week 3 LAB WORKSHOP

Morpheme Counting Guidelines

When to Count Contractions as Morphemes

  • Rule: Count contractions as one morpheme if component parts are not found in the sample.
  • Condition: Count each part of a contraction individually if their individual components are present elsewhere in the sample.
  • Rationale: Indicates mastery of individual components.

Examples of What Counts as One Morpheme

  • Plurals Without Singular Forms:
    • E.g., "us", "close"
  • Gerunds and Participles Not Part of Verb Phrase:
    • E.g., “Swimming is fun.”
  • Stuttered Words:
    • E.g., "my, my, my" counts as one morpheme.
  • Compound Words:
    • E.g., "birthday", "seesaw", "belly button" count as one morpheme.
  • Single Words or Phrases:
    • E.g., "hi", "no", "yeah" are single morphemes.
  • Proper Nouns:
    • E.g., Any proper noun is also considered one morpheme.
  • Ritualized Reduplications:
    • E.g., "quack quack", "choo choo" count as one morpheme.

Items Counted as More Than One Morpheme

  • Inflected Forms:
    • Regular and irregular plural nouns (e.g., "dogs", "feet").
    • Possessive nouns (e.g., "girl's").
    • Third person singular verbs (e.g., "runs").
    • Present participles and past participles in verb phrases (e.g., "running" = 2 morphemes: "run" + "-ing").
    • Regular past tense verbs (e.g., “walked” = 2 morphemes: "walk" + "-ed").
    • Reflexive pronouns (e.g., "myself").
    • Comparative and superlative adjectives (e.g., "taller", "fastest").
  • Contractions: Count as two morphemes if both components are identifiable, otherwise count as one.
  • Repeated Words for Emphasis: E.g., "No, no, no" counts as three morphemes if intentional.

Items Not Counted as Morphemes

  • Partial Utterances:
    • Context-driven decision; generally not counted unless they contribute to comprehension.
    • E.g., An unfinished thought might still hold relevance.
  • Direct Imitations: E.g., child's direct repetition of an adult's statement (e.g., "the red one").
  • Unintelligible Utterances: Do not count unknown morphemes.
  • Rote Passages:
    • E.g., Nursery rhymes are not included.
  • False Starts and Reformulations: Count if internal structure feels intentional, otherwise may exclude.
  • Noise Sounds: Included only if intended as morphemes.
  • Filler Words: E.g., "oh", "you know" are not counted.
  • Counting Sequences or Enumerations:
    • Do not count if merely listing; however, phrases responding to a question can be counted.

Practice with Morpheme Analysis

  • Sample Utterances Analyzed:
    • “What this thing?” - 3 morphemes.
    • “I can touch it.” - 4 morphemes.
    • “I talking on it.” - 5 morphemes (counting "talking" as 2).
    • “It hearing me.” - 4 morphemes.
    • “Donnie have red car.” - 4 morphemes.
    • “They got toys in here.” - 6 morphemes.

Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) Calculation

  • Total Morphemes in Sample: 103 morphemes.
  • Total Utterances: 21.
  • MLU Calculation:
    MLU = rac{ ext{Total morphemes}}{ ext{Total utterances}} = rac{103}{21} = 4.9
  • Note on Reliability: MLU is more reliable with 50+ utterances, and fewer utterances yield less reliable data.
  • Developmental Norms: MLU of 4.9 considered developmentally appropriate for typical development.

Type Token Ratio (TTR) Analysis

  • Definition: TTR measures vocabulary variation. Used for diagnosing language skills and monitoring changes post therapy.
  • Calculation Steps:
  1. Obtain a language sample (50 utterances preferred).
  2. Count unique words (types).
  3. Count total words produced (tokens).
  4. Calculate TTR:
    TTR = rac{ ext{Types}}{ ext{Tokens}}
  • Interpretation of TTR:
    • High TTR indicates rich vocabulary; low TTR suggests limited vocabulary.
    • Indicators of language disorder if TTR is notably low.

Communication Units (C Units) and Terminal Units (T Units)

  • C Units: Measures the grammatical quality of spoken language; can include incomplete sentences.

    • Example: "Pancakes and eggs" as a response to “What did you have for breakfast?”

  • T Units: More sensitive measure for children under age five; assesses complexity using main and subordinate clauses.

    • A statement like, “I want ice cream.” counts as 1 T unit, whereas “I want ice cream and you want cake.” counts as 2 T units because it has two independent clauses.

Calculation of Communication and Terminal Units

  • Count:
  • T units reflect complex ideas; you divide T units or C units by total utterances.
  • Application: Used diagnostically and therapeutically; insight into grammatical complexity and development.

Assignment Instructions

  • Task: Perform morpheme calculations based on the language sample from last week.
  • Options: MLU, TTR, C units focus.
  • Submit calculations only, no need for transcription resubmission; indicate what calculation each number corresponds to.
  • Deadline: Due tomorrow by midnight via Blackboard.

Concluding Notes

  • These analyses will reappear often in the program so expect ample exposure to these concepts.
  • Any further questions or clarifications needed are encouraged before the next class.