School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work, and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Moor House Research and Training Institute, Moor House School & College, Oxted, United Kingdom.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2021 Jan 14;64(1):91-104. doi: 10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00132. Epub 2020 Dec 17.
Purpose The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a theoretically motivated explicit intervention approach to improve regular past tense marking for early school-age children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Method Twenty-one children with DLD (ages 5;9-6;9 [years;months]) were included in a crossover randomized controlled trial (intervention, = 10; waiting control, = 11). Intervention included once-weekly sessions over 10 weeks using the SHAPE CODING system, in combination with a systematic cueing hierarchy to teach past tense marking. Once the first group completed intervention, the waiting control group crossed over to the intervention condition. The primary outcome was criterion-referenced measures of past tense marking with standardized measures of expressive and receptive grammar as the secondary outcome. Ancillary analyses on extension and behavioral control measures of morphosyntax were also conducted. Results There was a significant Time × Group interaction ( < .001) with a significant difference in pre-post intervention improvement in favor of the intervention group ( < .001, = 3.03). Further analysis once both groups had received the intervention revealed no improvement for either group on past tense production during the 5-week pre-intervention period, significant improvement pre-post intervention ( < 001, = 1.22), with gains maintained for 5 weeks postintervention. No significant differences were found on pre- to postintervention standardized measures of grammar, or on extension or control measures. Conclusions The efficacy of the theoretically motivated explicit grammar intervention was demonstrated. Results contribute to the evidence base supporting this intervention to improve past tense production in early school-age children with DLD, suggesting it is a viable option for clinicians to select when treating morphosyntactic difficulties for this population. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13345202.
目的 本研究旨在评估一种基于理论的显性干预方法对提高有发育性语言障碍（DLD）的学龄早期儿童正确使用过去时态的效果。
方法 21 名 DLD 儿童（年龄 5；9-6；9[岁；月]）参与了一项交叉随机对照试验（干预组，n=10；等待对照组，n=11）。干预包括在 10 周内每周进行一次，使用 SHAPE CODING 系统，结合系统提示层次结构来教授过去时态标记。第一组完成干预后，等待对照组交叉至干预组。主要结果是过去时态标记的标准参照测量，以表达性和接受性语法的标准化测量作为次要结果。还对形态句法的扩展和行为控制测量进行了辅助分析。
结果 存在显著的时间×组交互作用（ <.001），干预组在干预前后的改善程度有显著差异（ <.001， = 3.03）。进一步分析两组都接受了干预后发现，两组在干预前 5 周的过去时态产生方面都没有改善，干预后有显著改善（ < 0.001， = 1.22），干预后 5 周仍有收益。语法的标准化测量在干预前后、扩展或控制测量方面均无显著差异。
结论 该理论驱动的显性语法干预方法是有效的。结果为支持该干预方法改善有 DLD 的学龄早期儿童过去时态产生的证据基础做出了贡献，表明这是临床医生为该人群治疗形态句法困难时可选择的可行方案。
