A Comparison of Language Development in Persian and Persian-Turkish Speaking Preschoolers Using Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) as a Syntactic Measure

Malekiyan, Masoumeh; Jalilevand, Nahid

doi:10.30473/il.2023.62099.1503

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ M.A. in General Linguistics, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran

² Associate Professor of Speech Therapy, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30473/il.2023.62099.1503

Abstract

Mean length of utterance (MLU) is a measure of systematic assessing and describing of language development in children. This study aims to compare language development in Persian and Persian-Turkish Preschoolers by this syntactic measure in a descriptive-analytical method. To do so, 30 Persian and 30 Persian-Turkish preschoolers were selected from 3 age groups of 37-46, 47-56, and 57-66 months. After collecting language samples, data analysis was done by SPSS statistical software. Results show the high correlation between MLUm and MLUw. This supports Parker’s (2005) finding indicating that MLUm and MLUw can be effectively and interchangeably used to measure language development in children. On the other hand, there’s a significant difference between Persian and Persian-Turkish Preschoolers language development only at the age of 57-66 months, this is in line with the findings of some research such as Dahlgren et al. (2017) indicating the verbal performance superiority of monolingual children over their bilingual peers. The verbal performance of two language groups is the same at the earlier ages and they show similar language development with their age increasing.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Multilingualism

References

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[1]. Affective filter

[2]. S. Krashen

Journal of Sociolinguistics

A Comparison of Language Development in Persian and Persian-Turkish Speaking Preschoolers Using Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) as a Syntactic Measure

References

References

Volume 5, Issue 3 - Serial Number 19
July 2022
Pages 25-38

A Comparison of Language Development in Persian and Persian-Turkish Speaking Preschoolers Using Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) as a Syntactic Measure

References

References

Volume 5, Issue 3 - Serial Number 19July 2022Pages 25-38

Volume 5, Issue 3 - Serial Number 19
July 2022
Pages 25-38