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JCPSLP Volume 15, Number 1 2013 33
# 2 Gather information about a range of
complex sentences in different genres
It is important to assess the production of all types of
complex sentences, including complement clauses,
adverbial clauses and relative clauses. In addition, it is
necessary to sample different discourse genres as the use
of complex sentences is closely related to language task.
During the school years children learn to use different
types of complex sentences for different genres (Scott,
1988b). The development of narratives (fictional stories),
both oral and written, is a major focus of these years.
The use of conjunctions, elaborated noun phrases and
mental and linguistic verbs, all of which are components of
complex sentences, contribute to the production of a more
literate style (Westby, 1998). At school, children increase
their use of finite subordinate clauses (e.g., The children
pretended that pirates lived on the lake ) (Berman, 2004)
and the use of relative clauses to elaborate noun phrases
(e.g., We were scared of the noise that the old door made)
(Eisenberg et al., 2008).
Complex sentences are also important for the production
of expository discourse (provision and explanation of
information, usually factual), which is frequently utilised in
the upper primary and secondary school years. Expository
tasks elicit more complex speech than conversational
tasks (Nippold, Hesketh, Duthie, & Mansfield, 2005),
evidenced by a greater use of adverbial, relative and
complement clauses. Thus, children harness a level and
range of complex language forms requisite for a particular
task. Further, Verhoeven et al. (2002) found that genre
dictates the use of certain types of complex sentences.
Coordination was used frequently in narratives but
subordination was the preferred method of linking clauses
in expository discourse.
While there is limited data available about the
performance of children with LI on all types of complex
sentences in all genres, there is evidence that these children
are making less use of complex sentences than both their
age equivalent peers (Nippold et al., 2008) and younger
children (Marinellie, 2004; Scott & Windsor, 2000). More
specifically, children with LI use fewer adverbial, relative
and coordinating clauses in conversation (Marinellie, 2004)
and fewer subordinate clauses in storytelling tasks (Liles et
al., 1995). Assessment tasks must be utilised that provide
opportunities to sample all these types of structures.
# 3 Collect additional measures to
frequency counts
Measures of frequency of complex sentence use may not
be sensitive enough on their own to identify differences
between children with LI and children with typically
language development (TLD). Eisenberg (2003) reported
that both children with LI (aged 5 years) and TLD (aged
between 3 and 5 years) produced infinitives with the same
frequency in conversation. However, the children with TLD
produced infinitives with a wider variety of verbs than the
children with LI. In a follow-up elicitation study, the children
with LI used fewer different verbs within constructions and
produced fewer infinitives with ditransitive verbs (which take
three arguments such as I told the teacher that I would be
late) than the younger children with TLD (Eisenberg, 2004).
Superficial measures of language complexity, such as
presence or absence of a particular sentence type, are
therefore insufficient on their own for either diagnosing
language difficulties or planning appropriate intervention.
well documented (Leonard, 1998). However, there has been
less focus on the acquisition of later developing structures,
such as complex sentences, among children and
adolescents with LI (Blake, Myszczyxzyn, & Jokel, 2004).
While there is evidence that children with LI experience
difficulty with complex sentences throughout their school
years there is some debate about many aspects of complex
sentence production (Blake et al., 2004; Nippold, Mansfield,
Billow, & Tomblin, 2008; Scott & Windsor, 2000). It is not
clear whether children with LI show slower development
or deviant production. Difficulties they experience include
the omission of relative clause markers (Novogrodsky &
Friedmann, 2006), the decreased production of complex
sentences (Liles, Duffy, Merritt, & Purcell, 1995; Marinellie,
2004; Nippold et al., 2008), increased errors in complex
sentences (Blake et al., 2004; Marinellie, 2004; Scott &
Windsor, 2000) and decreased use of cognitive state verbs
(Owen van Horne & Lin, 2011). Understanding the patterns
of strengths and weaknesses in children’s production
of complex sentences is necessary for meaningful and
comprehensive assessment of language skills and planning
intervention goals.
Key suggestions
As the research into the use of complex sentences in
children with LI is relatively limited, the main themes from 22
studies relating to complex sentences in both children with
and without LI have been identified and are presented here
as six key suggestions for assessment practice. The bulk of
the literature in this area focuses on school-aged children at
the primary level and adolescents at secondary level.
Therefore, these suggestions are most relevant for speech
pathologists working with these populations. The
suggestions relate to the context in which complex
sentences are assessed, the content of the assessment
and the tasks used in the assessment of complex sentence
use.
# 1 Assess the use of complex sentences
in reading and writing activities
Given the close link between oral language and literacy
development (Bishop & Snowling, 2004), it is important to
consider the effect of children’s complex sentence use on
the related areas of writing and reading comprehension.
Upper primary school and secondary school students tend
to produce more complex language in the written condition
compared to the spoken condition (Scott & Windsor, 2000).
As children advance through primary school they need to
be able to comprehend the more complicated types of
written complex sentences, such as centre-embedded
relative clauses (e.g., The horse that the reluctant child is
going to ride has a very gentle nature) (Kuder, 2008) and
multiple embeddings (e.g., Those fleeing thought that the
enemy would have forgotten that the bridge had to be
crossed when the tide was at low ebb) (Scott, 2009).
The written texts utilised in educational settings are
often more complex than oral narratives in a range of
ways, including the number of clauses contained in each
sentence and the extent to which the noun phrases and
verb phrases are elaborated (Scott, 2009). The written
material read by children in the upper primary school years
is more complex than the language they produce and it is
through exposure to complex syntax in written material that
children further extend and develop their oral skills (Westby,
1998).