Training Grammar With Meaning

NCT06250101 | Completed Results

• 1 other identifier: DLD-Tx2
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 24
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study will enroll children between the ages of 4 and 6 years of age who exhibit significant difficulty developing language skills without any other handicapping conditions. Children will receive standardized language, hearing, and cognitive testing to confirm a diagnosis of developmental language disorder. Children will be enrolled in a half-day summer camp program for six weeks during which they will receive treatment designed to improve their language skills. Children will be seen again approximately six weeks after the end of treatment to determine how much learning they have retained.

Conditions

Language Disorders in Children

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Change in the Use of Treated Grammatical Forms in Untreated Contexts

  Clinicians elicit ten uses of the trained grammatical form using toys, activities, and vocabulary with-held from treatment sessions. This is done in a conversational interaction between the clinician and child during play or stories using toys and is referred to as a 'generalization probe'. Because children begin treatment with different levels of pretreatment use, measures like percent use at the end of treatment do not accurately reflect treatment effects. Instead, for each child, data from three generalization probes obtained over a week at the end of treatment are averaged. This average, minus the average of three consecutive pre-treatment probe sessions, divided by the standard deviation of the three end-treatment probes constitutes a Generalization d. This reflects for the amount of change each individual child showed from their pre-treatment baseline, in units of standard deviation. The Generalization d serves as the dependent measure for group statistical analysis.

  Three days over the course of the final week (week 5) of treatment

• Change in the Use of Untreated Grammatical Forms in Untreated Contexts

  Clinicians elicit ten uses of the trained grammatical form using toys, activities, and vocabulary with-held from treatment sessions. This is done in a conversational interaction between the clinician and child during play or stories using toys and is referred to as a 'generalization probe'. Because children begin treatment with different levels of pretreatment use, measures like percent use at the end of treatment do not accurately reflect treatment effects. Instead, for each child, data from three generalization probes obtained over a week at the end of treatment are averaged. This average, minus the average of three consecutive pre-treatment probe sessions, divided by the standard deviation of the three end-treatment probes constitutes a Generalization d. This reflects the amount of change each individual child showed from their pre-treatment baseline, in units of standard deviation. The Generalization d serves as the dependent measure for group statistical analysis.

  Three days over the course of the final week (week 5) of treatment

• Retention of Trained Grammatical Forms

  Clinicians elicit ten uses of the trained grammatical form using toys, activities, and vocabulary with-held from treatment sessions. This is done in a conversational interaction between the clinician and child during play or stories using toys and is referred to as a 'retention probe' when done, as here, after a period of no treatment. The dependent measure is the number correct out of 10 opportunities for use of the grammatical form.

  1 day, 1-2 months after the end of treatment

• Retention of Untrained Grammatical Forms

  Clinicians elicit ten uses of the trained grammatical form using toys, activities, and vocabulary with-held from treatment sessions. This is done in a conversational interaction between the clinician and child during play or stories using toys and is referred to as a 'retention probe' when done, as here, after a period of no treatment. The dependent measure is the number correct out of 10 opportunities for use of the grammatical form.

  1 day, 1-2 months from the end of treatment

Study Arms (2)

Grammar treatment including semantic support

EXPERIMENTAL

Children receiving grammatical treatment will also receive a simple explanation concerning the meaning of verbs used to elicit grammatical forms.

Behavioral: Enhanced Conversational Recast treatment

Grammatical treatment excluding semantic support

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Children receiving grammatical treatment will not receive any explanation concerning the meaning of verbs used to elicit grammatical forms.

Behavioral: Enhanced Conversational Recast treatment

Interventions

Enhanced Conversational Recast treatment BEHAVIORAL

In the context of child-friendly activities, the clinician prompts the child to attempt to use the grammatical form targeted in the treatment. The clinician immediately restates the child's attempt (i.e., the recast), correcting any ungrammatical elements. Clinicians elicit and recasts 24 utterances per session.

Grammar treatment including semantic support; Grammatical treatment excluding semantic support

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 48 Months - 83 Months
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Language scores consistent with a developmental language disorder nonverbal cognitive scores consistent with normal-range intellectual functioning

You may not qualify if:

• hearing loss Intellectual disability Other handicapping conditions

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Arizona: lead

Study Sites (1)

The University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona, 85721, United States

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Plante E, Ogilvie T, Vance R, Aguilar JM, Dailey NS, Meyers C, Lieser AM, Burton R. Variability in the language input to children enhances learning in a treatment context. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2014 Nov;23(4):530-45. doi: 10.1044/2014_AJSLP-13-0038.

  PMID: 24700145 BACKGROUND

• Meyers-Denman CN, Plante E. Dose Schedule and Enhanced Conversational Recast Treatment for Children With Specific Language Impairment. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2016 Oct 1;47(4):334-346. doi: 10.1044/2016_LSHSS-15-0064.

  PMID: 27701629 BACKGROUND

• Plante E, Mettler HM, Tucci A, Vance R. Maximizing Treatment Efficiency in Developmental Language Disorder: Positive Effects in Half the Time. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2019 Aug 9;28(3):1233-1247. doi: 10.1044/2019_AJSLP-18-0285. Epub 2019 Jul 25.

  PMID: 31343897 BACKGROUND

• Sweeney L, Plante E, Mettler HM, Hall J, Vance R. Less Versus More: The Effect of Recast Length in Treatment of Grammatical Errors. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2024 Jan 11;55(1):152-165. doi: 10.1044/2023_LSHSS-23-00049. Epub 2023 Dec 1.

  PMID: 38039976 BACKGROUND

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Elena Plante, PhD
• Organization: University of Arizona

eplante@arizona.edu

520-621-5080

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: CARE PROVIDER, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Caregivers are not informed of their child's treatment target until after treatment concludes. The clinician measuring retention of learning has not treated the children
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Model Details: Hybrid single subject/group design

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 23, 2024
• First Posted: February 8, 2024
• Study Start: June 17, 2024
• Primary Completion: August 30, 2025
• Study Completion: August 30, 2025
• Last Updated: April 2, 2026
• Results First Posted: February 10, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)