1401: Analyze a Language Sample Using SALT Software
Comparing a Transcript to Database Samples
This exercise focuses on using the Database menu in SALT to analyze the sample transcript “Carter PGHW.slt”.
You will compare the target speaker’s performance to age and grade-matched peers selected from one of the
reference databases built into the software.
A. Start SALT with Carter’s Transcript
1. The SALT program begins with the Getting Started window. In this lesson you will be starting with one of
the sample transcripts. Click the Open button and you are presented with the Open dialogue box. Note
that selecting “Open” from this Getting Started window is the same as selecting File  Open.
2. Unless you changed the default transcript folder, the “SALT\Transcripts” folder located within your My
Documents folder is displayed. Open the Samples folder and then the Lesson Samples folder.
Note: if the default transcript folder has been changed, follow these steps to reset the transcript folder to the default
setting:
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



Click the Cancel button to close the “Open” dialogue box.
Setup  File locations  Transcripts. The current transcript folder is displayed.
Click the Reset button to reset the transcript folder to the default setting.
Click OK.
You are asked if you want to save the folder setting as the program default. If you select Yes, the previous
folder setting is lost. If you select No, the change is only in effect until you exit the SALT program. Select Yes or
No.
Select File  Open and repeat step 3 (above).

3. Select the transcript file Carter PGHW.slt from the “Lesson Samples” folder and then click the Open
button (or double click “Carter PGHW.slt”).
You should see the transcript “Carter PGHW.slt” displayed on the screen. The analysis set should be “C&I
Verbal Utts” and the transcript cut should be “Entire Transcript”.
B. About the Transcript
Carter is 8;1 and in the second grade. Carter is diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and ADHD. He has a
normal IQ according to neuro-psychological testing. He is receiving speech/language services for speech
articulation, which has improved his speech intelligibility. Carter also received therapy services as a
preschooler that focused on expressive/receptive language and social skills. He is being assessed for
language skills following teacher concerns with, and SLP observations of, difficulty with utterance
formulation in both speaking and writing. Carter was attentive to assessment tasks and followed directions
well throughout the evaluation.
A story retell narrative task was the best choice to assess Carter’s presenting language issues. It challenged
his word, utterance, and text-level proficiency. The skills required for the narrative also most closely mirror
the demands of the school curriculum. Carter listened to the story Pookins Gets Her Way (Lester, 1987), and
then retold the story using the book with the text covered, following SALT’s story retell protocol. He listened
carefully to the instructions and gave his best effort retelling the story. The results are considered to be
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representative of his oral language skills. It took Carter 5½ minutes to retell the story. His sample contained
480 words and 46 utterances.
Use the cursor keys or the scroll bar to look through the transcript. Notice that most of Carter’s utterances
are followed by a code beginning with SI, e.g., [SI-1], the result of scoring this transcript for the
Subordination Index (SI). Also notice that there are 7 plus-lines inserted at the end of this transcript with
labels and scores, e.g., + Introduction: 4, an indication that this transcript has also been scored using the
Narrative Scoring Scheme (NSS). SI and NSS scoring are not covered in this exercise; they are discussed in
courses specific to those evaluations.
C. Compare the transcript to the Narrative Story Retell database
1. Select the Standard Measures Report.

Select Database  Standard Measures Report.
Before SALT can generate this, or any, database report, you need to select the database samples to
use for the comparison. You are presented with the “Database Comparison Set” dialogue box. The
default database is Narrative Story Retell and the Subgroup is PGHW (Pookins Gets Her Way). This
database and subgroup were pre-selected based on the plus lines (+Context: NAR and +Subgroup:
PGHW) near the beginning of Carter’s transcript.

Click the Select Database button to view the list of available databases. Be sure that the reference
database is appropriate for your sample.

Carter’s language sample was elicited following the protocol for the Narrative Story Retell database.
Narrative Story Retell is the default narrative story retell database and should already be selected. If
not, select Narrative Story Retell from the list and then click Open. Otherwise click Cancel to close
the dialogue box without changing the selected database.
Notice the transcript information at the bottom of the dialogue box:
Carter PGHW (Child): CA = 8;1, Grade 2, Male, NAR (PGHW), 40 C&I Verbal Utts, 312 NTW, Time: 5:32
The transcript filename is “Carter PGHW”. The target speaker label, taken from the $ speaker line at
the beginning of the transcript, is “Child”; male, aged 8 years and 1 month. It is a 5-minute and 32
second sample containing 40 C&I Verbal Utts (complete and intelligible verbal utterances) and 312
NTW (number total words). The target speaker’s age, gender, and sampling context came from the
plus lines at the beginning of the transcript. These lines are automatically inserted when you fill in
the header information for new transcripts.

Click the Database Snapshot button for a description of the Narrative Story Retell database followed
by a summary of the database samples. Scroll to the bottom and notice that there are 101
participants in this database retelling PGHW, ranging in age from 7;0 to 8;11.

Press OK to close the database snapshot dialogue box.

Look at the criteria selections. If you have questions about any of the criteria selections, click the
Help button in this dialogue box for details.
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The Age match is set at plus or minus 6 months. Since Carter’s age is 8;1, the database participants
must be in the age range of 7;7 to 8;7 to be included during analyses.
The grade, gender, and parent education matches are not selected. The target speaker is the 1st
speaker (Carter). The comparison is based on the entire transcript (entire story).

Press OK to keep these selection criteria and you are presented with a list of matching comparison
sets to select from. In this case, there is only one with 82 participants.

Press OK to select this comparison set.
2. View the Standard Measures Report
The transcripts from these 82 participants are being analyzed. There may be a short delay before the
Standard Measures Report is displayed.
Notice the database information at the upper right-hand side of the report. There are 40 females and 42
males in the comparison set. The age range for the database participants is 7;7 to 8;7. Look at the
results. This report contains the same measures as the Standard Measures Report selected from the
Analyze menu. The difference is that, in this report, Carter's data is compared to samples selected from
the database. Notice that the child’s score and standard deviation are listed first, followed by the
database statistics for the selected database samples. The language measures which are preceded with
a pound sign (#) are based on the current analysis set (40 C&I Verbal Utts in Carter’s sample).The
remaining measures are based on all the utterances in the transcript (46 utterances in Carter’s sample).
Look at the TRANSCRIPT LENGTH values near the beginning of the report. Carter used slightly more
utterances, words, and time to retell this story than his age-matched peers. The next section,
SYNTAX/MORPHOLOGY, shows that his mean length of utterance (MLU) is slightly low. Now look at the
values in the SEMANTICS section. Notice that the Number Total Words (NTW) value is similar to the
database values while the Number Different Words (NDW), a measure of vocabulary diversity, is slightly
higher.
Compare the NTW value of 312 in the SEMANTICS section with the Total Completed Words value
of 480 in the TRANSCRIPT LENGTH section. Why the difference? Total Completed Words count all
the words in the transcript while NTW counts only those words in the main body (excludes mazes)
of the current analysis set (C&I Verbal Utts). Carter’s sample contains a lot of words in mazes, and
6 of his utterances were not in the current analysis set.
As you scroll through the standard measures, pay particular attention to those child values which are
highlighted and followed by either one or two asterisks. These values represent Carter's relative
strengths or weaknesses. A single asterisk flags those values which are between one and two standard
deviations from the database mean. Double asterisks flag those values which are two or more standard
deviations from the database mean. Notice the high maze values, high number of within-utterance
pauses, and high number of word-level error codes.
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If you have questions on any of these values, refer to the built-in help screen (
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If you want to print this or any other report, click the print icon
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or F1).
or select File  Print....
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
Similarly, if you would like to save this or any other report, click the save icon
or select File 
Save. The default save format is PDF. Saved reports cannot be reopened in SALT.
3. View the Maze Summary report.

Since 25% of Carter’s words are in mazes, it’s important to look at these mazes in more detail. To do
this, select Database  Maze Summary and the Maze Summary report is displayed.

The same database comparison set is used. Notice that Carter produced a large number of mazes
at the word and phrase levels. If you have questions about this or any other report, refer to the
built-in help screen (
or F1).
D. Change the Comparison Set
1. For practice, redefine the database comparison set and re-run the Standard Measures Report.

Select Database  Change Database Comparison Set and you are presented with the “Select
Comparison Set” dialogue box where you may change the database samples used for comparison.

Change the Age match to plus or minus 3 months by clicking the down arrow to the right of the 6
until you reach 3.

Check the Grade match to restrict the comparison set to participants in the 2nd grade. Notice the “2”
was automatically filled in to match the grade value taken from the +Grade plus line at the
beginning of the transcript.

Check the Gender match to restrict the comparison set to males only. Notice the “M” was
automatically filled in to match the gender value of the transcript (+Gender plus line).

Click OK to keep this selection criteria and this time you are presented with fewer matching
database participants - 31 males in 2nd grade within 3 months of Carter’s age.

Press OK to select the 31 participants and you are directed to select analyses from the Database
menu. Click OK to continue.

Select Database Standard Measures. After a short delay, the report is displayed. Notice from the
database information at the top of the report that the age range is narrower and all participants are
male. Compare this report to the previous one.
2. Change the database comparison set to base the comparison on the same number of words.
You may want to look at measures such as number of mazes, pauses, omissions, and error codes when
the comparison is based on the same number of words, utterances, or time. All are valid methods of
equating Carter’s sample with the database samples. For this exercise, Carter’s sample will be equated
to samples in the database with the same number of words.

Select Database  Change Database Comparison Set.
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Change “Comparison based on” from “Entire transcript” to Same number of words. Keep Utterance
Base = Analysis set and Word Area = Main body. These setting will equate the transcripts on the
same NTW (number total words). Notice from the information at the bottom of this dialogue box
that Carter’s sample has 312 NTW.

Press OK to keep these selection criteria and you are presented with a list of matching comparison
sets to select from. The list contains the various combinations of number of participants - number of
words. Some of the matching database transcripts have fewer NTW than Carter's 312 NTW. You
need to decide whether it would be better to have more participants included in the comparison set
or more words included in the analyses.

As a rule of thumb, you should have at least 20 participants in the comparison set. The first option
has only 13 participants with the maximum number of words. The third option has 21 participants
with 261 words. If we select the third option, we would have 21 participants in the comparison set
but only the first 261 words of Carter’s sample and the database samples would be used. Recall that
we have restricted the comparison set to 2nd grade males. Let’s go back and change that.

Click Cancel to go back to the previous dialogue box.

Leave the Age match at plus or minus 3 months but uncheck the Grade match and uncheck the
Gender match.

Press OK to keep these selection criteria and you are presented with a new list of matching
comparison sets to select from.

For this exercise, you will maximize the NTW by selecting the first option, 26 participants - 312
words. Make sure the first option is highlighted and then press OK. The transcripts from these 26
participants will all be cut at the point of 312 NTW. If the 312th word occurs in the middle of an
utterance, all word-based measures are calculated to the point of the 312th word. All utterancebased measures are calculated up to the end of the utterance containing the 312th word.

When directed to select analyses from the Database menu, press OK to continue.
3. View the Standard Measures Report with the new comparison set.

Select Database  Standard Measures Report. The comparison data is generated from the 26
participants and, after a short delay, the Standard Measures Report is displayed.

Notice that the “Number Total Words” in the SEMANTICS section is 312 for both Carter and the 26
database participants.
Something to consider… Carter’s sample has the same “Number Total Words” (NTW) as the
database samples yet his “Total Completed Words” and “Elapsed Time” is much higher. Why?
The answer is most likely because NTW does not include maze words. Because of the high number
of mazes in Carter’s sample, it probably took a lot more total words and time to reach 312 NTW.
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4. Change the database comparison set to base comparison on same number of total words (NTW).
It might be informative to base the comparison on the total number of words (including maze words and
all utterances) and re-check the measures.

Select Database  Change Database Comparison Set.

Keep the “Comparison based on” as Same number of words but change the “Utterance Base” to
Total Utterances and the “Word Area” to Main body & Mazes. This will equate the transcripts on
the total number of words spoken.

Press OK to keep these selection criteria and you are presented with a list of matching comparison
sets to select from. To keep the comparison set containing at least 20 participants, you should
eliminate the first option since it has only 13 participants. The last option has 51 participants but
only 189 words. The best selection is one of the middle options.

Select the third option, 28 participants - 368 words. Make sure the third option is highlighted and
then press OK. The transcripts from these 28 participants will all be cut at the point of 368 total
words.

When directed to select analyses from the Database menu, press OK to continue.
5. View the Standard Measures Report with the new comparison set.

Select Database  Standard Measures Report. The comparison data is generated from the 28
participants and, after a short delay, the Standard Measures Report is displayed.

Notice that the “Total Completed Words” in the TRANSCRIPT LENGTH section is 368 for Carter and
an average of 361 for the 28 database participants. Why aren’t these equal since the comparison is
based on total words? The difference is subtle. Part words (words ending with an asterisk) are
included in the words when determining where the transcripts are cut but not included in “Total
Completed Words”. Parenthetical remarks (words within double parentheses) are not included in
the words when determining where the transcripts are cut but are included in “Total Completed
Words”. Carter’s sample contains 8 part words and 8 words in parentheticals within the 368 words
used for the cut.

Carter’s elapsed time, adjusted for the same number of words (main body and mazes) now matches
his peers’ elapsed times confirming that his mazing was the cause of the increased elapsed time in
the earlier report and is, therefore, not significant.
E. Change the Standard Deviation Interval
Recall that measures which are at least 1 standard deviation (SD) above or below the database mean are
highlighted and followed by one asterisk. Two asterisks are used to flag measures that are at least 2 SDs
from the mean. Suppose, for example, that you work for a school district that uses 1.5 SDs as significant. You
can change the SD interval so that measures that are at least 1.5 SDs above or below the mean are followed
by one asterisk and measures that are at least 3 SDs from the mean are followed by two asterisks.
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1. Change the SD setting.

Select Database  Change Standard Deviation Interval.

Change the SD from 1 to 1.5 and click OK.
2. View the Standard Measures Report with the new comparison set.

Select Database  Standard Measures Report. Notice that only those measures which are at least
1.5 SD from the database mean are highlighted and followed by one asterisk; measures at least 3 SD
are followed by two asterisks. The actual values are not affected.
F. Exit the Program.

Select File  Exit or click the X in the upper right-hand corner.
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