An analysis of the content of oral language patterns of children

112 Pages·2009·3.9 MB·English

AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT OF ORAL
LANGUAGE PATTEI\[nJS OF CHILDREN
By
SHIRLEY R. PINE
J.
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNQL OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
1970

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pa^e
LIST OF TABLES v
LIST OF FIGURES vi
ABSTRACT vli
CHAPTER
I PUPvPOSE AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 1
Purpose., 1
Review of the Literature 2
II PROCEDURE 18
Subjects. 19
Experimental Procedure. 22
Data Analysis. 27
III RESULTS 37
Analysis of Group I Subjects Comparing
Condition A and Condition B 38
Analysis of Group II Subjects Comparing
Condition A and Condition B 42
Analysis of Group I and Group II Subjects
Under Condition A 45
Analysis of Group I and Group II Subjects
Under Condition B 48
Concept Index Score. 48
ill
Leftover Words Not Processed,,,, ,, 55
Summary ,,,,, 57
,
IV DISCUSSION 58
Discussion of Results of Analyses as a
Function of Setting 59
Discussion of Results of Analyses as a
Function of Age,.,,., 68
, ,
Dictionary Revision , 72
Implications for Research ,,,,,, 74
V SUMMARY 79
APPENDICES
A LETTERS SENT TO ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF OF
SCHOOLS AND TO PARENTS CONCERNING THE
INVESTIGATION 83
B EXCERPTS FROM TWO TRANSCRIPTIONS AND EXAMPLES
OF PROCEDURES FOR TYPING, SEGMENTING AND
EDITING SPEECH SAMPLES 87
BIBLIOGRAPHY , 94
BIOGRAPHICAL SICETCH,.., 99
Iv
LIST OF TABLES
Table Pap;e
!• Agos and intelligcsnce scores for
individual subjects in Group I and Group
II, The intelligence test was Peabody
Picture Vocabulary Tost 20
2, Harvard III Psychoses:olop;ical Dictionary
content analysis categories. Examples of
entry words used by subjects in this
Investigation are given within parentheses
following each category,..,,...., ,,. 29
3, Summary of statistical analysis between
Condition A and Condition B, Group I
subjects, U o 55; p » 0.05,,,. 39
4, Sunnneiry of statistical analysis between
Condition A and Condition B, Group II
subjects, U » 55; p e 0,05 43
5, Summary of statistical analysis bet^^een
Group I and Group II subjects. Condition A,
U » 55; p o 0.05... 46
6, Summary of statistical analysis between
Group I and Group II subjects. Condition B,
U - 55; p - 0,05 49
7, Summary of Concept Index Scores for
Experimental Condition A and Experimental
Condition B for Grovqj I and Group II subjects 51
8, Leftover list of words not entered in the
Harvard III Psvchosociolor^ical Dictionary
spoken by subjects in this investigation,,,., 56
9, Simunary table of statistically significant
differences between Condition A find Condition
B, Dependent variables are located in
column whore the mean frequency was greater,, 67
LIST OF rtGURES
Figure
1 Mean frequency of scores on 76 dependent
variables during Condition A and Condition
B for Group I subjects..... .».• ^0
2 Mean frequency of scores on 76 dependent
variables during Condition A and Condition
B for Group II subjects ...*.. 44
3 Mean frequency of scores on 76 dependent
variables for Group I and Group II subjects
during Condition A........**..^...««.* 47
4 Mean frequency of scores on 76 dependent
variables for Group I and Group II subjects
during Condition B...... SO
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Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the
Graduate Council of the University of Florida In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT
OF ORAL LA^JGUAGE PATTERNS
OF CHILDREN
By
Shirley J. R, Pine
August, 1970
Chairman: Dr. G, Paul Moore
Co-Chairman: Dr. E. C, Hutchinson
Major Department Speech
t
The language performance of a selected group of four-year-old
and seven-year-old children under two conditions was investigated
through a content analysis research design. Content is the denotative
meaning of objects, concepts and processes as symbollEed by verbal
utterances. A study of the content of language contributes data
concerning the referential dimension of speech. This investigation
utilizes a content analysis category system derived from psychological
and sociological theory in a study of the referential dimension of
child language.
To investigate the content of oral language as a function of
setting and age, the following procedures were carried out. Fourteen
pairs of siblings were selected from a population of four-year-old
and seven-year-old children. The two experimental stimulus conditions
were (1) a structured clinic setting and (2) a nonstructured home
setting. Under the first condition, the stimuli presented the
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subject were a series of Items from a children's projective test
and five magazine illustrations. For the second stimulus condition,
each subject wore a wireless microghone transmitter in his home.
The language performance of the subjects was recorded.
Speech samples consisting of 127 consecutive communication
units were entered on electronic data processing cards for analysis
through an automated system of content analysis. Objects, concepts
and processes represented in verbal expressions were reduced and
grouped into categories; the meaning of any word or group of words
was summarized by listing the category under which it occurred. The
dependent variables for this investigation were quantitative data
from the 76 categories of the Harvard III Psvchosociological
Dictionary. Objects are grouped into three major areast social,
cultural and natural events. Behavioral dimensions or psychological
processes include emotions, perceptions, thought processes and
evaluations, and Impersonal and social emotional actions, A third
set of categories is comprised of words used to modify or amplify
the meaning of nouns and verbs.
To assess how language performance changes as a function of
age and setting, each dependent variable was tested using the
Mann-Whltnev U statistic. There were content differences attribut-
able to setting.
The question of the relation between age and content was partially
resolved. Differences in the content of speech between subjects
four years of age and seven years of age were statistically
vill
significant for 19 of 76 dependent variables. Within the conditions
of this study, four-year-old children and seven-year-old children
have the same speech content in 57 categories.
For subjects, four years of age, 19 categories were found to
be statistically different, and for subjects, seven years of age,
30 categories were found to be statistically different between
settings, A more comprehensive sample of language was obtained
under a structured clinic setting with preselected stimuli. However,
this is not a representative example of typical verbal behavior.
Patterns of equivalent speech usage among varying conditions were
identified.
The Harvard III Psvchosoclologlcal Dictionary, modified to
meet the expressions of children, can be utilized as a tool to
study language performance. The usefulness of an automated system
of content analysis In efficiently and reliably handling large
amounts of data was demonstrated In this Investigation,
Content analysis Is a relevant procedure for the study of the
referential dimension of speech In young children.
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