What analysis should an SLP apply to gather the most useful information from a 3-year-old's play-based language sample?

Calculating the mean length of utterance in morphemes is particularly useful when analyzing a 3-year-old's play-based language sample because it provides insight into the child's linguistic development and the complexity of their utterances. By determining the mean length of utterance, the speech-language pathologist (SLP) can assess the child's ability to combine words and use grammatical structures, which are essential factors in language development at this age.

For young children, especially those around 3 years old, understanding their proficiency in using morphemes is critical since this can indicate their overall language capabilities. As children develop, there is typically a gradual increase in the mean length of utterance; hence, evaluating this can help identify if a child is developing typically or if there may be a delay requiring further intervention.

While analyzing other aspects of language, such as the percentage of correct consonants or types of "wh" questions, can be valuable in different contexts, they may not provide as comprehensive a view of language complexity and development as the mean length of utterance in morphemes does for a young child. Similarly, listing narrative cohesion markers, while helpful in understanding narrative skills, may not reflect the overall language ability as directly as measuring utterance length.