A Preliminary Survey of SLP Students’ Language Sample Analysis Experiences

Purpose: Although practicing school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) report that most of their training in language sample analysis (LSA) comes during their educational program, SLP students’ experiences with LSA in their training program have not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to gather information on the LSA use, methods, and contexts in addition to perceived knowledge and skills of speech-language pathology undergraduate and graduate students. Method: Undergraduate and graduate students studying speech-language pathology responded to an invitation to complete an online survey related to LSA knowledge and experiences. Results: Results indicated that most students gain experience with LSA during their educational program. The conversational context was the most used by undergraduate and graduate students. While most students reported using mean length of utterance (MLU) other analysis measures varied widely. Students’ perceptions of their preparedness were correlated with their perceived knowledge of the collection, transcription, and analysis process. Conclusions: Continued examination of teaching practices and student experiences is needed to ensure that students are prepared to use evidence-based practice in real-world clinical experiences.