Table 2.

Developmental level scale.

Score	Description	Examples
0	Simple sentences, including questions; sentences with auxiliaries; simple elliptical sentences	“I'm not taking a bath.”
1	Infinitive or –ing complement with the same subject as the main clause	“And the boy is going to give the bunny a carrot.”
2	Conjoined noun phrases in subject position; sentences conjoined with a coordinating conjunction; conjoined verbal, adjectival, or adverbial constructions	“The mom came over and grabbed the bunny and went home.”
3	Relative clause modifying the object of the main verb; nominalization in object position; finite clause as object of the main verb; subject extraposition; raising	“And (some) some are not happy that the bunny is so sneaky.”
4	Nonfinite complement with its own understood subject; comparative with object of comparison	“I saw him walking the dog.”
5	Sentences joined by a subordinating conjunction; nonfinite clauses in adjust positions	“And ask the teacher if I could feed the bunny some carrots.”
6	Relative clause modifying the subject of the main verb; embedded clause/nominalization serving as the subject of the main verb	“Because the ones who are afraid are surprised.”
7	More than one level of embedding in a single sentence	“It is because the teacher told her that there was a bunny.”

Note. The developmental level scale was based on Covington et al. (2006). Examples are from current study data, except no. 4 for which there were no data examples.