“…A common TKBM, the dialect density measure (DDM), is a calculated ratio whereby the total number of NMAE forms identified in a sample is then divided by the total number of utterances / communication units (DDMu) or the total number of words (DDMw). DDMs seem to capture differences in the quantity of NMAE related to age or grade Horton-Ikard & Ellis Weismer, 2005), sampling contexts (Horton-Ikard & Miller, 2004;Washington, Craig, & Kushmaul, 1998), and even NMAE varieties (Oetting & McDonald, 2002). They also have been used with children from diverse economic backgrounds (Horton-Ikard & Miller, 2004;Washington & Craig, 1994) and across oral and literate contexts (Horton-Ikard & Pittman, 2010;Ivy & Masterson, 2012;Kohler et al, 2007;Thompson et al, 2004).…”