The feasibility of morphosyntax therapy in young children with SLI

Abstract

Background: In previous research different outcomes were found for the effect of morphosyntax therapy in children. One possible effective therapy could be Language in Interactive Therapy (LIT), which combines therapy aspects like modelling, recasting and imitation that are investigated. Research questions: Is there a significant difference in morphosyntax development as measured by sentence repetition and sentence understanding during LIT and care as usual in young children with SLI? How do SLTs experience the feasibility of LIT using a protocol? How do parents experience the feasibility of the homework assignments based on LIT? What are the characteristics and dosage of care as usual in special needs education in young children with SLI? Method: This study investigated the feasibility of LIT. Children (4;0 – 5;11) with a SLI in combination with a morphosyntactic impairment were included. The effectiveness was measured with the CELF-2-NL preschool. The experiences of the SLTs were investigated in a survey. Thereby the parents filled in an online questionnaire to investigated the feasibility of the homework assignments. Finally, an analysis of the care as usual was made. Results: A significant positive difference was found in the subtest sentence repetition during the period of LIT. The SLTs found the preparation time too high and the goal sentence structure not always set on the right level. Four parents filled in the online questionnaire. All parents that filled in the questionnaire did the assignments more than two times during the LIT period. The care as usual mostly combines two or three goals which included morphosyntax, most materials used were two dimensional. Conclusion: LIT is a possible effective method for morphosyntax therapy in young children with a specific language impairment in combination with an impairment in morphosyntax. Recommendations: Larger intervention period with more children included, an analysis of the development in spontaneous language.