Grammatical treatment and specific language impairment: Neighbourhood density & third person singular –s

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of manipulating verb neighbourhood density in treatment targeting the third person singular lexical affix. Using a single-subject experimental design, 6 pre-schoolers with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1) treatment with sparse verbs or 2) treatment with dense verbs in 12 sessions. The third person singular lexical affix was targeted for 12 sessions of treatment in both conditions. Treatment gain and generalization were measured as the dependent variables. Third person singular % correct change from pre-treatment to post-treatment was measured using sentence production tasks with comparisons across the two treatment conditions. Treatment gain and generalization were greater for children enrolled in the sparse condition. Preliminary clinical recommendations are made and theoretical implications are discussed relative to neighbourhood density effects on lexical activation and storage in children with SLI.