TABLE 3.
Proposed concepts and terms relating to speech, language, and communication that can be measured directly from spontaneous utterances
| Term or concept | Definition | Potential units of measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Phonological system 24 | The set of sounds (phonemes) and the rules necessary to combine sounds into words | Articulatory precision ratings; number of phonological paraphasias 25 |
| Lexical diversity 26 , 27 | The variety of word forms used in language production | Type‐token ratio: unique words to total words |
| Semantic system 24 , 27 | The concepts that word forms represent | Open class vs. closed class words; correct information units |
| Morphologic system 28 | The rule system that mediates assembling word forms from the basic elements of meaning (morphemes) | Mean length of utterance based on morphological analysis |
| Syntactic system 25 , 29 | The set of rules that govern ordering words into sentences | Syntactic complexity based on number of clauses, verbs and verb forms |
| Speech fluency 25 , 27 , 29 | The rate, rhythm, and ease with which speech is produced in context | Words per minute; filled and unfilled pauses, repetitions, revisions |
| Pragmatic language system 26 , 28 | The system of rules and knowledge regarding use and interpretation of language in social settings. | Number and type of speech acts (greeting, requesting), number of conversational turns, eye contact, use of conversational repair strategies; prosodic features |
| Cohesion 30 | The linguistic means by which words and sentences are meaningfully linked to each other within discourse | Number of cohesive ties per utterance (e.g., pronouns, conjunctives, reiterations) |
| Global coherence 31 , 32 | The organization and structure of spoken language that conveys the overall meaning of the message, either at the utterance level or at the level of the entire discourse sample. How words and utterances together create a unified whole | 4‐point Global Coherence Scale, rating scales of verbal and nonverbal devices |
| Local coherence 32 | Macrolinguistic skill that reflects the extent to which each utterance is conceptually linked to the previous one | Local coherence rating scales |
| Relevance 33 | Words or communicative actions that are intelligible in context, accurate in relation to the topic, and related to and informative about the content of the topic | Speech connectedness to situation, topic, or informant |