Early Expressive language exposure is associated with child language acquisition and advantageous long-term developmental outcomes. The measurement of expressive language in a child’s immediate environment is critical to the early identification of children who are at risk of low expressive language exposure, such as children with language delays or disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A team of researchers, educators, and engineers developed Language ENvironmental AnalysisTM (LENA), a computerized language processing software, to ease the language sampling process. Recently, language acquisition researchers have proposed that LENA technology has greater application in clinical practice to collect naturalistic language acquisition data to inform educational services. Therefore, the present dissertation investigated the use of LENA technology in applied research, uses LENA technology to take naturalistic repeated measures in a clinical setting, and makes suggestions for clinical research (see Chapter 2, 3, and 4). Chapter 2 was a systematic literature review of the use of LENA technology in applied research to identify information on study methodology, LENA technology implementation, and the use of novel variables derived from LENA technology in applied research. The results showed that researchers are increasingly using LENA technology with more diverse populations and using more diverse LENA measures to measure the language environment. Specifically, the number of different languages, ethnicities, and abilities have increased in research using LENA technology to evaluate language environments. However future research needs to include better descriptions of procedural information, which is critical for an emerging body of research. Chapter 3 depicted the expressive language trajectories of preschool-aged children with ASD who are receiving Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI). Overall, the present investigation demonstrates that minimally verbal pre-school aged children with ASD demonstrate growth in expressive language trajectory in EIBI and that EIBI may be equally beneficial, in terms of expressive language growth, for children of all expressive language levels. The authors observed a waxing and waning of child language growth over the course of a year, consistent with prior research that highlights the importance of measuring individual child expressive language trajectories in research Finally, Chapter 4 introduced LENA technology as a behavioral observation measure to behavior analytic practitioners to improve the language environment of young children with ASD. Discussions of what LENA programs are available for behavior analytic use with young children with ASD, how practitioners can use LENA technology in behavior analytic services, and considerations for practical use of LENA in behavior analytic services. The authors provided examples throughout the paper to illustrate the use of LENA technology in behavior analytic practice to improve the language environments of young children with ASD.
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