The Comparison of Conversation, Freeplay, and Story as Methods of Spontaneous Language Sample Elicitation

Kim, Sung Soo; Lee, Sang Kyung

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2008;13(1): 44-62.

Sung Soo Kim^` , and Sang Kyung Lee^`

김성수(Sung Soo Kim)| 이상경(Sang Kyung Lee)

ABSTRACT

Background & Objectives
Conversation (CV), freeplay (FP), and story (SG) are most widely used for spontaneous language sample in clinical practice. The purpose of the present study was to compare and explore specific applicability among CV, FP, and SG as methods of language sample elicitation in expressive syntactic production of preschool children with language disorders.
Methods
A total 19 language disordered children (chronological age: 5;5～6;10, language age: 4;1～5;2) participated in the study. Utilizing the 3 methods (CV, FP, SG), we collected children’s language sample and analyzed the data with 3 measures: the number of utterances, MLU-m, and the proportion of complex syntactic structure. GLM repeated measure of ANOVA was used to determine significant differences.
Results
First, CV elicited the largest number of utterances and there were very large differences in the standard deviations of the number of utterances in FP and SG. Second, FP elicited the lowest utterances on MLU-m and the proportion of complex syntactic structure. Third, SG elicited the smallest number of utterances but elicited the highest utterances on MLU-m and the proportion of complex syntactic structure.
Discussion & Conclusion
It is recommended that the CV method be used for obtaining appropriate number of utterances from children within a restricted time regardless of their individual differences. On the other hand, it is suggested that SG method be used for evaluating children’s maximum behaviors on expressive syntactic areas. Clinicians should consider which method would be the best suited for the main purpose of assessment and should select the best appropriate and well-matched procedures for children’s personality and communication style.