Mean length of utterance (MLU) is a measure of linguistic productivity. To put it very simply, the longer the utterance is, the higher the level of language proficiency. SLPs measure the length of utterance not only in terms of how many words a child uses in an utterance, but in terms of how many morphemes (units of language) are in an utterance. For example, "dog" is counted as one unit of language and "dogs" is counted as two units of language due to the use of the plural. As children get older, their MLU increases which indicates a higher ability to learn and use grammar/complex language.
One way to increase mean length of utterance is by adding descriptors to your speech. For example, if you and your child see a dog, describe what you see: "I see a dog. I see a brown dog. I see a big, brown dog." Each sentence uses an additional description, which makes the sentences more complex. In this way, your child will be able to learn additional vocabulary, and more complex sentence structures which will increase her mean length of utterance.
Another method is called expansion, whereby your child will say a sentence, and you expand on it. So, your child may say, "Dog!" and then you will say, "Big dog," or "I see a big dog."
An additional method is to prompt your child to include more information. If she says, "Dog!" then ask her what kind of dog she sees ("Big dog.").
One place to practice description and expansion is in Oakland. There are many statues there that children find interesting because of their size and the fact that children can get up close and personal to them. I recommend using carrier phrases, which is a fancy term for a phrase in which the first few words stay the same and only the last word or words change. An example of a carrier phrase is, "I see a ..." and "There is a ..." These are helpful because the repetition lets the child practice a sentence over and over; it also serves to highlight differences in the phrase at the end of sentence since the beginning is always the same.
For example, the Pitt panther by University of Pittsburgh's student union:
Image retrieved from http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/ot/theuniversity.html.
"I see a panther. I see a big panther. I see a big, gold panther."
Dinosaur statue outside Carnegie Museum:
Image retrieved from http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2012/01/fossilized-cancer-tumor.html.
"I see a dinosaur. I see a long dinosaur. I see a tall, long dinosaur."
Galileo statue outside Carnegie Museum:
Image retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galileo_-_Carnegie_Museums_of_Pittsburgh_-_IMG_0820.jpg
"I see a man. I see a man sitting. I see a man sitting down."
Neptune statue at Phipps Conservatory:
Image retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/22739821@N07/5759904486/.
"I see a man. I see a man with a crown. I see a man with a crown and a beard."
Robert Burns statue at entrance to Schenley Park, on Phipps Conservatory grounds:
Image retrieved from http://fatherpitt.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/robert-burns-fans-heres-your-wallpaper/.
"I see a man. I see a man with a hat. I see a man with a hat and a coat."
Hygia statue at Phipps Conservatory:
Image retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/joncmu/9608755654/.
"I see a woman. I see a woman in a dress. I see a woman in a long dress."
Christopher Columbus monument by Phipps Conservatory/Carnegie Mellon University:
Image retrieved from http://abovebellefonte.blogspot.com/.
"I see a man. I see a man in a coat. I see a man in a long coat." Also, take a look at the base of the statue for more language opportunities: "I see a boat. I see a boat with sails. I see a boat with sails on the sea."
Allen George Newman statue by Pitt's Frick Fine Arts building:
Image retrieved from http://abovebellefonte.blogspot.com/2011/08/hiker.html.
"I see a man. I see a man with boots. I see a man with boots and a gun."
Bach statue at Carnegie Museum:
Image retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bach_-_Carnegie_Museums_of_Pittsburgh_-_IMG_0813.jpg.
"There is a man. There is a man with long hair. There is a man with long hair sitting down."
Stephen Foster statue at Schenley Plaza:
Image retrieved from http://www.flickriver.com/photos/tags/giuseppemoretti/interesting/.
"I see a man. I see a man playing music. I see a man playing music on the banjo."
George Westinghouse statue at Schenley Park:
Image retrieved from http://pittsburghparks.wordpress.com/tag/daniel-chester-french/.
"I see a man. I see a young man. I see a young man carrying books."
Dinosaur statue at Carnegie Museum:
Image retrieved from http://www.pghmurals.com/Alphabetasaurus-396.cfm.
"I see a dinosaur. I see a colorful dinosaur. I see a wide, colorful dinosaur."
Dossena statue at Pitt's Frick Fine Arts building:
Image retrieved from http://historicaldilettante.blogspot.com/2013_05_01_archive.html.
"I see an angel. I see a white angel. I see a white angel kneeling."
Here are some other pictures of statues in Oakland to inspire you:
Mary Schenley Memorial Fountain at Pitt's Frick Fine Arts building:
Image retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Schenley_Memorial_Fountain.
Light Up Sculpture at Pitt's quad (I know it's not a statue, but I couldn't resist posting!):
Image retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Up_%28sculpture%29.
Walking to the Sky sculpture at Carnegie Mellon University (another sculpture I couldn't resist):
Image retrieved from http://pghsculpture.com/.
Visit
http://pghsculpture.com/ for more shots of Pittsburgh statues and sculpture, it looks like it is worth visiting.
