The CACTI Blog: Sweet or Salty? Comparing SUGAR and SALT Language Samples in Determining Developmental Language Disorder
By Michaela Hoyman, 2024-2025 Undergraduate Certificate in Developmental Disabilities
My name is Michaela Hoyman. I majored in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) at the University of Arizona. I chose SLHS because for as long as I can remember, I have loved talking, helping others, and science! SLHS combines these into one perfect major. Furthermore, I was a part of the Undergraduate Certificate in Developmental Disabilities program at the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities at the University of Arizona. I chose to become a part of this program because I wanted to grow my knowledge about this community and how I can best help them in my future career as a Speech Language Pathologist.
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a neurodevelopmental disability that makes it difficult to understand and use language in a way that cannot be explained by hearing loss, intellectual disabilities, or other conditions like autism. In the U of A’s Plante Lab, researchers need to accurately diagnose DLD in preschool children (4 and 5 years old). To rule out hearing loss, a pure tone hearing screening is conducted. To rule out cognitive impairment, the Nonverbal Scale of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, 2nd Edition (KABC-II) is used.
In the clinical setting, standardized tests such as the Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test–Third Edition (SPELT-3) and Test of Expressive Language (TEXL) are often used to identify DLD, but adding on a language sample can also help researchers understand how a child naturally speaks and communicates. The sample can be compared to samples of their peers without language difficulties.
I spent the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters researching and comparing two Language Sample Analysis (LSA) programs. LSA’s are a powerful way to test someone’s language skills, but not all methods are equal. Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) has been around for a very long time, and provides detailed and customizable metrics, yet it can be very time-consuming for busy clinicians. Sampling Utterances and Grammatical Analysis Revised (SUGAR) is made to be quick and fast, but it lacks the customization and detailed results. For the research part of my certificate at the Sonoran Center, I've been comparing these two methods to see if I can get the same results in their ability to accurately identify the participants as having a language problem, and if these results match up with SPELT-3 and TEXL findings.
This research is important to the disability community because many children with DLD go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, especially in early childhood, when they could use help the most. My research compared two widely used LSA’s, SUGAR and SALT, and determined which is better in supporting the diagnosis of language problems. This work also helped improve the way that clinicians test children’s language abilities. In the end, I came to think that SALT is better because it lines up better with the findings of the SPELT-3 and TEXL.
Through this project, I gained a much deeper understanding of how difficult it is to diagnose language disorders as well as the importance of balancing efficiency with accuracy. I learned the importance of both standardized test data and language samples to make informed clinical decisions. I also developed a strong appreciation for the hard work of clinical research, the value of detailed transcription, and the real-world considerations clinicians face when choosing testing tools. I have learned so much from doing this research, and it has given me a new understanding about the level of detail it takes to conduct LSA’s.
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