Moving Beyond Mean Length of Utterance: Analyzing Language Samples to Identify Intervention Targets

Mean length of utterance is a useful metric for assessment; however, it has limited utility when planning intervention. When developing intervention plans, researchers have encouraged clinicians to move beyond mean length of utterance by adopting a broader perspective of grammatical development that includes analyzing language samples for grammatical morphemes, as well as use of complex syntax, noun phrase elaboration, and verb phrase elaboration. The purpose of this study is to identify at which age 80% of children used specific elements of elaborated noun phrases (ENPs), elaborated verb phrases (EVPs), and grammatical morphemes in 50 utterance language samples. This article will then present a case study describing how to use the data when analyzing a language sample to identify potential intervention goals and targets.