Clinical applications of recasting : review and theory

Abstract

Recasts have been shown to be successful in promoting the language development of normal children. A RECAST is a discourse adjustment through which basic semantic information is retained while syntactic structure is altered. Little research to date has addressed the power of recasts in advancing the development of specifically language-impaired children. The language-impaired child is believed to be delayed, but not deviant from the normal child, in acquiring language. For this reason, it is suggested that the same kind of linguistic input beneficial to normal children should be beneficial to language-impaired children. This paper includes a review of the literature on the effects of recasts on normal language acquisition. The rare event cognitive comparison model (Nelson, 1980;1987) is presented in an attempt to describe how a child might use recasts to help acquire language. Finally, a section on the potential use of recasts to aid in the development of language-impaired children is presented.

Environmental correlates of child copula verb growth

“…In recent years, studies of the facilitative effects of child-directed speech have been increasingly regarded as a valuable resource which can inform teaching and therapy (e.g. Watkins & Pemberton, 1987;Weistuch & Brown, 1987). In a recent publication, Bliss has suggested that' Question usage by individuals working with preschool children is likely to enhance their modal usage', and that 'Modals can be introduced into preschool curricula by recastings and frequent use of questions in order to enhance their usage' (Bliss, 1988: 260).…”

Using Parents to Foster Communicatively Impaired Children's Language Development

“…This research has often described parents of communicatively impaired children as more directive and controlling and less semantically contingent than parents of normal language learning children (see Chapter 5, McTear & Conti-Ramsden, 1992 for a review). Thus "parentrse" therapy has con-ccntrated on making parents less directive and controlling and more semantically contingent (Cross, 1984;Watkins & Pemberton, 1987;Weistuch & Byers Brown, 1987).…”

Evaluating intervention for language impaired children: a review of the literature

“…Imitation or production training is the technique most commonly associated with didactic teaching and modelling is the technique most often associated with the interactive approach. The latter has been developed to include expansion or recasting of the child's preceding utterance (Watkins & Pemberton, 1987;Nelson, 1991). Some attention has been paid recently to focused stimulation, a technique which requires more concentrated exposure to particular linguistic forms (Fey, Cleave, Long & Hughes, 1993;Girolametto, Pearce & Weitzman, in press).…”