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Changes in the Production of Complex Syntax by Elementary-Aged School Children.

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Title: Changes in the Production of Complex Syntax by Elementary-Aged School Children.
Authors: Pavelko, Stacey L.1 spavelko@fiu.edu, Owens Jr., Robert E.2, Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie L.3
Source: Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools. Oct2025, Vol. 56 Issue 4, p1002-1010. 9p.
Subject Terms: *School children, *Speech evaluation, *Language acquisition, *Children, Grammar, Logistic regression analysis, Age distribution, Descriptive statistics, Mean length of utterance, Intraclass correlation
Abstract: Purpose: Many state standards for elementary students require them to use complex syntax, and research has documented age-related increases in the production of complex utterances in elementary-aged school children. Speechlanguage pathologists who provide services for these children, however, need detailed information in order to plan curriculum relevant intervention. The purpose of this study is to examine the production of specific subordinate (i.e., nominal, relative, and adverbial) and coordinate clauses obtained from 50-utterance conversational language samples of children between 5 and 10 years of age. Method: The data sample included 200 children with typical language development, who ranged in age from 5;0 (years;months) to 10;11 (female = 103; male = 97). Fifty utterance conversational language samples were examined for children's use of subordinate clauses (nominal, relative, and adverbial) and coordinate clauses. Results: Results indicated no statistically significant increases in the use of nominal clauses (p = .937), relative clauses (p = .09), adverbial clauses (p = .727), or the coordinating conjunction "and" (p = .587). The results indicated statistically significant increases in the use of the coordinating conjunctions "but" (p = .009) and "so" (p = .019). For every 1 month increase in age, the use of "but" increased by 0.9% and the use of "so" increased by 1%. Conclusions: The results of this study indicated that, as children's age increased, they produced more utterances with the coordinating conjunctions "but" and "so." Furthermore, irrespective of children's age, approximately 30% of complex utterances included a nominal and/or adverbial subordinate clause. These results were obtained from 50-utterance language samples and further support the use of language sampling to develop intervention goals and monitor progress in intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools 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: Changes in the Production of Complex Syntax by Elementary-Aged School Children.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pavelko%2C+Stacey+L%2E%22">Pavelko, Stacey L.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> spavelko@fiu.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Owens+Jr%2E%2C+Robert+E%2E%22">Owens Jr., Robert E.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hahs-Vaughn%2C+Debbie+L%2E%22">Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie L.</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Language%2C+Speech+%26+Hearing+Services+in+Schools%22">Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools</searchLink>. Oct2025, Vol. 56 Issue 4, p1002-1010. 9p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+children%22">School children</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech+evaluation%22">Speech evaluation</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+acquisition%22">Language acquisition</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children%22">Children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grammar%22">Grammar</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Logistic+regression+analysis%22">Logistic regression analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Age+distribution%22">Age distribution</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mean+length+of+utterance%22">Mean length of utterance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intraclass+correlation%22">Intraclass correlation</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Purpose: Many state standards for elementary students require them to use complex syntax, and research has documented age-related increases in the production of complex utterances in elementary-aged school children. Speechlanguage pathologists who provide services for these children, however, need detailed information in order to plan curriculum relevant intervention. The purpose of this study is to examine the production of specific subordinate (i.e., nominal, relative, and adverbial) and coordinate clauses obtained from 50-utterance conversational language samples of children between 5 and 10 years of age. Method: The data sample included 200 children with typical language development, who ranged in age from 5;0 (years;months) to 10;11 (female = 103; male = 97). Fifty utterance conversational language samples were examined for children's use of subordinate clauses (nominal, relative, and adverbial) and coordinate clauses. Results: Results indicated no statistically significant increases in the use of nominal clauses (p = .937), relative clauses (p = .09), adverbial clauses (p = .727), or the coordinating conjunction "and" (p = .587). The results indicated statistically significant increases in the use of the coordinating conjunctions "but" (p = .009) and "so" (p = .019). For every 1 month increase in age, the use of "but" increased by 0.9% and the use of "so" increased by 1%. Conclusions: The results of this study indicated that, as children's age increased, they produced more utterances with the coordinating conjunctions "but" and "so." Furthermore, irrespective of children's age, approximately 30% of complex utterances included a nominal and/or adverbial subordinate clause. These results were obtained from 50-utterance language samples and further support the use of language sampling to develop intervention goals and monitor progress in intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools 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=188642705
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1044/2025_LSHSS-24-00141
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        Text: English
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        PageCount: 9
        StartPage: 1002
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: School children
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Speech evaluation
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      – SubjectFull: Language acquisition
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      – SubjectFull: Children
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      – SubjectFull: Grammar
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      – SubjectFull: Logistic regression analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Age distribution
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mean length of utterance
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      – SubjectFull: Intraclass correlation
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      – TitleFull: Changes in the Production of Complex Syntax by Elementary-Aged School Children.
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            NameFull: Owens Jr., Robert E.
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              Text: Oct2025
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