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Language sample analysis (LSA) is a powerful analytic tool that assists examiners in authentically assessing children’s spoken language performance. The power of LSA is in its ability to capture unique dimensions of functional communication. In addition, LSA allows investigators to study oral language in underrepresented populations for whom traditional assessments are not available or appropriate. In this tutorial, I will illustrate research applications using LSA to answer meaningful questions, with a focus on applications with speakers from diverse backgrounds. First, I will describe how LSA can be used as a key outcome variable to better understand the nature of language disorders and the efficacy of language interventions. This review will focus on less-researched populations, including adolescents and children from diverse cultural-linguistic backgrounds. I will next describe research applications using LSA for accurate assessment of children suspected of having language difficulties, including populations that are traditionally difficult to accurately assess, such as children who are bilingual or from lower SES backgrounds. Finally, I will describe research opportunities to advance the science of discourse analysis. While discussing each of these three lines of research, I will illustrate innovative applications of LSA from the literature and describe opportunities for further applications of LSA research to extend our knowledge of how to best serve children with language difficulties. |
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