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Exploring the Effect of Sentence Structure Frequency on the Accuracy of a Screener for Adults at Risk of Developmental Language Disorder.

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Title: Exploring the Effect of Sentence Structure Frequency on the Accuracy of a Screener for Adults at Risk of Developmental Language Disorder.
Authors: Poll, Gerard H.1 pollgh@miamioh.edu, Brown, Brigitte1, Miller, Carol A.2
Source: Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. Jul2025, Vol. 68 Issue 7, p3348-3356. 9p.
Subject Terms: *Comparative grammar, *Language & languages, *Language disorders, *Memory, *Speech perception, *Comparative studies, *Language acquisition, *Adults, Risk assessment, Receiver operating characteristic curves, Descriptive statistics, Sound recordings, Routine diagnostic tests, Mean length of utterance, Medical screening, Data analysis software, Sensitivity & specificity (Statistics), Disease risk factors
Abstract: Purpose: Sentence repetition (SR) is a promising task for identifying children at risk for developmental language disorder (DLD) but is unclear how to calibrate the task for adults. In verbal recall, the frequency of language structures affects adults with DLD differently from peers with typical language (TL), particularly near the limits of adults' processing capacity. We hypothesized that repetition accuracy for sentences with less frequent structures, passives, would better distinguish adults at risk for DLD from their peers with TL than sentences with more frequent structures, actives. Method: Forty-two adults (18-29 years old), including 17 classified as at risk for DLD, completed an SR task composed of active and passive sentences matched for lexical frequency and sentence plausibility. Sentences varied in length (eight to 16 words) and number of clauses (one to two). Repetition accuracy for matched active and passive sentences was evaluated for classification accuracy to determine whether the areas under the curve (AUCs) differed by structure. Results: Averaging repetition accuracy across all sentence lengths, the AUC for passives did not differ from actives. For sentences with 11 words and two clauses, the AUC for passive structures was significantly higher than for active structures. Conclusions: Given sentences long enough to challenge the capacity of adults to reconstruct sentences for recall, structural frequency affects those at risk for DLD differently than those with TL. Manipulating the frequency of sentence structures is a promising approach to developing an SR task suited to screening adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Exploring the Effect of Sentence Structure Frequency on the Accuracy of a Screener for Adults at Risk of Developmental Language Disorder.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Poll%2C+Gerard+H%2E%22">Poll, Gerard H.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> pollgh@miamioh.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Brown%2C+Brigitte%22">Brown, Brigitte</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Miller%2C+Carol+A%2E%22">Miller, Carol A.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Speech%2C+Language+%26+Hearing+Research%22">Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research</searchLink>. Jul2025, Vol. 68 Issue 7, p3348-3356. 9p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+grammar%22">Comparative grammar</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+%26+languages%22">Language & languages</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+disorders%22">Language disorders</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Memory%22">Memory</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech+perception%22">Speech perception</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+studies%22">Comparative studies</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+acquisition%22">Language acquisition</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adults%22">Adults</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Risk+assessment%22">Risk assessment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Receiver+operating+characteristic+curves%22">Receiver operating characteristic curves</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sound+recordings%22">Sound recordings</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Routine+diagnostic+tests%22">Routine diagnostic tests</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mean+length+of+utterance%22">Mean length of utterance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+screening%22">Medical screening</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sensitivity+%26+specificity+%28Statistics%29%22">Sensitivity & specificity (Statistics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Disease+risk+factors%22">Disease risk factors</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Purpose: Sentence repetition (SR) is a promising task for identifying children at risk for developmental language disorder (DLD) but is unclear how to calibrate the task for adults. In verbal recall, the frequency of language structures affects adults with DLD differently from peers with typical language (TL), particularly near the limits of adults' processing capacity. We hypothesized that repetition accuracy for sentences with less frequent structures, passives, would better distinguish adults at risk for DLD from their peers with TL than sentences with more frequent structures, actives. Method: Forty-two adults (18-29 years old), including 17 classified as at risk for DLD, completed an SR task composed of active and passive sentences matched for lexical frequency and sentence plausibility. Sentences varied in length (eight to 16 words) and number of clauses (one to two). Repetition accuracy for matched active and passive sentences was evaluated for classification accuracy to determine whether the areas under the curve (AUCs) differed by structure. Results: Averaging repetition accuracy across all sentence lengths, the AUC for passives did not differ from actives. For sentences with 11 words and two clauses, the AUC for passive structures was significantly higher than for active structures. Conclusions: Given sentences long enough to challenge the capacity of adults to reconstruct sentences for recall, structural frequency affects those at risk for DLD differently than those with TL. Manipulating the frequency of sentence structures is a promising approach to developing an SR task suited to screening adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=186522591
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        Value: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00628
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 9
        StartPage: 3348
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Comparative grammar
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Language & languages
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Language disorders
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Memory
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Speech perception
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      – SubjectFull: Comparative studies
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Language acquisition
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Adults
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Risk assessment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Receiver operating characteristic curves
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      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
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      – SubjectFull: Routine diagnostic tests
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      – SubjectFull: Mean length of utterance
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      – SubjectFull: Medical screening
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      – SubjectFull: Data analysis software
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sensitivity & specificity (Statistics)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Disease risk factors
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      – TitleFull: Exploring the Effect of Sentence Structure Frequency on the Accuracy of a Screener for Adults at Risk of Developmental Language Disorder.
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              Text: Jul2025
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