A profile of expressive inflectional morphology in early school-age children with developmental language disorder

Previous research has established that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have difficulties producing inflectional morphology, in particular, finiteness marking. However, other categories of inflectional morphology, such as possessive ‘s nominal inflection remain relatively unexplored. Analyses of the characteristics for marking inflection, such as allomorphic categories, may increase our understanding of patterns within disordered grammar to inform the design of interventions and target selection. Data from n = 30 early school-aged children (M = 75 months, SD = 3.38, range = 69–81 months) with DLD were analysed to develop a profile of inflectional morphology skills. Morphological categories included expressive regular past tense, third person singular, and possessive ‘s. Skills were profiled using an elicitation task. The relationships between expressive morphosyntax, and phonological short-term memory and working memory were also explored. Children demonstrated low accuracy in performance across all inflectional categories, including possessive ‘s. There were no significant differences between productions of different morphemes, but syllabic allomorphs ([əd]; [əz]) were produced with significantly lower accuracy than segmental allomorphs ([d], [t]; [z], [s]) across all morphological categories. All correlations between expressive morphosyntax and measures of memory were non-significant. Children with DLD show broad deficits in the ability to mark for inflection, including possessive ‘s; this has implications for theories explaining DLD. Findings may contribute to the design of urgently needed interventions for this clinical population

Evaluating two different dose frequencies and cumulative intervention intensities to improve past tense production for early school-aged children with developmental language disorder

Aims: This study compared two dose frequency conditions of an explicit intervention with 50 trials per session designed to improve past tense marking in early school-aged children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The influence of allomorphs on intervention effects was also examined. Methods: Data from previously conducted intervention studies were combined and analysed. Participants included nine children (mean age = 6;5 years) who received 20–30-min intervention sessions provided twice per week for 10 weeks (1000 trials; 400–600 min) and 20 children (mean age = 6;6) who received 20–30-min intervention sessions provided once per week for 10 weeks (500 trials; 200–300 min). Repeated measures included criterion-referenced probes for production of untrained past tense verbs collected throughout baseline, intervention, and maintenance phases. The rate of progress in each phase was analysed using logistic regression. The proportion of participants who produced past tense allomorphs correctly at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and maintenance testing points was analysed. Results: Logistic regression showed a stable baseline, highly significant progress during the intervention phase, and a marginally significant shallow decline during the maintenance phase. Those in the twice per week group showed a greater rate of progress during the intervention phase leading to significantly higher scores in the maintenance period when compared with the once per week group. The allomorphic category of past tense verbs did not appear to influence outcomes. Conclusions: Participants receiving intervention twice per week appeared to demonstrate a greater rate of progress with intervention than those receiving it once per week, although once per week was also effective. However, these results should be interpreted with caution. Limitations to study design indicate that a larger randomised controlled trial is required. All past tense allomorphs improve to a similar degree when treated with this intervention. What this paper adds: What is already known on the subject Understanding the parameters of dosage and intensity are important for clinical practice. Research evaluating the efficacy and/or effectiveness of interventions delivered in different dose/intensity conditions is scarce. There appears to be different interpretations of what constitutes dosage and intensity in published research. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This study retrospectively compared dosage and intensity conditions of intervention provided twice per week to intervention provided once per week. Both dose frequencies could be delivered in clinical settings. Results from this study were analysed by grouping data from multiple testing points, rather than comparing pre-post results. This approach demonstrated the variability of individual performance that would otherwise be lost with conventional methods of analysis. This study demonstrated that all past tense allomorphs improve to a similar degree when treated with this intervention. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Parameters of dosage and intensity are still not clearly defined well enough for translation to clinical practice. In consideration of current research, this intervention may be more effective if delivered twice per week. If clinicians are treating past tense, all allomorphs should be considered as priorities for intervention targets

A preliminary evaluation of a manualised intervention to improve early literacy skills in children with developmental language disorder

Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) commonly present with oral language weaknesses which disrupt the development of literacy and impede related academic progress. While there is evidence to support the delivery of manualised Tier 2 interventions with this population, little is known about the effects of Tier 1 interventions. A retrospective cohort comparison was used to evaluate whether there was an observable effect of a manualised Tier 1 intervention compared to ‘business-as-usual’ on early literacy skills for children with DLD. Participants were 140 children attending a specialised education program with equivalent oral language skills and alphabetic knowledge at baseline. After 18 months formal literacy intervention, both groups were assessed on measures of early literacy skills. The differences between group means on all measures favoured the manualised intervention group, and they performed significantly better on a measure of nonword reading fluency. The findings indicate that a manualised Tier 1 intervention may be advantageous for children with DLD in developing proficiency in phonological recoding. This research contributes to the sparse evidence-base supporting the implementation of Tier 1 interventions for at risk populations, and findings warrant future research using experimental designs with tighter controls

Combining implicit and explicit intervention approaches to target grammar in young children with Developmental Language Disorder

Children with Developmental Language Disorder are likely to experience difficulties with morphosyntax, especially regular past tense marking. Few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of intervention to improve morphosyntax in young school-aged children with DLD. This study investigated the efficacy of combined explicit and implicit intervention techniques delivered by a speech pathologist to improve receptive and expressive grammar, including the use of past tense morphosyntax, using a multiple baseline single case experimental design. Participants were aged six to seven years and received two 1:1 45 minute sessions per week for five weeks (total 7.5 hours) using Shape Coding intervention techniques combined with implicit approaches. Two of the three participants made statistically significant gains on standardized tests of general receptive and expressive grammar. Two of the three children made statistically significant improvement on measures of expressive morphosyntax, with one participant continuing to improve five weeks post treatment. Findings suggest that this approach was efficacious. These findings warrant further investigation using larger group comparison research studies

The effectiveness of individualized morphosyntactic target identification and explicit intervention using the SHAPE CPDING System for children with developmental language disorder and the impact of within-session dosage

PURPOSE: We investigated the effectiveness of a highly individualized morphosyntactic intervention using the SHAPE CODING™ system delivered at different dosages. METHOD: Eight children with developmental language disorder aged 8;0-10;10 (years;months) received 10 hr of explicit individualized intervention for morphosyntax delivered in 30-min individual sessions once per week for 20 weeks. Following at least four baseline probe tests, two grammatical targets per session received explicit instruction until they reached criterion (90%), when the next target was introduced. To control for session length and teaching episode density, either both targets received 20 teaching episodes per session or one target received 10 teaching episodes and the other 30. Maintenance testing of completed targets was also carried out. RESULTS: Scores on probe tests post-intervention were significantly higher than during the baseline phase (d = 1.6) with no change during the baseline or maintenance phases. However, progress during the intervention phase was highly significant. One participant showed significantly faster progress with intervention, while one (with the lowest attention score) made little progress. When considering progress relative to cumulative intervention sessions, progress was faster with 30 teaching episodes per session and slower with 10. However, when cumulative teaching episodes were used as the predictor, all three within-session dosages showed very similar rates of progress, with the odds of a correct response increasing by 3.9% for each teaching episode. The targets that were achieved required an average of 40-60 teaching episodes. CONCLUSIONS: With the exception of one participant, the individualized intervention was highly effective and efficient. Thus, the individualized target identification process and intervention method merit further research in a larger group of children. The cumulative number of teaching episodes per target provided across sessions appeared to be key. Thus, clinicians should aim for high teaching episode rates, particularly if the number of sessions is constrained. Otherwise, intervention scheduling can be flexible. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25996168

Accounting for Uncertainty in Ecological Analysis: The Strengths and Limitations of Hierarchical Statistical Modeling

Copyright by the Ecological Society of America.Analyses of ecological data should account for the uncertainty in the process(es) that generated the data. However, accounting for these uncertainties is a difficult task, since ecology is known for its complexity. Measurement and/or process errors are often the only sources of uncertainty modeled when addressing complex ecological problems, yet analyses should also account for uncertainty in sampling design, in model specification, in parameters governing the specified model, and in initial and boundary conditions. Only then can we be confident in the scientific inferences and forecasts made from an analysis. Probability and statistics provide a framework that accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty. Given the complexities of ecological studies, the hierarchical statistical model is an invaluable tool. This approach is not new in ecology, and there are many examples (both Bayesian and non-Bayesian) in the literature illustrating the benefits of this approach. In this article, we provide a baseline for concepts, notation, and methods, from which discussion on hierarchical statistical modeling in ecology can proceed. We have also planted some seeds for discussion and tried to show where the practical difficulties lie. Our thesis is that hierarchical statistical modeling is a powerful way of approaching ecological analysis in the presence of inevitable but quantifiable uncertainties, even if practical issues sometimes require pragmatic compromises

Impact of ventilation tube insertion on long-term language outcomes at 6 and 10 years of age : a prospective pregnancy cohort study

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : Data can be available by submitting an application to the Raine Study committee.OBJECTIVE : Investigating the impact of early childhood ventilation tube insertion (VTI) on long-term language outcomes. DESIGN : Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING : A total of 2900 pregnant women participated in the Raine Study between 1989 and 1991 in Western Australia, and 2868 children have been followed up. PARTICIPANTS : Based on parental reports, 314 children had a history of recurrent otitis media but did not undergo VTI (rOM group); another 94 received VTI (VTI group); while 1735 had no history of rOM (reference group) in the first 3 years of childhood. Children with data on outcomes and confounders were included in analyses of PPVT-R at ages 6 (n = 1567) and 10 years (n = 1313) and CELF-III at 10 years (n = 1410) (approximately 5% in the VTI group and 15% in the rOM group). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES : Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised edition and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals® Preschool-3. RESULTS : At 6 years, mean PPVT-R scores were significantly lower in the VTI group than the reference group (β = 3.3; 95% CI [ 6.5 to 0.04], p = .047). At 10 years, while the difference between the VTI and reference groups was less pronounced for PPVT-R scores, there was a small but consistent trend of lower measures, on average, across CELF-III scores (expressive: β = 3.4 [ 7.1 to 0.27], p = .069; receptive: β = 4.1 [ 7.9 to 0.34], p = .033; total: β = 3.9 [ 7.5 to 0.21], p = .038). There was no evidence to suggest that language outcomes in the rOM group differed from the reference group. CONCLUSION : Lower scores of language outcomes in school-aged children who received VTI in early childhood may suggest a long-term risk which should be considered alongside the potential benefits of VTI.The NHMRC, the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, Telethon Kids Institute, Women and Infants Research Foundation, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, The University of Notre Dame Australia and the Raine Medical Research Foundation. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Western Australia, as part of the Wiley - The University of Western Australia agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/coaam2024Speech-Language Pathology and AudiologySDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein