Surface structure complexity, transformational sentence type and sentence length were investigated as variables in a sentence imitation task with pre-school children. Sentences were varied on Yngve depth (High-Low), transformational sentence type (active, negative, wh- question and passive) and sentence length (5-9 words). Sentence length was found to affect sentence imitation in a consistent manner. As sentence length increased, correct imitation decreased. There was an interaction between Yngve depth and transformational sentence type.
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