Number Of Different Words Research Articles

The Evolution of Quail Research: Trends in Themes, Cognitive Extent, and Lexical Diversity

Language is an interesting characteristic that is unique to humans. Language represents a method of human communication and is believed to reflect a person’s view of reality (Kramsch 2004). The words used by a person or a community provide insight into the ideas, concepts, and worldview held by people (Pennebaker et al. 2003). In science, publications represent a primary form of communication of ideas among scientists. Publications provide a historical record of a discipline and reflect the relative interest of a scientific community in particular concepts during a given era (Kim et al. 2018). Consequently, how word use in publications changes over time can provide valuable insight into the evolution of a discipline and help identify possible shifts in thinking of the scientific community (McCallen et al. 2019). Quail science is a research domain that is over a century old. Studies of the life history and ecology of quail began appearing by the late 1800s, and investigations into the management of quail were circulating by the early 1900s (Bent 1932). Research on quail continued and increased during the 20th century and remains active at the beginning of the new millennium. Despite this long-term and active research trajectory, quail science appears to be a stagnant domain of research, with the same general topics being investigated decade after decade (Hernández 2021). I explore this qualitative impression of quail science and quantitatively assess the level of novelty in quail research. My goal is to address 2 general questions: 1) What are the main themes of quail research? and 2) How has the frequency of these themes changed over time? My research hypothesis is that, although the amount of quail research has increased over the past century, the cognitive territory covered by this research has remained more or less the same. Addressing this hypothesis requires the definition of a few linguistical terms and concepts. In linguistics, tokens is the total number of words in a sample, and types is the number of different words in that sample (Malvern et al. 2004). For example, the phrase, “The bison herd grazed on the plains” has 7 tokens. Because 2 of the tokens represent a repetition (the word “the”), the phrase contains only 6 types. Linguistic scientists have used the ratio of types (number of different words) to tokens (total number of words) as a measure of lexical diversity, that is, the level of vocabulary richness (Malvern

Estimating the Lexical Breadth and Depth in Bilingual Indian Children Aged between 5 and 11 Years of Age

Abstract Objectives Lexical breadth of knowledge is the quantity of words that the individual knows with regard to vocabulary size of the learner; while lexical depth is the learner's knowledge and mastery level of various semantic relations of a given word. Both measures have been used in the assessment of speaking/writing skills of first (L1) and second (L2) language users. The current study aims to explore the lexical knowledge of typically developing school going bilingual Indian children. Methods Seventy-two Konkani (L1) and English (L2) speaking children (between 5 and 11 years of age) were recruited in the study. The study was performed in three phases. Phase 1 comprised of developing the experimental tasks (lexical breadth and lexical depth); phase 2 included the data collection; and phase 3 focused on data and statistical analysis. Mean and standard deviation of the total number of words and total number of different words were analyzed. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance test was done to assess the level of significance (p < 0.05) across the groups for both tasks. Paired t-test was done to assess the interaction effect between age and language. Results The results indicated an overall increase in lexical breadth and depth across age for L1 and L2. The interaction between the two languages has been discussed in detail. Conclusion The findings of this study may help pave way toward future explorations to address issues pertaining to the complex interaction of L1 and L2 languages in bilinguals.

Adversarial Separation Network for Text Style Transfer

This article considers the task of text style transfer: transforming a specific style of sentence into another while preserving its style-independent content. A dominate approach to text style transfer is to learn a good content factor of text, define a fixed vector for every style and recombine them to generate text in the required style. In fact, there are a large number of different words to convey the same style from different aspects. Thus, using a fixed vector to represent one style is very inefficient, which causes the weak representation power of the style vector and limits text diversity of the same style. To address this problem, we propose a novel neural generative model called Adversarial Separation Network (ASN), which can learn the content and style vector jointly and the learnt vectors have strong representation power and good interpretabilities. In our method, adversarial learning is implemented to enhance our model’s capability of disentangling the two factors. To evaluate our method, we conduct experiments on two benchmark datasets. Experimental results show our method can perform style transfer better than strong comparison systems. We also demonstrate the strong interpretability of the learnt latent vectors.

Act Together To End COVID-19”: Interactional Metadiscourse in The WHO’s Speeches During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19, a huge amount of information has been released and shared by individuals, communities and specialized organizations. Language serves as a powerful tool on which information providers depend to convey their advice and instructions. In this study, the researchers examined the frequency of interactional metadiscourse markers in the WHO's director general's speeches regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and how those markers are used for communicative and persuasive effects. The corpus included 91 scripts with a different number of words making a total of 84,372 words. Hyland's (2005) model of metadiscourse was used to analyse the corpus. Data analysis revealed that interactional metadiscourse markers are heavily used by WHO director to deliver coherent speeches and to make his speeches persuasive. Moreover, the findings show that the speaker relied intensively on the use of self-mention marker and boosters to reflect the collaborative and assured attitude of the organization concerning the situation of the pandemic.

Within- and Cross-Language Relations Between Phonological Memory, Vocabulary, and Grammar in Bilingual Children.

This study investigated within-language and between-language associations between phonological memory, vocabulary, and grammar in French-English (n = 43) and Spanish-English (n = 25) bilingual children at 30, 36, and 48 months. It was predicted that phonological memory would display both within-language and between-language relations to language development and that these relations would be stronger at the youngest age. Bilingual children participated in free-play sessions in both of their languages at each age, from which vocabulary and grammatical information (number of different words and mean length of utterance) was extracted. Vocabulary information was also obtained from parent inventories completed when the children were 30 months and a standardized receptive vocabulary test administered at 36 and 48 months. The children were also administered nonword repetition tests in both of their languages at each age. Mixed logistic regression indicated that phonological memory was associated with vocabulary and grammar within the same language and phonological memory in the other language. In two of the four statistical models, phonological memory exhibited positive between-language relations, and in one model, it exhibited negative between-language relations to language development. Results also indicated that within-language and between-languages effects remained constant, or between-language associations decreased during the age range studied. Overall, the findings provide some support for cross-language associations between phonological memory and lexical and grammatical skills.

Determinants of Language Impairment in Turkish-Persian Bilingual Children

Background and Aims: Bilingual children are sometimes over-identified with language impairment and sometimes their language impairment under-identified that in either case, proper intervention is not possible. Accurate measurement of bilingual child language development involves assessing both of their languages. The purpose of this study was to identify a set of measures that would discriminate language impairment in bilingual Turkish-Persian children aged 5 to 7 years in Tehran. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, the language sample of 24 bilingual children with no language impairment and 8 bilingual children with language impairment was analyzed according to the linguistic measures of mean length of Terminable-unit, number of total words, number of different words, and number of grammatical errors per Terminable-unit. Children without language impairment were selected from kindergartens and schools by multi-stage cluster sampling method. Language-impaired children were selected by the Speech-Language Pathologist with at least three years of bilingual speech and language pathology services from Tehran-based speech therapy clinics in an accessible manner. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of nonverbal intelligence, age of exposure and duration of exposure to Persian. Parents responded to questions about their perceptions of their children’s speech and language skills and family history of speech and language problems. Results: Diagnostic analysis indicated that 3 measures discriminated the groups of children with sensitivity 87.5%: the Parent Report Questionnaire, number of total words, and mean length of T-unit. Conclusion: According to the results, Indicators of parental reports and language criteria in identifying the language damage of Turkish-Persian bilingual children can be of diagnostic use for speech and language pathologists.

Effect of grammar intervention on vocabulary skills in children with a cochlear implant: A single-subject study.

Background: Previous studies have shown that children with cochlear implants have difficulty in grammar acquisition. Vocabulary acquisition and grammar abilities are important during language development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of grammar therapy on the lexical ability of cochlear implanted children. Methods: Five children with cochlear implants and grammatical problems were treated using a grammar task designed for the current study. Before and after the treatment, repeated evaluations were performed using the Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) and Persian Developmental Sentence Scoring (PDSS) indices for grammar and NDW and NTW indices for vocabulary abilities; these show the number of different words and the number of total words respectively. Results: Grammar intervention was successful in cochlear implanted children of the present study. In addition, treatment of grammatical problems increased the lexical ability of all children; NDW and NTW scores increased, which was confirmed by the effect size indices. In the follow-up phase, the cochlear implanted children were able to maintain the increase in NTW and NDW values. Conclusion: Improving grammar skills in cochlear implanted children also increased their lexical ability. Therefore, grammar therapy helps to increase the vocabulary of children too.

Identifying the Core Vocabulary for Adults With Complex Communication Needs From the British National Corpus by Analyzing Grouped Frequency Distributions.

Purpose This study is aimed to identify the high-frequency vocabulary (HFV), otherwise termed "core vocabulary" for adults with complex communication needs. Method Three major characteristics of the HFV-a relatively small number of different words (NDW), a relatively high word frequency, and a high word commonality across speakers-were examined so as not to lose any candidate words for the HFV. Specifically, instead of applying the traditionally used cutoff word frequency of 0.5‰, a grouped frequency distribution was used to examine the appropriate frequency ranges to determine the HFV candidates. To improve the representativeness of the HFV across ages, social backgrounds, conversation situations, and topics, 330,000 spoken words of 66 adults (29 men and 37 women; M age = 45.47 years, SD = 16.07) were extracted from the British National Corpus database for analysis. Results A distinct pattern of NDW was observed from the frequency of 0.1‰ in the grouped frequency distribution. In total, 671 words were found to be candidates for the HFV, accounting for 90.94% of the total sample words. After the word commonality analysis indicated at least 80% commonality across speakers, 203 words were selected for the final HFV; accountability was calculated at 80.62%. Conclusions With the innovative word analysis approach, this study provided an HFV list that can be used for a wide range of conversation topics. This method provides a scientific and principled approach to identifying and organizing vocabulary for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention that does not exist in many AAC resources that promote "core vocabulary" with identifying the source for vocabulary selection.

The effects of incorporating extended conversations into video-based story retelling instruction on oral narrative skills in adolescents with intellectual disability in China

Background/aimsOral narrative language is a persistent area of language difficulty for individuals with intellectual disability (ID). This study aims to explore the effectiveness of a comprehensive intervention program that incorporates extended conversations into video-based story retelling instruction with a novel visual support strategy, Story Hand, to develop oral narrative skills in adolescents with ID in China. MethodsUsing a single-case multiple-probe across participants design, the researchers examined whether the comprehensive intervention program could improve participants’ oral narrative skills both microstructurally and macrostructurally. ResultsAll three participants demonstrated moderate to high treatment effects in the microstructural narrative outcomes (i.e., the mean length of utterance in morphemes [MLU-M] and the number of different words [NDW]) and one of the macrostructural narrative outcomes (i.e., the complexity of story grammar [SG-complexity]) in response to the comprehensive intervention program, and these acquired effects were maintained at a high level for up to one month. However, all three participants demonstrated limited treatment effects in one of the macrostructural narrative outcomes (i.e., cohesion) in response to the comprehensive intervention program. Conclusions/implicationsThe comprehensive intervention program that incorporates extended conversations into visually supported video-based story retelling instruction offers an option for teachers to develop oral narrative skills in adolescents with ID. However, the relative effectiveness of the different components of the intervention needs to be further explored.

Narrative to Investigate Language Skills of Preschool Children

This study aimed to evaluate the language skills of preschool children through narrative. The Turkish Test of Early Language Development (TEDIL) was used to evaluate the receptive and expressive verbal language skills of the children, and language samples were collected using the Edmonton Narrative Norms Instrument (ENNI). The Mean Length of Utterance (MLU), Number of Different Words (NDW), and Total Number of Words (TNW) were examined in the language samples taken from the narrative analysis. A total of 100 children, 50 in the age group of 48-60 months and 50 in the age group of 61-72 months, were evaluated. According to the results obtained from the evaluation of the language skills of the children between the ages of 48 and 60 and 61 and 72 months, it was found that, children between the ages of 61-72 months were more likely to tell longer stories than the children of 48-60 months. It was seen that there were developmental differences in NDW and TNW in the stories of children between these two age groups. It has been revealed that the ENNI can be used as a language tool to assess the language skills in preschool children.

The ability of adults with limited expressive language to engage in open-ended interviews about personal experiences

This study examines how adults with limited expressive language (with average sentences of five words or less) respond to open-ended questions. Participants (n = 49) completed a baseline measure and were then interviewed about a personal experience using exclusively open-ended questions, followed by open-ended and directive questions about a staged event. Their interviews were coded for mean length of utterance (MLU), number of different words and six dimensions of the Narrative Assessment Profile. Descriptively, the participants were able to give some event-related detail in their narratives, but there was wide variability in narrative quality. Correlational and regression analyses indicate that their MLU was stable across contexts. The findings suggest that adults with limited expressive language can provide informative responses to open-ended questions about their experiences, and that their expressive language is likely to show stability across introductory and substantive interview phases.

Hybrid Telepractice Delivery of Enhanced Milieu Teaching: Effects on Caregiver Implementation and Child Communication.

Purpose This study investigated the effects of enhanced milieu teaching (EMT) on caregiver implementation of language support strategies and child communication skills using a hybrid telepractice service delivery model. Method Four caregivers and children with language delays aged 18-27 months participated in a multiple baseline across behaviors single-case research design. The therapist provided EMT to each caregiver-child dyad using a hybrid telepractice service delivery model with approximately 40% in-person and 60% telepractice sessions. Caregivers were taught to use five EMT language support strategies: matched turns, target talk, expansions, time delays, and milieu teaching episodes. Caregiver instruction followed the Teach-Model-Coach-Review approach. Caregiver outcomes were two measures of EMT implementation fidelity, accuracy, and frequency of EMT strategy use. Accuracy was measured by the percentage of spoken turns in which caregivers used each strategy correctly. Frequency was measured by the number of spoken turns in which caregivers used each strategy correctly. Child outcomes were number of communication acts, weighted count of communication acts, and number of different words. Results There was a functional relation between the intervention and the accuracy of EMT strategy use for all four dyads, and the frequency of strategy use for three dyads. Caregiver use of EMT strategies maintained for 6 weeks post-intervention. After caregivers learned EMT strategies, gradual increases in the number of communication acts, weighted count of communication acts, and number of different words occurred for three children. Conclusion Results demonstrate the preliminary efficacy of using a hybrid telepractice service delivery model to teach caregivers EMT language support strategies. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14977605.

Typology of Words and Constructions with a High Degree of Meaning

The article is devoted to the study of the semantics of units expressing the value of intensity. The concept of the lexical function Magn of the “Meaning ↔ Text” model is used in the article. Lexical functions are a tool for describing limited lexical collocation. Magn is an abstract typical meaning of ‘very’, ‘intensity’, ‘high degree’, which is expressed in a significant number of different words, and in many cases in an idiomatic way. Lexical units expressing the meaning of ‘very’ / ‘large’ / ‘intense’ are represented in different languages by a large number of words and constructions. The designation of intensity in many languages has lexically determined variants of expression, often linguistic specific. A brief overview of the main models of the formation of the meaning of intensity in a language, examples of linguistic-specific units are given. The novelty of the research is determined by the presentation in the work of new models of the formation of the meaning of Magn and linguistic-specific expressions of this meaning. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the study of models of the formation of the value of intensity is in line with modern research on the study of semantic evolution, the construction of a typology of semantic transitions, the identification of the features of the picture of the world of different languages, the creation of explanatory models of the language.

Differential Growth in Writing Quality of Students in Fifth Grade from Diverse Backgrounds

Purpose The primary aims of this study were to: (a) to describe average change in the writing quality of fifth grade students from the fall and spring of the school year, (b) examine relations between linguistic features and writing quality rating, and (c) test for differential growth between groups of students who differ in linguistic and ability backgrounds. Method Participants included 1,396 students in fifth grade. Writing quality was assessed using a 10 point rating rubric. Three microstructural measures were included: number of different words (NDW), academic word use, and use of advanced connectives. Results Significant increases in writing quality were evidenced from fall to spring. Quality ratings were significantly related to linguistic features including lexical diversity, use of academic words and advanced connectives. Additionally, results from a two-level hierarchical linear model with students nested within classrooms indicated that there was a significant interaction between free/reduced lunch eligibility and initial performance in predicting the change in quality from fall to spring. After taking initial writing quality into account, English proficiency and the presence of language-based exceptionalities were significant predictors of students’ gains in writing quality across the school year. Conclusions and implications Quality ratings are sensitive to change across a school year. Findings highlight differentiated writing growth based on linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Findings point to the need for causal research examining mechanisms to improve students’ overall writing quality outcomes.

Development of expressive language and social skills in children with normal hearing and hearing impairment

Background and Aim: Expressive language is the most basic and widespread means of communication; children with hearing impairments are one of the largest groups of children with speech and language disorders. Therefore, this study compares the relationship between the development of expressive language and social skills in children with cochlear implants (CIs), hearing aid (HA) users and normal Persian-speaking peers aged five to seven years old. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional comparative study. 45 children in three groups; normal hearing, CIs and HA users were selected by convenience sampling. The child’s communication and social skills were assessed using Matson and children’s communication checklist (CCC) tests. Through the analysis of a descriptive speech sample of language indicators, the mean length of utterance- morpheme (MLU-m), number of different words (NDW) and the percentage of intelligible utterances (PIU) of the child were obtained and examined. ANOVA test was used to compare the groups and Pearson test was used to examine the correlation between variables. Results: The mean score of CCC test, PIU and NDW are significantly different in the three groups. MLU and Matson subtests are not significantly different in three groups. Correlation between variables was different in each group. Conclusion: Communication skills, intelligibiResults: The mean score of CCC test, PIU and NDW are significantly different in the three groups. MLU and Matson subtests are not significantly different in three groups. Correlation between variables was different in each group. Conclusion: Communication skills, intelligibiResults: The mean score of CCC test, PIU and NDW are significantly different in the three groups. MLU and Matson subtests are not significantly different in three groups. Correlation between variables was different in each group. Conclusion: Communication skills, intelligibility, and lexical diversity are significantly different between normal and hearing- impaired children. MLU and Matson subtests are not significantly different in three groups. The correlation patterns among different subtests of CCC and Matson for children with hearing impairment were different form normal hearing children. Keywords: Hearing impairment; communication skills; mean length of utterance; percentage of intelligible utterances; number of different words; social skills

A multidimensional approach to Spanish–English bilingual preschoolers’ narrative skills (Un enfoque multidimensional de las habilidades narrativas de los niños preescolares bilingües inglés/español)

ABSTRACT We identify language and discourse skills in 54-month-old Spanish–English bilingual preschoolers and their English-speaking monolingual peers, using multiple measures. Forty-one Spanish–English bilingual and 25 English monolingual children, all US born, viewed an eight-minute wordless video. The bilingual children recounted the story once in English and once in Spanish, in counterbalanced order. The story retellings were transcribed and coded for discourse skills (narrative length, narrative components and uses of evaluative language) and language skills (number of words, number of different words, MLUw). No difference was found in the two groups´ overall language or discourse skills, assessed in the narrative production, with the exception of certain uses of evaluative language. Within the bilingual group, all measures, except MLUw, were highly correlated across the two languages. Our multidimensional analysis of narrative structure and use of evaluative language sheds light on certain differences between the ways in which English monolinguals and Spanish–English bilinguals organize their narrative discourse. We discuss the advantages of using this multidimensional approach in assessing bilinguals´ language and discourse abilities in narrative production.

French vocabulary development of early-elementary students in a dual language immersion program: The role of out-of-school input and output

Aims: The current study seeks to better understand the effects of input quantity, input quality, and output on the French vocabulary development of early-elementary school students attending a French–English dual language immersion (DLI) program in the United States. Design: The participants were 42 early-elementary students attending a French–English DLI program, who participated in a longitudinal study. At the beginning of the study, they experienced variability in out-of-school French input and output. Data and analysis: Data on out-of-school French input and output came from parents’ responses on a survey. Children’s French receptive vocabulary was measured using their scores on the Échelle de Vocabulaire en Images Peabody, while their French expressive vocabulary was measured using the number of different words employed on a picture description task. Their vocabulary skills were assessed over one year, and data from the five time points were used to fit a longitudinal growth model. Findings: Students who were exposed to more French input had higher scores on the French receptive vocabulary measure at baseline, whereas those who produced more French output had higher scores on the French expressive vocabulary measure at baseline. Maternal French proficiency had no significant effect on French receptive and expressive vocabulary scores at baseline. Originality: Few previous studies, if any, have analyzed the associations between input, output, and vocabulary development in the DLI context; that is, the extent to which children’s vocabulary trajectories in the partner language are affected by their out-of-school input and output experiences. Implications: Bilingual programs ought to emphasize both input and output in the target language given their unique contribution to children’s receptive and expressive language skills. Also, future research on bilingual vocabulary development should examine input and output in both languages.

Investigating the effectiveness of parent-implemented shared book reading intervention for preschoolers with ASD

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at increased risk of persistent language and literacy difficulties. This study investigated the effectiveness of an 8-week parent-implemented shared book reading intervention designed to change parent and child book reading behaviours. Sixteen parents and their preschoolers on the autism spectrum participated. Nine parents were randomly allocated to receive the shared book reading intervention first. The intervention used a coaching model and comprised a training session, four home visits, and four follow-up phone calls. Parents completed a shared book reading video with their child prior to the intervention, immediately post-intervention and eight weeks after the intervention was completed. Following intervention, there was a significant increase in the intervention group parents’ use of book-related vocabulary and their explicit teaching of story structure, compared to the waitlist control group. Compared to the control group, there was a significant increase in children’s verbal participation (number of utterances and number of different words). However, these effects disappeared when the significant increase in reading duration following the intervention was taken into account. All improvements were maintained over time. Our results highlight the feasibility of a parent-implemented shared book reading intervention for encouraging early language skills in children on the spectrum in a naturalistic setting that is part of many family routines.

Speech timing changes accompany speech entrainment in aphasia

BackgroundPrior speech entrainment studies, where individuals with non-fluent aphasia mimic an audio-visual model, suggest speech entrainment improves speech fluency, as indexed by various linguistic measures (e.g., the total number of different words produced per minute). Here, more precise speech timing adjustments accompanying entrained speech were studied and compared to spontaneous speech to determine how these temporal variables relate to the fluency inducing effects of speech entrainment in aphasia. MethodsThirty-one left hemisphere stroke survivors classified with fluent or non-fluent speech were audio-video recorded as they described a picture and during speech entrainment. Speech fluency was documented using the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised. Acoustic measures of speech timing included total number of syllables, speech rate, articulatory rate, silent pause frequency and duration. Standard descriptive statistics and a two-factor mixed model analysis of variance were used to investigate group, task, and ‘group x task’ interaction effects. FindingsAll acoustic measures of speech timing differentiated the fluent and nonfluent groups except for silent pause frequency. Differences between speech entrainment and spontaneous speech were found for most acoustic measures of speech timing and speaker groups, yet the direction of the effect varied. Stroke survivors classified with non-fluent aphasia improved speech fluency such that speech entrainment elicited pause adjustments facilitating more typical speech timing in comparison to spontaneous speech. ConclusionOverall, findings provide further evidence of the impact of speech entrainment on measures of speech timing to help individuals with non-fluent aphasia to practice speaking more fluently. Practicing speaking more fluently may ultimately impact perceptual judgments of speech naturalness and social acceptance for persons with aphasia.

Effects of the Age, Sex, and Maternal Education of Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Preschool Children on Oral Narrative Production.

Purpose The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to determine the effects of age, sex, and maternal education of monolingual Spanish-speaking preschoolers on both macrostructural (oral narrative quality) and microstructural measures (number of different words, communication units, mean length of utterance in both words and morphemes, and number of conjunctions) of their oral narrative production. Method A total of 277 monolingual Spanish-speaking Mexican children aged 2;06-5;11 (years;months) and divided into four age groups (ages 2, 3, 4, and 5 years) were asked to retell a fictional story from the oral narrative ability task of the Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil-Preescolar. Results Appropriate internal consistency and interrater reliability were demonstrated. Pearson correlations between macro- and microstructural measures showed a positive association. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed a main effect for age, but not for sex, maternal education, or between-variables interactions. Partial eta-squared showed that age had a medium effect size on oral narrative quality and the number of different words and conjunctions, with a small effect size on communication units and mean length of utterance in words and morphemes. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that age explained the largest percentage of variance across the oral narrative measures. Conclusions The measures found to be most sensitive to the effect of age (number of different words, oral narrative quality, communication units, conjunctions) are also those most easily assessed by clinicians with limited training in linguistics. Results obtained for the number of different words and communication units were similar to those reported previously for English-speaking children.