T-unit
Encyclopedia
In linguistics
, the term T-unit was coined by Kellogg Hunt in 1965. It is defined as the "shortest grammatically allowable sentences into which (writing can be split) or minimally terminable unit." Often, but not always, a T-unit is a sentence
.
More technically, a T-unit is a dominant clause
and its dependent clauses: as Hunt said, it is "one main clause with all subordinate clauses attached to it" (Hunt 1965:20). T-units are often used in the analysis of written and spoken discourse
, such as in studies on errors in second language
writing. The number of error-free T-units may be counted, as in Robb et al. (1986), or changes in accuracy per T-unit over drafts of compositions may be measured (Sachs and Polio, 2007).
Young (1995) gives some examples of what a T-unit is and is not:
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, the term T-unit was coined by Kellogg Hunt in 1965. It is defined as the "shortest grammatically allowable sentences into which (writing can be split) or minimally terminable unit." Often, but not always, a T-unit is a sentence
Sentence (linguistics)
In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it...
.
More technically, a T-unit is a dominant clause
Clause
In grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. In some languages it may be a pair or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate, although in other languages in certain clauses the subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase,...
and its dependent clauses: as Hunt said, it is "one main clause with all subordinate clauses attached to it" (Hunt 1965:20). T-units are often used in the analysis of written and spoken discourse
Discourse
Discourse generally refers to "written or spoken communication". The following are three more specific definitions:...
, such as in studies on errors in second language
Second language
A second language or L2 is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue. Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas ....
writing. The number of error-free T-units may be counted, as in Robb et al. (1986), or changes in accuracy per T-unit over drafts of compositions may be measured (Sachs and Polio, 2007).
Young (1995) gives some examples of what a T-unit is and is not:
"The following elements were counted as one T-unit: a single clause, a matrix plus subordinate clause, two or more phrases in appositionAppositionApposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side, with one element serving to define or modify the other. When this device is used, the two elements are said to be in apposition...
, and fragments of clauses produced by ellipsisEllipsisEllipsis is a series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word, sentence or whole section from the original text being quoted. An ellipsis can also be used to indicate an unfinished thought or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence...
. Co-ordinate clauses were counted as two t-units. Elements not counted as t-units include back channel cues such as mhm and yeah, and discourse boundary markers such as okay, thanks or good. False starts were integrated into the following t-unit." (Young 1995:38)
External links
- Reading complexity judgments: Episode
- Foster, P., Tonkyn, A. and Wigglesworth, G. (2000). Measuring spoken language: a unit for all reasons Applied Linguistics 21/3:354-375.