Wu Shang-Yu, Huang Rei-Jane, Tsai I-Fang
Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Mackay Medical College, No. 46, Sec 3, Zhongzheng Rd., Sanzhi Dist., New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC.
Department of Special Education, University of Taipei, No. 1, Ai-Guo West Road, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
J Commun Disord. 2019 Jan-Feb;77:71-79. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2018.10.002. Epub 2018 Oct 13.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the applicability of D, the Measure of Textual Lexical Diversity (MTLD), and Moving ¬Average Type ¬Token Ratio (MATTR) for measuring lexical diversity of Mandarin-speaking preschoolers. This study examined if D, MTLD, and MATTR can be used to differentiate two different age groups (children age 3 and 4 years) and two language ability groups (typically developing children and children with language delay).
Seventy-eight Mandarin-speaking typically developing children and 56 Mandarin-speaking children with language delay participated in this study. The researchers collected, transcribed, and analyzed language samples from these children.
The findings showed that D and MTLD were sensitive LD measures for assessing the Mandarin-speaking preschoolers. D and MTLD differentiated the two different age groups and language ability groups. The D and MTLD scores of typically developing children were significantly higher than those of children with language delay. Also, 4-year-olds had significantly higher D and MTLD scores than 3-year-olds. MATTR differentiated the two language ability groups but not the two age groups. Possible factors influencing the sensitivity of lexical diversity measures were discussed.
The findings indicated that D and MTLD were sensitive for assessing Mandarin-speaking preschoolers from Taiwan. MATTR can be used to identify children with language delay in this study.
本研究旨在评估文本词汇多样性测量法（MTLD）中的D值以及移动平均型类符比（MATTR）在测量说普通话的学龄前儿童词汇多样性方面的适用性。本研究考察了D值、MTLD和MATTR是否可用于区分两个不同年龄组（3岁和4岁儿童）以及两个语言能力组（发育正常儿童和语言发育迟缓儿童）。
78名说普通话的发育正常儿童和56名说普通话的语言发育迟缓儿童参与了本研究。研究人员收集、转录并分析了这些儿童的语言样本。
研究结果表明，D值和MTLD是评估说普通话的学龄前儿童的敏感语言发育迟缓测量指标。D值和MTLD能够区分两个不同的年龄组和语言能力组。发育正常儿童的D值和MTLD得分显著高于语言发育迟缓儿童。此外，4岁儿童的D值和MTLD得分显著高于3岁儿童。MATTR能够区分两个语言能力组，但不能区分两个年龄组。文中讨论了影响词汇多样性测量指标敏感性的可能因素。
研究结果表明，D值和MTLD在评估台湾说普通话的学龄前儿童方面具有敏感性。在本研究中，MATTR可用于识别语言发育迟缓儿童。
