mean length of utterance: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
C2Academic / Technical
Quick answer
What does “mean length of utterance” mean?
A measure used in child language acquisition research, calculated as the average number of morphemes (meaningful units) per utterance in a language sample.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A measure used in child language acquisition research, calculated as the average number of morphemes (meaningful units) per utterance in a language sample.
In psycholinguistics and clinical linguistics, MLU serves as a quantitative benchmark for assessing language development, syntactic complexity, and potential language disorders. It can be calculated using either words or morphemes as units.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in meaning or usage. The acronym 'MLU' is equally common in both varieties.
Connotations
Technical, clinical, research-oriented.
Frequency
Extremely low frequency outside academic journals, university courses, and clinical assessments.
Grammar
How to Use “mean length of utterance” in a Sentence
The researcher calculated the mean length of utterance for the three-year-old.MLU is a reliable indicator of syntactic development.Her study focused on MLU growth in bilingual children.Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “mean length of utterance” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The clinician will MLU the sample tomorrow.
- We need to MLU these transcripts before analysis.
American English
- She MLU'd the language samples as part of her thesis.
- The software automatically MLUs the recorded speech.
adjective
British English
- The MLU data showed significant progress.
- We reviewed the mean-length-of-utterance criteria.
American English
- Her MLU findings were published in the journal.
- A mean-length-of-utterance analysis was conducted.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Not applicable.
Academic
Primary context. Used in linguistics, psychology, education, and speech-language pathology research and teaching.
Everyday
Virtually never used.
Technical
The standard context for use, specifically in language assessment protocols and developmental research.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “mean length of utterance”
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “mean length of utterance”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “mean length of utterance”
- Using it to refer to the length of a single sentence.
- Confusing 'morphemes' with 'syllables' or 'words'.
- Pronouncing 'utterance' with stress on the second syllable (/ʌˈtɜːrəns/). Correct stress is on the first: /ˈʌt(ə)rəns/.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Traditionally, it is calculated in morphemes (e.g., 'walk-ed' = 2 morphemes). However, a word-based MLU is also used, especially for languages with less inflection or for faster screening. The method must be specified.
Roughly between 3.0 and 4.0 morphemes. However, this varies widely based on language, context, and individual difference. MLU norms are guidelines, not strict rules.
Its primary use is for assessing first language acquisition in young children. For adults or SLA, other measures of syntactic complexity (e.g., clauses per T-unit, dependency length) are more common and appropriate.
It can be insensitive to semantic complexity, pragmatic skill, and morphological structure of different languages. A high MLU from repetitive or formulaic speech does not necessarily indicate high syntactic sophistication.
A measure used in child language acquisition research, calculated as the average number of morphemes (meaningful units) per utterance in a language sample.
Mean length of utterance is usually academic / technical in register.
Mean length of utterance: in British English it is pronounced /miːn leŋθ əv ˈʌt(ə)rəns/, and in American English it is pronounced /min lɛŋθ əv ˈʌtərəns/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Mean Length of Utterance = Measuring Linguistic Units. Think of a ruler (length) measuring how many word-parts (morphemes) a child typically says in one go (utterance).
Conceptual Metaphor
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IS GROWTH IN LENGTH. MLU treats syntactic maturity as something that can be measured linearly, like height.
Practice
Quiz
What does MLU stand for?