Table 2.
Morphosyntactic structures assessed by the Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test–Third Edition (SPELT-3; Dawson et al., 2003) and their corresponding Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn; Scarborough, 1990) item.
| Form | Test item on SPELT-3 | Corresponding IPSyn item |
|---|---|---|
| Prepositional phrase | 1,2,3,4 | V3: Prepositional phrase |
| Plural –s | 5,6,7 | N7: Plural |
| Progressive –ing | 8,13,15,17,18,19 | V7: Progressive –ing |
| Third-person singular –s | 9 | V10: Third-person singular –s |
| Future modal “will” | 10,12 | V9: Evident/past modal a |
| Past tense –ed | 11,16 | V12: Past –ed |
| Irregular past tense | 14,23 | V17: Other VP a |
| Past tense copula BE | 20,21,22 | V16: Past copula |
| Infinitive | 24,25 | S8: Infinitive |
| Infinitive (two subjects) | 26 | S17: Infinitive (two subjects) |
| Conjunction “and” | 27 | S12: Conjoined clause a |
| Conjunction “because” | 28 | S10: Adverbial conjunction a |
| Possessive 's | 29,30 | N3: Modifier a |
| Possessive pronoun | 31,32,33,34 | N3: Modifier a |
| Wh-clause | 35 | S13: Wh-clause |
| Participle | 36,37 | S18: Gerund |
| Negative | 38,39,49 | Q5N: N + not + V |
| Passive voice | 40 | S20: Other SS a |
| Reflexive pronoun | 41 | N2: Pronoun a |
| Y/N interrogative | 42,43,44 | Q8: Y/N question |
| Wh-question | 45,46,47 | Q9: Why/when/which, etc. |
| Direct/indirect object | 48 | S14: Bitransitive predicate |
| Copula BE | 50 | V4: Copula (present/past) |
| Propositional clause | 51 | S11: Propositional complement |
| Relative clause | 52 | S16: Relative clause |
| Embedded clause | 53 | S19: Fronted clause |
Note. VP = verb phrase; N = noun; V = verb; SS = sentence structure; Y/N = yes/no.
a
The SPELT-3 structure is not well matched to the IPSyn item (e.g., reflexive pronoun on the SPELT-3 was best matched with N2: Pronoun on the IPSyn, which also assesses personal pronouns such as “he” or “she”).