Rationale: LARSP was one of the first clinical procedures for developmentally profiling children’s use of grammatical constructions in language samples, but its usefulness is constrained by the lack of normative data. The purpose of this study was to develop a preliminary set of norms for LARSP based on empirical data.

Methods: The cross-sectional database consisted of conversational samples of 152 children from the US and UK between 24 and 48 months of age (50% girls). Twenty-minute audio recordings were made of parent-child interactions involving play with toys. Transcription and grammatical coding were done blindly (without knowledge of the child’s age or developmental status); grammatical analysis was based on standard LARSP procedures.

Results: Descriptive statistics (M, SD, 95% CI) for each grammatical category on the profile chart are presented, in addition to the age at which constructions were used by 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% of the children.

Conclusions: The clinical uses and limitations of the data-based profile chart are discussed as is future development of the database.

Funding Source: Nuffield Foundation (UK)