Approaching early grammatical intervention from a sentence-focused framework.

PURPOSE

In this response to Kamhi (2014), a sentence-focused framework is presented to help clinicians select treatment targets as part of a comprehensive approach to early grammatical intervention.

METHOD

The literature on the relationship between lexical verbs, sentence structure, and tense/agreement morphemes is reviewed, and developmental expectations are summarized for each.

CONCLUSION

Given that the sentence is the basic unit of grammar, the author concludes that early grammatical intervention should promote sentence development for young children at risk for language disorders. Recommendations for selecting and facilitating grammatical objectives in early childhood are provided.