Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Montclair State University, NJ.
Life Span Institute, The University of Kansas, Lawrence.
Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2020 Apr 7;51(2):205-225. doi: 10.1044/2019_LSHSS-19-00024.
Purpose The purpose of this narrative review was to examine the evidence for imitation training for targeting grammar in children with developmental language disorder. Method Studies investigating imitation training were compiled from two databases-PsycINFO and Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts-as well as from reference lists of several books and articles reviewing language therapy. Results Twenty-one studies were reviewed. We summarized the demographic and methodological characteristics of the included studies. We identified substantial differences in the implementation of imitation training across the studies and noted a lack of studies considering how those differences might affect therapy outcome. Studies showed a rapid increase in the production of grammatical targets during imitation training activities, higher performance relative to a control group that did not receive any therapy, and generalization to untrained exemplars. However, the studies did not unequivocally link the increased performance to the imitation training therapy. Studies also showed limited generalization to conversational speech. Conversationally based therapy resulted in faster or higher usage in conversational speech, while imitation training resulted in faster immediate gains in usage during therapy trials. Conclusion We believe that imitation training can continue to be a useful tool in a speech-language pathologist's toolbox, but with suggested modifications. Specifically, we suggest use of imitation training as a means for rapidly achieving production of previously absent grammatical targets. However, we do not recommend sole or long-term use of imitation training for working on grammar. Further research is needed to refine our use of the procedure.
目的 本叙述性评论旨在考察模仿训练在针对发展性语言障碍儿童语法方面的证据。
方法 从两个数据库（PsycINFO 和 Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts）以及几本书和综述语言治疗的文章的参考文献中编译了研究模仿训练的研究。
结果 综述了 21 项研究。我们总结了纳入研究的人口统计学和方法学特征。我们确定了研究中模仿训练实施方面的显著差异，并注意到缺乏考虑这些差异如何影响治疗结果的研究。研究表明，在模仿训练活动中，语法目标的产生迅速增加，相对于未接受任何治疗的对照组表现更好，并且可以泛化到未训练的范例。然而，这些研究并没有明确将表现的提高与模仿训练治疗联系起来。研究还表明，泛化到会话言语的能力有限。基于会话的治疗导致会话言语中更快或更高的使用，而模仿训练则导致治疗试验中更快的即时使用增益。
结论 我们认为模仿训练可以继续成为言语治疗师工具箱中的有用工具，但需要进行一些修改。具体来说，我们建议将模仿训练用作快速实现以前不存在的语法目标产生的手段。但是，我们不建议单独或长期使用模仿训练来处理语法。需要进一步的研究来完善我们对该程序的使用。
