Measures of Naturalistic Language for Dialect-Speaking Children: The Case of Cypriot Greek
The aim of this study was to longitudinally examine mean length of utterance in words (MLU-w) and number of different words (NDW) and their association in children speaking Cypriot Greek (CG), a dialect for which such measures of language development have not been adequately investigated. Language s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/1/21 |
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| author | Louiza Voniati Spyros Armostis Dionysios Tafiadis |
| author_facet | Louiza Voniati Spyros Armostis Dionysios Tafiadis |
| author_sort | Louiza Voniati |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The aim of this study was to longitudinally examine mean length of utterance in words (MLU-w) and number of different words (NDW) and their association in children speaking Cypriot Greek (CG), a dialect for which such measures of language development have not been adequately investigated. Language samples from 36 typically developing monolingual CG-speaking children were collected at 4-month intervals from the age of 3;0 until 4;0 through free-play based conversation between the children and their caregivers. A zero-order correlation analysis among MLU-w, NDW, and age showed strong positive correlations between any two of these measures. A first-order analysis controlling for age showed that the correlation between MLU-w and NDW was independent from the influence of age. The study provides valuable information on the correlation between MLU-w and NDW for CG-speaking children and it contributes to our knowledge about language development in a dialectal variety lacking standardised tests. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:18:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5fd053018fa244a8bbfc82f553860d71 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:18:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-5fd053018fa244a8bbfc82f553860d712023-11-17T12:08:45ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2023-01-01812110.3390/languages8010021Measures of Naturalistic Language for Dialect-Speaking Children: The Case of Cypriot GreekLouiza Voniati0Spyros Armostis1Dionysios Tafiadis2Department of Health Sciences, Speech and Language Therapy, European University, Nicosia 2404, CyprusDepartment of English Studies, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, CyprusDepartment of Speech and Language Therapy, University of Ioannina, 451 10 Ioannina, GreeceThe aim of this study was to longitudinally examine mean length of utterance in words (MLU-w) and number of different words (NDW) and their association in children speaking Cypriot Greek (CG), a dialect for which such measures of language development have not been adequately investigated. Language samples from 36 typically developing monolingual CG-speaking children were collected at 4-month intervals from the age of 3;0 until 4;0 through free-play based conversation between the children and their caregivers. A zero-order correlation analysis among MLU-w, NDW, and age showed strong positive correlations between any two of these measures. A first-order analysis controlling for age showed that the correlation between MLU-w and NDW was independent from the influence of age. The study provides valuable information on the correlation between MLU-w and NDW for CG-speaking children and it contributes to our knowledge about language development in a dialectal variety lacking standardised tests.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/1/21Language Sample Analysisnaturalistic measuresCypriot Greektoddlerstypical development |
| spellingShingle | Louiza Voniati Spyros Armostis Dionysios Tafiadis Measures of Naturalistic Language for Dialect-Speaking Children: The Case of Cypriot Greek Languages Language Sample Analysis naturalistic measures Cypriot Greek toddlers typical development |
| title | Measures of Naturalistic Language for Dialect-Speaking Children: The Case of Cypriot Greek |
| title_full | Measures of Naturalistic Language for Dialect-Speaking Children: The Case of Cypriot Greek |
| title_fullStr | Measures of Naturalistic Language for Dialect-Speaking Children: The Case of Cypriot Greek |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measures of Naturalistic Language for Dialect-Speaking Children: The Case of Cypriot Greek |
| title_short | Measures of Naturalistic Language for Dialect-Speaking Children: The Case of Cypriot Greek |
| title_sort | measures of naturalistic language for dialect speaking children the case of cypriot greek |
| topic | Language Sample Analysis naturalistic measures Cypriot Greek toddlers typical development |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/1/21 |
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