LENA Pro Q & A

The LENA System is the world’s first automatic language collection and analysis tool for speech language professionals and parents. (LENA stands for language environment analysis.) A revolutionary tool, LENA provides real data on a child’s language environment, including estimations of Adult Words, Conversational Turns, Child Vocalizations, and TV and Electronic Sounds in a child’s natural language environment, and a breakdown of the composition of the Audio Environment. LENA also includes Automatic Vocalization Assessment (AVA) and LENA Developmental Snapshot assessments that measure expressive and receptive language skills.Read more about the LENA Reports here.

The LENA System is a tool for professionals, researchers, and speech language therapists to seamlessly gather child speech and language environment data by utilizing automatic processing abilities. LENA Research Foundation currently offers five products. LENA Pro, its flagship product, is intended for use by speech language professionals, pediatricians, and researchers. Two restricted-use versions of LENA Pro are offered: LENA Pro Graduate Student Version and LENA Pro Pilot Version. The LENA Language and Autism Screen is a service provided on a per use basis, giving autism at-risk scores, language developmental age, and a day view of the home language environment. LENA Home is for use by parents.

The LENA System allows you to easily collect and process home language environment data for children ages 2 months to 48 months.

The LENA System includes three main components: the LENA software, the LENA Digital Language Processor (DLP), and LENA Clothing. For help determining the number of DLPs or clothing items you need, please call 1.866.503.9918.

Recommendations for optimal processing:

We recommend a dedicated PC (newer business-class model less than two years old) with a higher performance processor and 4 GB memory. If you plan to keep the audio files and/or .wav files, we recommend 500 GB of hard disk space.

Minimum System Requirements:

• Operating System: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (Windows 7 SP 1 is still in testing)
• Memory: 512 MB or minimum requirement for operating system
• Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768
• Hard Disk Space: 10 GB of free space*
• Video Card: High-Color 32-bit 

We recommend a newer model PC or laptop (less than two years old). You can improve your audio file processing and performance with a faster processor and additional memory.

Depending on the audio environment (car rides, daycare, and a quiet nap all have differing audio qualities), each 12- to 16-hour audio file may take from 2 to 16 hours to process.

*Note: One 16-hour audio file = 500 MB

We currently do not support running LENA on a Mac.

Although LENA can run in a Windows partition on a Mac, we currently do not support this configuration or virtual machine configurations due to version dependencies, operating system compatibilities, and USB support issues within these other applications.

The pocket in the LENA Clothing is made from specific materials and provides secure and consistent placement of the LENA DLP. The special material is acoustically optimized to record a clear audio signal and to allow the software to analyze the audio based on pitch, distance, and other acoustic properties. Placement is critical to the identification of Key Child or Other children.

Yes. Volume discount pricing is available when multiple DLPs are ordered. The discounts are applicable on a per order basis.

• 1 to 4 DLPs (no discount)
• 5 to 9 DLPs (5% off)
• 10 to 19 DLPs (8% off)
• 20 to 39 DLPs (10% off)
• 40+ DLPs (12% off)

Absolutely. The LENA software automatically segments and identifies the audio source (e.g., Key Child, Adult Male, Adult Female, Other Child). And when used with Transcriber, free software from http://sourceforge.net/projects/trans/files/transcriber/1.5.1/ it can help you substantially reduce your transcription time. The reports act as a roadmap and allow you to see where there is activity, saving you from having to listen and wait for something to happen. If you're looking for specific content, the 5-minute view allows you to listen to the audio within the LENA software.

As a researcher, you have enough going on without worrying about your LENA Pro Software running smoothly. Should you run into a problem, our technical support team will work to get you back on track quickly. Protect and streamline your research with this invaluable support – and continue moving forward.
Features:
Technical Support

• Technical support is available by phone or email
  Free Software Updates, which include
  • Improvements and additions made to the normative database
  • Ongoing software development to help ensure that LENA will continue to run smoothly on your Microsoft operating system
  • Feature additions to reports and roll-over data
  Free Software Training
  • Live webinar training conducted by our professional development team

A year of Maintenance and Technical Support is included in the total price of the system. (Software and support can be billed separately. When separated, the cost of Maintenance and Technical Support is $800.) You're not required to purchase another year of maintenance and support after the first year. Not included: Software upgrades are not included in the maintenance and support package. An upgrade is defined as a major new release, such as moving from a LENA version 3.0 to version 4.0.

The LENA Digital Language Processor (DLP)is an unobtrusive recording device that weighs 2 ounces and captures up to 16 hours of audio. The DLP incorporates a powerful microprocessor with advanced compression and audio components similar to hearing aids costing over $1,000. To determine how many DLPs you will need, please complete our DLP Planning Toolor call 1.866.503.9918.

Yes. If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your LENA System you may return it within 30 days from the original purchase date for a full refund. All new DLPs are covered by a one-year warranty.

No. You cannot use the DLP kit by itself. The DLPs will only work with the LENA software and clothing.

TRS files are used with Transcriber software and CHA files are used with CLAN software. CLAN was developed as part of the CHILDES (Child Language Data Exchange System) project at Carnegie-Mellon University. To download a free copy of CLAN software, go to: http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/clan/ and select the download for your operating system. To download a free copy of Transcriber software, go to: http://sourceforge.net/projects/trans/files/transcriber/1.5.1/ and under “Parent Folder” select the download for your operating system.

Singing is detected as a human speaker (Adult Words) if it is a human’s voice singing, and not electronic music in the background. If two or more people are singing together then it will be detected as overlap. If the Key Child is singing then it will be included as Child Vocalizations.

The DLP fits into a pocket in the LENA Clothing, where it is in close proximity to the child’s mouth. This makes it possible for the DLP to detect child speech, even if it is a whisper. Quiet adult speech may or may not be picked up by the software, depending on the distance between adult and child. If the child is within arm's reach, whispers are more likely to be picked up by the software. If the child is across the room, whispers are unlikely to be picked up by the software.

It is not recommended. The DLP and LENA software are designed to distinguish natural language sounds from electronic sounds, such as existing audio recordings, and cannot accurately assess pre-recorded language environments.

The LENA System is designed to be used for an entire 12-hour to 16-hour day; all reported reliability information is based on 12-hour samples. Although it is likely that LENA will either miss some words or add extra words in any 5-minute segment, the reason LENA is so reliable for day-long recordings is due to the fact that erroneous word deletions and insertions cancel each other out over longer periods of time. A more detailed explanation of this process can be found in the “Reliability Over Time” section of LENA Research Foundation Technical Report LTR-05. This section indicates that short recordings (e.g., less than two hours) can show word count error rates as high as 25 percent. However, after two hours, the balance of insertions and deletions reduce the error rate to less than 5 percent. Thus, to reliably test the accuracy of the Adult Word Count measurement of the LENA System it is recommended that test recordings and transcriptions be at least two hours long.

No. The exported audio file will be segmented by speaker ID (see below), but will not provide the exact words spoken. Segmentation by speaker ID will reduce your transcription time by roughly 30 percent.

Speaker Identification refers to the source of the sound, such as Adult Female, Key Child or Noise. The DLP and software are able to recognize and process Speaker IDs and segment the audio into broad categories.

Vocalization activity block types are categorizations that denote who is active in the language environment. Examples include:

Key Child Only
Key Child with Adult Female/Male
Key Child with Other Child
Key Child with Other Child and Adult Female/Male
Adult Female Only
Adult Female with Key Child
Adult Female with Other Child
Adult Female with Key Child and Other Child
Adult Male Only
Adult Male with Key Child
Adult Male with Other Child
Adult Male with Key Child and Other Child
Other Child Only
Other Child with Key Child
Other Child with Adult Female/Male
Other Child with Key Child and Adult Female/Male (Turns)
Other Child with Key Child and Adult Female/Male (No Turns)
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LENA Research Foundation studies including normative, delay, and autism; and some research examples using LENA Pro. Our professional development team offers live webinar training. In addition, there is a series of web presentations that give a detailed overview of the LENA Pro software in addition to ADEX Training materials. The PowerPoint presentations, with notes, are available on http://www.lenafoundation.org/Resources/.

Yes. We have obtained regulatory certification to ship products to Australia and New Zealand, as well as countries in the European Union (EU). Please note that shipping rates and fees vary depending on shipping address. When submitting an order you will be assessed an estimated import fees deposit to cover anticipated taxes and duties; you will be credited the difference between the estimated and actual import fees once the actual import fees are paid. For more information on restrictions, privacy, returns and replacements, and customs issues, please click here to see our International Shipping Policy.