care unit. Findings show that the LENA system provides valid information on adult words, but LENA estimates for child vocalisations were less valid at this early age.

Evaluating the Language ENvironment Analysis System for Korean.

Purpose The algorithm of the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) system for calculating language environment measures was trained on American English; thus, its validity with other languages cannot be assumed. This article evaluates the accuracy of the LENA system applied to Korean. Method We sampled sixty 5-min recording clips involving 38 key children aged 7-18 months from a larger data set. We establish the identification error rate, precision, and recall of LENA classification compared to human coders. We then examine the correlation between standard LENA measures of adult word count, child vocalization count, and conversational turn count and human counts of the same measures. Results Our identification error rate (64% or 67%), including false alarm, confusion, and misses, was similar to the rate found in Cristia, Lavechin, et al. (2020). The correlation between LENA and human counts for adult word count (r = .78 or .79) was similar to that found in the other studies, but the same measure for child vocalization count (r = .34-.47) was lower than the value in Cristia, Lavechin, et al., though it fell within ranges found in other non-European languages. The correlation between LENA and human conversational turn count was not high (r = .36-.47), similar to the findings in other studies. Conclusions LENA technology is similarly reliable for Korean language environments as it is for other non-English language environments. Factors affecting the accuracy of diarization include speakers' pitch, duration of utterances, age, and the presence of noise and electronic sounds.

Listening to a siblings’ day: musical interactions in a family setting

ABSTRACT This study examines musical episodes occurring in a family with two young children, collected and analysed through the Language Environment Analysis system, interpreting then using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory to understand how the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem influenced these episodes. The focus was on two sibling musical interactions, based on the recorded soundscape of Anna and her younger brother, Albert. The data includes 26 hours of audio recording that enabled us to capture the same episodes from the perspective of each child. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) the type of engagement; (2) siblings’ roles; (3) children’s repertoire; and (4) car rides as a family setting. We hope to support and inform parents and teachers, making them aware of rich musical interactions among children and their potential for development through an expert member intervention in situations of musical parenting and formal and informal teaching.

Comparing Automatic and Manual Measures of Parent–Infant Conversational Turns: A Word of Caution

The Language ENvironment Analysis system (LENA) records children’s language environment and provides an automatic estimate of adult–child conversational turn count (CTC). The present study compares LENA’s CTC estimate to manually coded CTC on a sample of 70 English‐speaking infants recorded longitudinally at 6, 10, 14, 18, and 24 months of age. At each age, LENA’s CTC was significantly higher than manually coded CTC (all ps < .001, Cohen’s ds: 0.9–2.05), with the largest discrepancies between the two methods observed at younger ages. The Limits of Agreement Analyses confirm wide disagreements between the two methods, highlighting potential problems with automatic measurement of parent–infant verbal interaction. These findings suggest that future studies should validate LENA’s CTC estimates with manual coding.

The Distributed L1 and L2 Language-Learning Environments of Dual Language Learners Across Home and School Settings.

Purpose This study explored the language-learning environments of typically developing dual language learners (DLLs) who learned Cantonese (first language [L1]) at home and English (second language [L2]) in preschool settings through direct and indirect measures. Method Nine typically developing Cantonese-English DLLs participated in this study. Participants' daylong activities were audio-recorded using the digital language processor of the Language ENvironment Analysis system. A manual coding scheme was developed to examine the audio recordings with the focus of the amount of L1 and L2 used by participants, adults, and their peers across home and school settings. In addition, participants' language use was indirectly examined using parent questionnaires, teacher reports, and classroom observations. Results The results of the audio recordings showed that Cantonese was the primary language used at home, and both Cantonese and English were used in school settings, consistent with the parent and teacher reports. Correlation analyses revealed that the amount of L1 used by the participants was associated with the L1 used by their peers: and the amount of L2 used by participants was positively related to the L2 used by adults at home. Conclusions The findings illustrate how parent/teacher reports and daylong audio recordings could complement each other in the investigation of DLLs' language-learning environments.

Improving Parents’ Interactions with Children with Hearing Loss Using Data-based Feedback

ABSTRACT An AB single case design was used to measure the effect of data-based feedback for 6 children in a listening and spoken language early intervention (EI) programme in Australia. Changes in the number of parent-child conversational turns following feedback were measured using an automated language environment analysis system. The perceived value and practicality of the feedback model were also investigated. A functional relationship was demonstrated between the intervention and an increase in the number of conversational turns for 4 of the children. Therapists were able to implement the model with high fidelity and perceived the intervention to be effective in changing parent behaviours. Parents reported the feedback helped them to improve their verbal interactions with their children. This study has provided preliminary evidence that supports the feasibility and the positive impact of data-based feedback in a listening and spoken language EI programme.

Accuracy of the Language Environment Analysis System Segmentation and Metrics: A Systematic Review.

Purpose The Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system provides automated measures facilitating clinical and nonclinical research and interventions on language development, but there are only a few, scattered independent reports of these measures' validity. The objectives of the current systematic review were to (a) discover studies comparing LENA output with manual annotation, namely, accuracy of talker labels, as well as involving adult word counts (AWCs), conversational turn counts (CTCs), and child vocalization counts (CVCs); (b) describe them qualitatively; (c) quantitatively integrate them to assess central tendencies; and (d) quantitatively integrate them to assess potential moderators. Method Searches on Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and PsycInfo were combined with expert knowledge, and interarticle citations resulting in 238 records screened and 73 records whose full text was inspected. To be included, studies must target children under the age of 18 years and report on accuracy of LENA labels (e.g., precision and/or recall) and/or AWC, CTC, or CVC (correlations and/or error metrics). Results A total of 33 studies, in 28 articles, were discovered. A qualitative review revealed most validation studies had not been peer reviewed as such and failed to report key methodology and results. Quantitative integration of the results was possible for a broad definition of recall and precision (M = 59% and 68%, respectively; N = 12-13), for AWC (mean r = .79, N = 13), CVC (mean r = .77, N = 5), and CTC (mean r = .36, N = 6). Publication bias and moderators could not be assessed meta-analytically. Conclusion Further research and improved reporting are needed in studies evaluating LENA segmentation and quantification accuracy, with work investigating CTC being particularly urgent. Supplemental Material https://osf.io/4nhms/.

The CREATE study: Pilot testing Cumulative Personal Environmental Exposure and Educational Readiness Assessments in Pre-school Children (ages 3-4)

TPS 731: Neurological effects in children, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 26, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background: Preschool is a critical time for neurological growth and development in children. Few studies have attempted to measure personal air pollution exposure simultaneously with family and home characteristics such as verbal language exposure, important predictors of future educational outcomes. The Cumulative Risks, Early Development and Academic Trajectories (CREATE) pilot study aims to assess personal, home and school exposure with growth and development data among 3-4 year old preschool children. Methods: Small backpacks were equipped with personal air monitors and t-shirts designed with Language EnviroNment Analysis system (LENA) technology to collect air and language data for two consecutive 24-hour periods. Plug-in air pollution monitors were also stationed in each child’s home and school. Collection time, percent missing, and percent of time fine particulate matter (PM2.5) > 35 µg/m3 along with minimum, maximum, and average PM2.5 were calculated in R version 3.5.2 for each location, timepoint, day, and child combination and compared across location and day graphically and statistically. A urine collection protocol was also tested. Results: Missing data arose from unintentional unplugging of air monitors. However, few significant differences in air pollution summary measures across location or day were observed (p>. 05). Technical challenges in the school environment suggest home and personal measurement may be more valid and reliable metrics of child personal exposures compared to school. Maternal, paternal and other adult language also varied by location and time of day. Over 85% of 3-4 year olds were compliant with the first 24 hours of air monitoring and day one urine collection, which dropped to 50% on day two. Conclusions: It is possible to collect personal air exposure and language environment data in preschool children’s home and school environments. Future studies may not require multi-location or multi-day collection for establishing a baseline, rather repeat measurement should occur at longer intervals.

Sequences of toddler negative emotion and parent-toddler verbal communication during a waking day.

Although the second year of life is characterized by dramatic changes in expressive language and by increases in negative emotion expression, verbal communication and emotional communication are often studied separately. With a sample of twenty-five one-year-olds (12-23months), we used Language Environment Analysis (LENA; Xu, Yapanel, & Gray, 2009, Reliability of the LENA™ language environment analysis system in young children's natural home environment. LENA Foundation) to audio-record and quantify parent-toddler communication, including toddlers' vocal negative emotion expressions, across a full waking day. Using a multilevel extension of lag-sequential analysis, we investigated whether parents are differentially responsive to toddlers' negative emotion expressions compared to their verbal or preverbal vocalizations, and we examined the effects of parents' verbal responses on toddlers' subsequent communicative behavior. Toddlers' negative emotions were less likely than their vocalizations to be followed by parent speech. However, when negative emotions were followed by parent speech, toddlers were most likely to vocalize next. Post hoc analyses suggest that older toddlers and toddlers with higher language abilities were more likely to shift from negative emotion to verbal or preverbal vocalization following parent response. Implications of the results for understanding the parent-toddler communication processes that support both emotional development and verbal development are discussed.