Syntactic complexity analysis

We want to use the Part II. Sentences section to assess if the syntactic skills of VI kids are are on-par or more advanced than productive-vocabulary-matched TD kids. The analysis will have three scores:

1. Score from multiple choice answers

2. MLU from provided example sentences

3. Syntactic feature analysis of example sentences

Multiple choice scoring schematic

MLU and syntactic feature analysis

We will put all the example sentences provided into this spreadsheet, and hide the subject numbers so coders can be blind (yikes, what a pun, @ science let's update our terminology) to the vision status of each child.

We will the count the # of morphemes for example utterance, and additionally tag it for the following features:

• Overt DO (transitive)

• Postverbal preposition or particle

• Intransitive without PP

• has PP

• embedded clause

• topicalization

• pronouns

• number agreement

• past tense

• 1/2/3 person agreement

• WH

  • WH subject gap

  • WH object gap

  • WH adjunct

  • WH prepositional object gap

  • Embedded WH

  • WH in situ

• Polar question

• Passive

• RC

  • RC subject gap

  • RC object gap

  • RC adjunct

  • RC Prepositional object gap

  • Reduced Relative

  • resumptive/filled gap

• Other Finite clause

• Nonfinite clause (without dominant clause)

• Imperative

We then need to assign each of these a point value!

2 syntactic coders should tackle this separately, the come together for reliability & agreement