Collecting Language Samples from Children with Syntax Problems

Although it is important that children produce enough spontaneous language to be analyzed, length is not the only criterion to be considered when collecting language samples. This article suggests that comparability, representativeness, and typicality must also be considered when selecting language elicitation tasks: A framework is suggested as a basis for selecting or devising tasks, and one successful battery is described which has been field tested on language-disordered children with syntax problems. These tasks elicit a wide variety of language from the children as well as stimulate them to produce a large, representative corpus of utterances.