Pilot Evaluation of the Developed Syntactic-Semantic Visual Configuration Intervention for Children With Language Impairment
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 尚未招募
- 入组人数
- 20
- 主要终点
- Outcome 1: Change in Narrative Performance (MAIN)
研究概览
简要总结
This study will pilot a newly developed Syntactic-Semantic Visual Configuration Intervention (SSVCI) designed to help Urdu-speaking children with language impairment improve their ability to understand and produce phrases and sentences. The intervention was developed through extensive literature review, expert recommendations, and the structure of the Urdu language to ensure that it is appropriate for children in Pakistan.
Before pilot testing, experts in speech-language pathology and Urdu linguist according to the inclusion criteria reviewed the intervention material to evaluate whether the activities are relevant, culturally appropriate, and representative of the language skills being taught. Feedback from children and caregivers was also be used to in the first phase of need assessment, before the intervention material was finalized.
The pilot study will include 20 children aged 6 to 12 years, including 10 children with language impairment and 10 children with typical language development. Participants will be recruited from selected schools, hospitals, and special education centers in Islamabad. Children with language impairment conditions , with primary diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, or Down syndrome, provided they meet the study eligibility criteria will be included.
Participants will complete language assessments before taking part in the intervention activities. These assessments will measure language skills such as sentence formation, understanding of spoken language, and narrative abilities. Information collected during the pilot study will help researchers determine whether the intervention materials are clear, practical, culturally appropriate, and suitable for use in a larger clinical trial. Findings from this study will also be used to refine the intervention by identifying activities or items that require modification or removal before final implementation.
详细描述
Language impairment affects a child's ability to understand and use spoken language, particularly the development of phrases and sentences. Urdu-speaking children with conditions like autism, hearing impairment , down syndrome and cerebral palsy , often experience difficulties with syntactic and semantic language skills; however, there is currently no standardized, culturally appropriate intervention developed specifically for the Urdu language. The Syntactic-Semantic Visual Configuration Intervention (SSVCI) was developed to address this gap by providing a structured, visually supported language intervention based on the linguistic characteristics of Urdu.
The intervention was developed through a systematic review of evidence and literature on language intervention approaches, followed by the identification of foundational syntactic and semantic domains relevant to Urdu-speaking children. Intervention materials were designed , with reference to different domains using visual configuration cues to facilitate language comprehension and expression. Before pilot implementation, the content underwent expert review to evaluate its relevance, representativeness, technical quality, and cultural appropriateness. Feedback from SLPs and Urdu linguistic experts and representatives of the target population was incorporated to refine the intervention materials.
The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary clinical utility of the SSVCI in Urdu-speaking children with language impairment. The study will also determine whether the intervention procedures, session structure, assessment methods, and treatment materials are suitable for implementation in a larger clinical trial.
All enrolled participants will receive the SSVCI. This pilot study uses a single-group, quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design, and no control group or randomization will be used during this phase.
Participants will complete baseline language assessments before beginning the intervention. Following baseline assessment, participants will receive 16 individual therapy sessions, delivered by a qualified speech-language pathologist two to three times per week, with each session lasting approximately 30 minutes.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Na
- 干预模型
- Single Group
- 主要目的
- Treatment
- 盲法
- None
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 6 Years 至 12 Years（Child）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Both genders will be included
- •Children of age range 6-12 years.
- •Children whose primary Language is Urdu.
- •Children who have the concept of noun, verbs, adjectives and prepositional concepts.
- •Children who are unable to join them to form phrases and sentences.
- •Diagnosed cases of ASD, hearing impairments, Cerebral Palsy and Down syndrome.
排除标准
- •Children with any co morbid conditions.
- •Children with Behavioral issues.
- •Children with attention deficit hyper activity.
- •Hearing impaired children not using amplifying and assistive devices.
- •Children with impaired vision.
- •Children not able to perform on ICW level 1 and blank level
结局指标
主要结局
Outcome 1: Change in Narrative Performance (MAIN)
时间窗: Baseline and immediately after completion of the 16 intervention sessions (approximately 8 weeks).
Description: Narrative language performance will be assessed using the Urdu version of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN). At baseline and post-intervention, each participant will be presented with a standardized six-picture narrative sequence and will be asked to produce the corresponding story. Narrative production will be scored according to the standardized MAIN Urdu scoring criteria, including story structure and structural complexity. Narrative comprehension will be assessed using the standardized MAIN comprehension questions administered following the narrative task. For each participant, the MAIN narrative production score and narrative comprehension score will be calculated according to the instrument's predefined scoring criteria. Higher scores indicate better narrative production and/or comprehension performance. The outcome will be evaluated as the change in MAIN scores from baseline to immediately after completion of the intervention.
Outcome Measure 2 Title: Change in Mean Length of Utterance in Words Derived from the Narrative Language Sam
时间窗: Baseline and immediately after completion of the 16 intervention sessions (approximately 8 weeks).
Description Description: Mean Length of Utterance in words (MLU-w) will be calculated from each participant's recorded narrative language sample obtained during the story-production task at baseline and after completion of the intervention. The participant's narrative will be audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcript will be segmented into utterances using predefined language-sample segmentation rules. MLU-w will be calculated as: MLU-w = Total number of words produced ÷ Total number of utterances A separate MLU-w value will be calculated for each participant at baseline and post-intervention. The outcome will be the change in MLU-w from baseline to post-intervention, with a higher MLU-w indicating production of longer utterances and greater expressive syntactic complexity.
次要结局
未报告次要终点