Intervention for oral language comprehension skills in preschoolers with developmental language disorder

Abstract

Background There is a clear predominance of programmes aimed at improving aspects related to language production in pupils with developmental language disorder (DLD). However, programmes aimed at improving their receptive skills are limited. Aims The main aim was to assess the effectiveness of an intervention programme for oral language comprehension skills in preschoolers with typical development (TD) and pupils with DLD. Methods & Procedures Participants were 99 five‐year‐old pupils, with and without DLD, divided into four groups: two control groups (TD‐C = 25; DLD‐C = 25) and two experimental groups (TD‐T = 24; DLD‐T = 25), from schools on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The study used, as pre‐ and post‐measures, the receptive language subtests of the CELF‐4‐Spanish: Concepts and Following Directions, Word Classes—Receptive and Sentence Structure, as well as two tasks assessing comprehension of paragraphs and narratives. Due to the strong link between oral comprehension skills and executive functions, working memory and semantic fluency are included in this research. The Backward Digit Span subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC‐IV) and Semantic Fluency subtest of the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) were used to assess working memory and semantic fluency, respectively. The intervention programme followed a multitiered system of support (MTSS) model, with 95 sessions lasting 60 min each delivered jointly by teachers and speech and language therapists, and focused on lexical–semantic, morphological, syntactic and narrative skills; inferences; verbal working memory; and semantic fluency. Outcomes & Results The results showed, as expected, that pupils diagnosed with DLD initially performed worse on oral language comprehension and executive functions than pupils with TD. Further, the DLD‐T and TD‐T groups showed greater gains following the programme, especially in word classes—receptive, sentence structure, verbal working memory and semantic fluency. Finally, a significant positive correlation was found between the gains obtained by the participants in verbal working memory and semantic fluency, with the gains obtained in the three CELF‐4‐Spanish subtests. Conclusions & Implications An intervention programme applied at an early age fosters oral language comprehension skills and executive functions in pupils with DLD and TD. The intervention organized at different levels of support, following an MTSS model, showed clear progress of the DLD and TD groups in oral language comprehension and executive functions. What this paper adds Pupils with DLD present deficits in linguistic comprehension and executive functions. There are many intervention programs focused on improving language production skills. It is also necessary to consider the skills underlying language problems in pupils with DLD. Oral language, inference, working memory and semantic fluency activities improve comprehension. A collaborative and inclusive intervention of teachers and speech language therapists. Ps...

A Short and Engaging Adaptive Working Memory Intervention for Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Effects on Language and Working Memory

“…However, these reviews were mostly based on studies of children with TD [23][24][25][26][27]. In contrast, our findings add to more recent studies reporting far transfer to language performance, usually with children who have developmental conditions such as language difficulties [29,[35][36][37][38][39]. It is notable that the present study achieved these positive outcomes following training on just two executive working-memory tasks (one verbal and one visuospatial) administered in 18 sessions of around 10 min three times a week (total 3 h).…”

“…Delage et al [39] used the same Magic Memory intervention, reporting improved working memory in DLD and TD groups compared to active control groups immediately post-intervention, with additional far-transfer gains on sentence repetition and complex syntax in the DLD intervention group. Therefore, the findings reported since 2018 are not only promising support for working-memory interventions for children with DLD, but also suggest that children with DLD may gain more from working-memory interventions compared to individuals with TD [24,[34][35][36][38][39][40][41].…”

Screening for Speech and Language Delay and Disorders in Children 5 Years or Younger

“…Seventeen RCTs (18 articles) compared an intervention for speech and language delay or disorders with an inactive control (no treatment or wait-list control/delayed treatment) . Study characteristics are shown in eTable 11 in the Supplement.…”

“…Seventeen RCTs (18 articles) compared an intervention for speech and language delay or disorders with an inactive control (no treatment or wait-list control/delayed treatment). [42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59] Study characteristics are shown in eTable 11 in the Supplement. No studies enrolled children identified by routine screening in primary care.…”

Intelligence profiles and adaptive behaviors of high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and developmental speech and language disorders

“…One noteworthy finding from this study was that IQ scores of all the subtests and indices in WISC of DSLDs children were significantly lower than TD children and WMI was the most severe impaired index for DSLDs individuals. As far as we are concerned, few previous studies systemically explored the intelligence profile of children with DSLDs ( 34 , 35 ). Our study comprehensively displayed the cognitive characteristics of DSLDs, suggesting DSLDs affect multiple learning abilities at childhood and adolescence.…”