Amy Pratt

The ‘robustness’ of vocabulary intervention in the public schools: targets and techniques employed in speech–language therapy

This study examined vocabulary intervention-in terms of targets and techniques-for children with language impairment receiving speech-language therapy in public schools (i.e., non-fee-paying schools) in the United States. Vocabulary treatments and targets were examined with respect to their alignment with the empirically validated practice of rich vocabulary intervention. Participants were forty-eight 5-7-year-old children participating in kindergarten or the first-grade year of school, all of whom had vocabulary-specific goals on their individualized education programmes. Two therapy sessions per child were coded to determine what vocabulary words were being directly targeted and what techniques were used for each. Study findings showed that the majority of words directly targeted during therapy were lower-level basic vocabulary words (87%) and very few (1%) were academically relevant. On average, three techniques were used per word to promote deep understanding. Interpreting findings against empirical descriptions of rich vocabulary intervention indicates that children were exposed to some but not all aspects of this empirically supported practice.

Impacts of parent‐implemented early‐literacy intervention for Spanish‐speaking children with language impairment

BACKGROUND Children with language impairment (LI) often have lags in development of print knowledge, an important early-literacy skill. This study explores impacts of a print-focused intervention for Spanish-speaking children with LI in Southeastern Mexico. AIMS Aims were twofold. First, we sought to describe the print knowledge (print-concept knowledge, alphabet knowledge) of Spanish-speaking children with LI. Second, we determined the extent to which print-referencing intervention delivered by childrens parents could improve print knowledge. METHODS & PROCEDURES Using a pre-test-post-test delayed treatment research design, 13 parent-child dyads were assigned to an intervention (n = 8) versus control (n = 5) condition. Children were drawn from a speech-language clinic and all were receiving services for LI. Caregivers in the intervention group implemented an 8-week home-reading programme following a systematic scope and sequence for improving childrens print knowledge. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Children showed individual differences in their print knowledge based on three baseline measures examining print-concept knowledge, alphabet knowledge and letter-sound knowledge. Those whose caregivers implemented the 8-week programme showed statistically and practically significant gains on two of the three measures over the intervention period. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS The results presented here may stimulate future research on the print knowledge of Spanish-speaking children with LI. Sources of individual differences are important to determine. Caregivers may use the intervention presented here as a potential avenue for improving childrens print knowledge.