The SYNTAX section of the DELV

Key Features and Examples

Goals of the DELV SYNTAX

To show how the child understands relationships between clauses and between sentences

• Focus on a few core concepts of modern syntax (wh-movement, wh-barriers, set properties of wh-words)

• Introduce elements of complexity (to reveal hidden knowledge)

Components of The DELV SYNTAX Domain

Three Item Types WH-Question Comprehension Passive Comprehension Article Production

Important skills for understanding academic texts and learning to talk about them.

Wh-Question Comprehension:Testing Procedure

The child is told a brief story about a pictured event.

She or he is then asked the key test question about some aspect of the event.

Key Point: The pictures support several possible interpretations of the question. The child must interpret all parts of the sentence prompt to answer correctly.

Wh-Question Comprehension:Testing Procedure

(Based on work by Finneran, 1993; Roeper & de Villers, 1994; de Villiers, Roeper, & Vainikka, 1990; Roeper & de Villiers, 1993; Vainikka & Roeper, 1995; de Villiers & Roeper, 1995)

Can the child

--Understand questions with two wh-words?

This father and this baby were having lunch together. Who ate what?

QuickTime™ and aPhoto - JPEG decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

c. The Psychological Corporation

Typical Answers to double WH questions

CORRECT:“who” = baby and dad; “what” = apple and banana” => PAIRED, EXHAUSTIVE responses

Ex. The dad ate the apple and the baby ate the banana.

INCORRECT:SINGLETONS

One element: “dad” “baby”Both objects, no subjects: “the apple and the banana”One pair: “the baby ate the banana.”

OTHER (irrelevant)“He was eating.” “I like bananas.”

Ex. 2: This girl played different things in different ways. She played the drums with her feet and the piano with her

hands. How did the girl play what?

c. The Psychological Corporation

Typical Answers to double WH questions

CORRECT:“how” = with hands and feet; “what” = piano and drums => PAIRED, EXHAUSTIVE responses

Ex. She playin’ the drum with her foot and the piano with her hand.

INCORRECT:SINGLETONS

One element: “piano” “with her feet”Both objects, no instruments: “the piano and the drums”One pair: “she played the drums with her feet.”

OTHER (irrelevant)“He’s talking in the mike.” “I can sing.”

What can go wrong (with a wh-question with 1 wh-word)?

The child doesn’t know that:

The WH-word refers not to a single person or thing, but to members of a set of things.

Ex. (“I saw a boy, a girl, and a dog.”) “What did I see?”

“what” = all of the objects (boy, girl, dog) “Who was at dinner?”

“who” = the 5 or 6 individuals at dinner

What can go wrong (with WH-questions with 2 WH-words)?

The child doesn’t know that:

Both WH-words refer not to a single person or thing, but to ALL the members of a set of things

AND the members of the two sets are “paired”

Ex. Who saw what?Person 1 saw Thing 1;Person 2 saw Thing 2; Person 3 saw Thing 3.

WH-Item Type 2: WH-question word “jumps over” two

verbs: comes from the end of the sentence.

Does the child know

--which verbs wh-question words go with (and which verbs they cannot go with)?

Use a false statement so 2-clause answer will be different from 1-clause answer.

--based on research on barriers to syntactic movement (de Villiers & Roeper, 1995 and others.)

Ex. 3: This mother snuck out one night when her little girl was asleep and bought a surprise birthday cake. The next day the little girl saw the bag from

the store and asked, “What did you buy?” The mom wanted to keep the surprise until later so she said, “ Just some paper towels.”

-- What did the mom say she bought?

QuickTime™ and aPhoto - JPEG decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

c. The Psychological Corporation

Typical answers to two-clause “false clause” questions

CORRECT TWO-CLAUSE (or “long distance”) responses

(“what….sayv1….boughtv2?”)

Ex. She said she bought paper towels.

INCORRECT ONE-CLAUSE responses (“what…bought?”) Ex. (She bought) a birthday cake.

OTHER“a surprise” “a bag” “I don’t know.”

Crucial concept for “false clause” questions

“what….sayv1….boughtv2?”

different from

“what…boughtv1?”

WH-Item Type 3: WH-question word blocked from “jumping over” another wh-word: cannot come from the end of the sentence.

Does the child know

-- when a question word can come from a distant clause (and when it cannot)?

Does the child answer the right question?--based on research on barriers to syntactic movement (Vainikka & Roeper, 1995; de Villiers & Roeper, 1995 and others.)

Ex. 4: This mom didn’t know how to bake a cake. She saw a TV program about cooking, and she learned to make a lovely cake with

pudding mix.-- How did the mom learn what to bake?

QuickTime™ and aPhoto - JPEG decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

c. The Psychological Corporation

Typical Answers to WH-barrier questions

CORRECT (short distance) responses (How did she learn…?) By watching TV..

INCORRECT (wrong question) responses (middle question…what to bake?) “a cake” (long distance How…..bake?) “With a pudding mix,”

“With a spoon” OTHER

Ex. “She didn’t know how.”

Ex. 5: These children were planning a surprise party for their favorite teacher. Everyone was going to bring some food for the party, but the boy didn’t know

what to bring. He asked the woman at the grocery store, “What shall I bring my teacher? The woman told me his teacher loved bologna, so that’s what the boy

decided to bring-- Who did the boy ask what to bring?

c. The Psychological Corporation

Typical answers to question with barrier:

CORRECT (short distance) responses (Who did she ask…?) “woman at store”

INCORRECT (wrong question) responses (middle question…what to bring?) “bologna” (long distance Who…..bring?) “teacher”

OTHER Ex. “I don’t know.”

The concept of a syntactic barrier

Compare “How did she learn to bake?” (2 possible answers)

How…learn? (ex. From TV) OR How….bake? (ex. Like an Austrian pastry chef)

“How did she learn what to bake?”

the “WHAT” BLOCKS “HOW…BAKE”

“How” can come only from “learn- clause”

Only “how…learn?” (from TV) is possible.

Two-WH Example Responses from field testing

CHILD A (ID 12663)

Banana and a apple

Feet and her hands

Paper towels

A cake

bologna

CHILD B (ID 18221)

The dad ate the apple; the baby ate the nana.

She played the piano with her hands and the drums with her feet.

The TV teached her.

The grocery store lady

Other WH Example Responses

CHILD A (12663)

2 correct barriers, 2 barrier violations1 other

CHILD B (18221)

4 correct barriers1 middle question

Scores:

2 points (of 5) 4 points (of 5)

Double-WH Responses by Age and Dialect

Double-WH Comprehension

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average correct/ of 3

AAEMAE

Double-WH Responses by Age and Language Status

Double-WH Comprehension

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average Correct/ of 3

ImpairedTypical

LD False Clause Response Types by Age and Language Status

Long Distance Movement Complement with False Clause

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average Correct/ of 1

ImpairedTypical

WH Barrier Responses by Age and Dialect

Comprehension of WH Barriers

0

1

2

3

4

5

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average correct/ of 5

AAEMAE

WH Barrier Response Types by Age and Language Status

Comprehension of WH Barriers

0

1

2

3

4

5

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average Correct/ of 5

ImpairedTypical

Syntax Item Type 2: PASSIVE Comprehension

3 Question Types

•Simple passives Testing movement

•Complex passives Testing for hidden properties

(agents, results, different subjects)

•“By-phrases” Focus on “ed” versus “ing”

(use single cue)

Ex. 6: Simple Passive ExampleShow me: The elephant was pushed.

Passive Question Type 1: SIMPLE Passives

Does the child distinguish these two sentences?

Ex. Someone pushed the elephant.

The elephant was pushed.

Must choose

PASSIVE (b) over ACTIVE (a) or NEUTRAL (c )

Ex. 7: Complex Passive ExampleShow me: The boy’s face was being painted.

Passive Question Type 2: COMPLEX Passives

Does the child distinguish these two sentences?

Ex. The boy’s face was painted.

The boy’s face was being painted.

Must choose

BETWEEN TWO PASSIVES (b and c) according to implicit (unstated) information about ongoing time and different agent.

Passive Question Type 3: BY-PHRASE (non)-Passives

Does the child distinguish these two sentences?

Ex. The plant was droppED by John.

The plant was droppING by John.

(by-phrase indicates location, not agent)

Must use single cue to REJECT the passive when ED does not accompany the “be” auxiliary.

Ex. 8: Non-passive “ing” example“The plant was dropping by John”

Sample children’s responses

CHILD A (12663)

Simple passives 2 of 4 Complex: 1 of 4 Locative by-phrases

1 of 2 (doesn’t show mastery)

4 of 10 (chose 5 active foils)

(lowest 30% of 5-year-olds)

CHILD B (18221)

Simple passives 3 of 4 Complex: 2 of 4 Locative by-phrases

2 of 2 (indicates mastery)

7 of 10

Passive Overall

Passive Comprehension

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average Score /12

AAEMAE

Passive Overall

Passive Comprehension

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average Correct/ of 12

ImpairedTypical

COMPLEX Passives(especially good discrimination after age 5)

Complex Passives

1

2

3

4

5

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average Correct/ of 5

ImpairedTypical

ARTICLE Production: Making DISCOURSE CONNECTIONS

Subtle demands on child’s syntax and semantics

Engage context, presupposition and general knowledgeEssentially the same in AAE and MAEBest tested WITHOUT PICTURE STIMULI

which can change conditions on presuppositions, known and new

Examples of eliciting questions

Part-the: Sally was going to eat a banana, but first she had to take something off it. What did she take off it? (THE peel)

Familiar-the: A cat and a bird were sitting in a tree. They were friends. One of them flew out of the tree. Guess which. (THE bird)

Specific-a: I'll bet you have something hanging on the wall of your room at home. What is it? (A picture)

Non-referential-a: Fred wants to take his teddy bear, his favorite game, and his soccer ball over to his cousin’s house when he goes to visit. What can he put them all in? (A bag)

Predicational-a: Think of a baseball player. Can you imagine what one looks like? What does he have? (A glove)

WHAT CAN GO WRONG?Types of Article Errors

Using “a” for “the”; “the for a” (“a for the” 8 times more common) Bare Singular (“fly kite”) Irrelevant responses (“My sister has one.” “The

man in the moon.”)

Note: when children say “my doll” or “some games,” they are re-prompted with “anything else?”

Example of Article Errors from Sample Children

Child A (12663)

“a for the”

What did she take off [the banana]?

“a peel”

Child B (18221)

Bare singular

What do you have on the wall of your room? “spiderweb”

Development of correct article use in MAE and AAE speaking children.

Article Production

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average Score /8

AAEMAE

Development of correct article use in typically developing and language impaired children

(discrimination best at earlier ages)

Article Production

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average Score /8

IMPAIREDTYPICAL

Syntax Domain Overall

Syntax Domain Score

10

15

20

25

30

35

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average

AAEMAE

Syntax Domain Overall

Syntax Domain Score

10

15

20

25

30

35

4 5 6 7 8 9

Age

Average

LITD

Who are the sample children?

CHILD A (ID 12663)

5 years oldWhite FemaleFrom South

Parents w/ HS education

Mainstream English speaker

Not receiving speech or language services

CHILD B (ID 18221)

4 years oldAfrican American boyFrom “north Central” USParents w/ HS education

“Some difference” from MAE”

Not receiving speech or language services

What do the sample children show us?

CHILD A (12663)

Poor understanding

non-exhaustive answers,

“wrong clause” answers in wh-questions,

active for passive answers,

“a for the” article error.

CHILD B (18221)

Sound understanding of several complex grammatical structures.

paired, exhaustive responses,

respected wh-barriers,

demonstrated theory of mind (unusual for a 4-year-old),

sensitivity to a single cue in passives;

no “a for the” article errors.

What have they demonstrated?(con’t)

CHILD A (12663)

Syntax Domain Weakness(no non-MAE morpho-syntax)

Difficulty understanding questions, misinterpreting morphological cues, and at times not making the necessary links between sentences.

Risk for difficulty in the classroom and in learning to read.

CHILD B (18221)

Syntax Domain Strength(some non-MAE morpho-syntax: “teached her”; “she go”)

Well-set to begin school and literacy training.

Low risk for difficulty in school

Conclusions

We have shown that the assessment of complex aspects of children’s syntactic development between the ages of 4 and 9 can be carried out in a dialect neutral fashion.

These materials and procedures capture the development of several aspects of language that are vital for success in early schooling and the transition to literacy.

They provide the clinician with a substantial profile of the child language strengths and weaknesses, not just a diagnostic categorization.

As such they provide a much richer evaluation of language variation and its sources that has direct implications for areas and methods of intervention.