Tense and Agreement in the Speech of Children With Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

Thirty-one children with specific language impairment participated in 48 intervention sessions designed to assist them in the use of 3rd-person singular -s or auxiliary is/are/was. Gains in the use of these target forms were significantly greater than gains on developmentally comparable morphemes serving as control forms. Untreated verb forms that mark both tense and agreement showed greater change during the intervention period than did past -ed. The findings suggest that by gaining skill in the use of morphemes that mark both tense and agreement, the children were able to identify and acquire other morphemes in the language that mark both of these features. This increase in sensitivity did not appear to apply to forms in the language that express tense only.

Dose Schedule and Enhanced Conversational Recast Treatment for Children With Specific Language Impairment

“…Cleave, Becker, Curran, Van Horne, & Fey, 2015). Several treatment studies reported in the language intervention literature provide evidence that supports the basic efficacy of conversational recast treatment for targeting morphosyntax in preschool-age children (e.g., Camarata & Nelson, 1992;Camarata, Nelson, & Camarata, 1994;Leonard, Camarata, Brown, & Camarata, 2004;Leonard, Camarata, Pawlowska, Brown, & Camarata, 2006;Nelson, Camarata, Welsh, Butkovsky, & Camarata, 1996). Conversational recast is a promising treatment that may be improved to further increase the efficacy or efficiency of the procedure.…”

The Acquisition of Tense and Agreement Morphemes by Children With Specific Language Impairment During Intervention: Phase 3

“…In the first study (Leonard et al, 2004), it was observed that after 48 intervention sessions, both the 3S and AUX children made significantly greater gains in the use of their respective target morphemes than on the other morphemes being monitored. In addition, each group showed greater use of both third singular -s and auxiliary is/are/was than another tenserelated morpheme being monitored, past tense -ed.…”

“…The first two phases were presented in this Journal by Leonard, Camarata, Brown, and Camarata (2004) and Leonard, Camarata, Pawłowska, Brown, and Camarata (2006).…”

“…In the previous studies (Leonard et al, 2004;Leonard et al, 2006), children with SLI aged 3 to 4 years participated in one of two treatment conditions. One condition focused on the target morpheme third person singular -s; the other condition centered on the target morphemes auxiliary is/are/was.…”

Feasibility of a Recasting and Auditory Bombardment Treatment With Young Cochlear Implant Users

“…The children in their studies made greater gains in use of the grammatical target after 10 months of treatment than the children who received treatment for 5 months. In addition, Leonard, Camarata, Brown, and Camarata (2004) and Leonard et al (2006) used conversational recast treatment for a total of 48 sessions over 3 months, and then continued to a total of 96 intervention sessions over 6 months. Children showed modest gains after 3 months but continued to improve with additional time.…”