Aubrey Passey; Kennedi Eggertsen; Becca Polson, Utah State University
ENP Abstract The purpose of this study was to analyze and help us better understand the use of Elaborative Noun Phrases (ENP) in typically developing children between the ages of four and seven. ENPs can be used as an indicator of literate language development. As children grow, their use of ENPs mature until they reach about age 11 at which point their use of ENPs plateaus as curriculum emphasis changes from narrative to expository discourse. In order to measure ENPs story retells and stories made up on the spot by the child are used. These stories typically include picture prompts to help the child create the story. Some evidence suggests that one detailed picture elicits greater productions of ENPs than a simple sequence of pictures. In this study the narratives of 42, 4 year olds, 57, 5 year olds, 68, 6 year olds and 93, 7 year olds who participated in the normative sample for the TNL-2, were used. Children were asked to produce stories in three different settings, a story retell after a clinician model, a story based on a picture sequence, and a story based on a picture. Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) was used to transcribe these stories, which were then coded for ENP use. This coding included counting and analyzing the number of descriptors used before or after a noun. Phrases that only included a determiner and noun were coded as PRE1 and are referred to as simple designating noun phrases. Noun phrases that included a determiner as well as a modifying agent, such as a modifying noun or an adjective were coded as PRE2 and are called simple descriptive noun phrases. Complex descriptive noun phrases included two or more descriptors and a determiner before the noun and were coded as PRE3. Lastly complex noun phrases with post modification were coded as POST. These typically were seen through the use of prepositional phrases or clauses. Through this study we hope to gain a better understanding of how children use ENPs by analyzing the differences in ENP use both qualitatively and quantitatively. This will allow us to better serve and assess children with developmental language impairment.