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Language sample analysis (LSA) has long been a mainstay for researchers investigating language development in children. Documenting language use in everyday speaking situations provides the opportunity to measure performance across all levels of language use. Almost all of the foundational research on language development relied on the use of samples of language production. Today, LSA is still considered the gold standard for validating language use in context. Computer technology has provided solutions to many of the past limitations of LSA, facilitating the use of this classic methodology. This tutorial will review our solutions to many vexing research problems including; managing large numbers of samples, identifying and coding specific features, selecting appropriate elicitation protocol, creating preliminary data on specific features, training lab staff, and insuring the fidelity of data collection. Two major advances will be discussed relative to research solutions using SALT software. First, the creation of large databases of typical speakers gives you norm-referenced expectations across age and grade, K–12, and provides language production expectations for conversation, narration, exposition, and persuasion protocols. Second, SALT not only provides more than 50 analyses automatically, but also includes a specialized editor for entering transcripts, routines to facilitate coding, and tools to analyze large data sets, feeding the results directly into statistical analysis software.
Join us in exploring the use of language sample analysis in your next research project. Learn how our tools can facilitate the development of your next research project, from elicitation through transcription and analysis. New coding tools will be presented that allow you to extract language data unique to your research. We will discuss how our databases of typical speakers can be used to provide preliminary data for justifying your research concept and may even serve as preliminary control groups. The use of our tools for analyzing languages other than English will be reviewed. We look forward to a discussion of what road blocks you are facing with your research program and what additional tools are needed.
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