Training Grammar With Meaning
- Conditions
- Language Disorders in Children
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Enhanced Conversational Recast treatment
- Registration Number
- NCT06250101
- Lead Sponsor
- University of Arizona
- Brief Summary
This study will enroll children between the ages of 4 and 6 years of age who exhibit significant difficulty developing language skills without any other handicapping conditions. Children will receive standardized language, hearing, and cognitive testing to confirm a diagnosis of developmental language disorder. Children will be enrolled in a half-day summer camp program for six weeks during which they will receive treatment designed to improve their language skills. Children will be seen again approximately six weeks after the end of treatment to determine how much learning they have retained.
- Detailed Description
Children between 4 years, 0 months and 6 years 11 months are eligible. A diagnosis of developmental language disorders will be confirmed as normal nonverbal cognitive function, passing a pure-tone audiometric screening, and a test score consistent with developmental language disorder on a standardized language test, and parent report of no other diagnosed handicapping condition. Speech skills and vocabulary skills will be described via standardized testing.
Children enrolled in treatment are seen for up to 28 consecutive weekdays. The study starts with three days of baseline assessment of morpheme use for potential treatment targets. Two are selected for study, with one treated and one tracked over the course of treatment. Treatment is embedded in child-friendly activities like games, book reading, and craft activities. Children are prompted to use the treated morpheme in conversation. Immediately following this attempt, the treating clinician repeats the child's utterance, correcting any ungrammatical forms. Half of the children will also receive explanations of what the key words in sentences mean (e.g., to twirl means to turn around fast). Generalization to untreated contexts is assessed 2-3 times weekly. Retention of learning is measured about six weeks after the end of treatment.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- RECRUITING
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 24
Language scores consistent with a developmental language disorder nonverbal cognitive scores consistent with normal-range intellectual functioning
hearing loss Intellectual disability Other handicapping conditions
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Grammatical treatment excluding semantic support Enhanced Conversational Recast treatment Children receiving grammatical treatment will not receive any explanation concerning the meaning of verbs used to elicit grammatical forms. Grammar treatment including semantic support Enhanced Conversational Recast treatment Children receiving grammatical treatment will also receive a simple explanation concerning the meaning of verbs used to elicit grammatical forms.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in the use of treated grammatical forms in untreated contexts 2-3 days per week over 6 weeks Clinicians elicit ten uses of the trained grammatical form using toys, activities, and vocabulary with-held from treatment sessions. This is done in a conversational interaction between the clinician and child during play or stories using toys and is referred to as a 'generalization probe'. Change is assessed throughout the treatment period.
Retention of trained grammatical forms 2-3 days per week over 6 weeks Clinicians elicit ten uses of the trained grammatical form using toys, activities, and vocabulary with-held from treatment sessions . This is done in a conversational interaction between the clinician and child during play or stories using toys and is referred to as a 'generalization probe'.
Change in the use of grammatical forms in untreated contexts 2-3 days per week over 6 weeks Clinicians elicit ten uses of the untrained grammatical form using toys, activities, and vocabulary with-held from treatment sessions. This is done in a conversational interaction between the clinician and child during play or stories using toys and is referred to as a 'generalization probe'.. Change is assessed throughout the treatment period.
Retention of untrained grammatical forms 2-3 days per week over 6 weeks Clinicians elicit ten uses of the untrained grammatical form using toys, activities, and vocabulary with-held from treatment sessions. This is done in a conversational interaction between the clinician and child during play or stories using toys and is referred to as a 'retention probe'.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Spontaneous use of trained grammatical forms 5 days a week for six weeks The number of times over the course of treatment that children correctly use their treated form unprompted.
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
The University of Arizona
🇺🇸Tucson, Arizona, United States