MedPath

Treatment Targets in Spanish and English Bilingual Speech Intervention

Phase 1
Not yet recruiting
Conditions
Speech Sound Disorder
Interventions
Behavioral: Speech Intervention
Registration Number
NCT06416306
Lead Sponsor
Philip Combiths
Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn which speech treatment targets result in the greatest amount of speech learning in Spanish-English bilingual children with speech sound disorders. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Does linguistic complexity of the treatment target increase the amount of generalized learning within the treated language?

* Does linguistic complexity of the treatment target increase the amount of generalized speech across languages?

Researchers will compare intervention effects across treatment provided in English and Spanish to see if the effect differs according to the language of intervention.

Participants will:

* Attend between 12 and 18 45-minute speech intervention sessions in Spanish or English for up to 6 weeks

* Attend assessment visits before and after intervention

* Attend follow-up assessment visits 1 month and 2 months after intervention

Detailed Description

This study is a single-subject experimental design with staggered multiple baselines examining speech intervention for Spanish-English bilingual children with speech sound disorders. The study includes two arms based on the language of intervention (Spanish or English). Within each arm are two conditions that manipulate the linguistic complexity of the speech treatment target (simple consonant singleton or complex consonant cluster). Participants will be pseudo-randomly assigned to these arms and conditions.

The primary outcome is system-wide generalization; specifically, a) within-language and b) across-language generalization to untreated sounds. Accuracy data for the dependent variable will be derived from narrow phonetic transcription of participants' productions from speech probes in English and Spanish. The entire generalization probe is administered at each assessment visit (Pre, Post, and 1- and 2-Month Follow-Ups), and shorter subset probes targeting only monitored sounds are administered during Baselines and weekly during Treatment.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
16
Inclusion Criteria
  • Participants will be regularly exposed to English for at least 3 months in one of the following ways: a) an English-speaking caregiver or sibling who interacts with the child on a daily basis in English, b) attendance at an English-speaking daycare, preschool, or elementary school.
  • Caregivers will have reported concern with their child's speech development and/or reduced intelligibility on the Intelligibility in Context Scale in Spanish or English.
  • Participants will present with 5 or more consonants or clusters missing from their phonetic inventories in each language to confirm presence of a speech sound disorder and sufficient gaps in phonological knowledge to warrant treatment.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Participants receiving speech or language treatment elsewhere during their participation in this project.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Spanish Language InterventionSpeech InterventionTreatment will be conducted entirely in Spanish, targeting Spanish speech sounds. Treatment will follow a drill-play format.
English Language InterventionSpeech InterventionTreatment will be conducted entirely in English, targeting English speech sounds. Treatment will follow a drill-play format.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Comprehensive Probe or Monitored Sounds ProbeAt initial visit, 2-4 times across the 2 weeks prior to intervention, once per week during the 6-week intervention, within 1 week after intervention, 1 month after intervention, and 2 months after intervention

Accuracy data for the dependent variable will be derived from narrow phonetic transcription of participants' productions from speech generalization probes in English and Spanish. Both protocols elicit \~300 word productions and sample each singleton consonant and consonant cluster in the respective language a minimum of three times in every permissible word position. The entire generalization probe is administered at each assessment visit (Pre, Post, and 1- and 2-Month Follow-Ups), and shorter subset probes targeting only monitored sounds are administered during Baselines and weekly during Treatment. All transcriptions will be completed by research assistants unaware of the condition (simple or complex treatment target), arm of the study (English or Spanish language of intervention) or phase of the intervention study (Pre, Post, or Follow-up).

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Iowa

🇺🇸

Iowa City, Iowa, United States

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