Software Intervention for Advanced Syntax Development

本提案要求SBIR第二阶段的支持，以完成和现场测试旨在促进学龄儿童（5-12岁）语法发展的语言干预软件。语言迟缓在学龄儿童中很普遍。更重要的是，三分之二以前被确定为有语言障碍的儿童在学龄前没有接受过任何形式的语言干预。因此，显然需要制定专门为满足这一人群的需求而设计的语言干预策略；也就是说，旨在促进这些儿童语法中通常缺失的更高级句法结构发展的干预。在第一阶段，开发了一个课程来介绍疑问操作符的语法。课程设计以当代语言学研究为指导，该研究提出了改善治疗和取得更成功结果的方法。开发了软件来提供部分课程，并与人工智能组件集成，能够根据新兴能力生成个性化课程。在现场测试中，26名幼儿园小朋友成功地使用了该软件。在第二阶段，这些努力将通过开发一系列综合语言干预模块并验证这些模块在典型课堂条件下的有效性来扩大。建议的商业应用：语言病理学家、教师和家长认识到当孩子的语言状况受损时进行干预的重要性，这种干预是由联邦法律规定的。因此，我们期望我们的基于计算机的语言干预系统，旨在促进学龄儿童的语言发展，将在商业上取得成功，并将满足个人服务的未满足需求。

This proposal requests SBIR Phase II support to complete and field test language intervention software designed to promote syntactic development in school-age children (5-12 years old). Language delays are pervasive among school-age children. What's more, two thirds of children identified as having language-specific impairments previously nor have received any form of language intervention during their preschool years. Consequently, there is a clear need to develop language intervention strategies designed specifically to meet the needs of this population; that is, intervention designed to promote development of the more advanced syntactic constructions typically missing from the grammar of these children. In Phase I, a curriculum was developed for introducing the syntax of interrogative operators. Curriculum design was guided by contemporary linguistic research, which suggests ways in which treatment may be improved and more successful outcomes achieved. Software was developed to deliver parts of this curriculum, and was integrated with an artificial intelligence component capable of generating individualized lessons based on emerging competencies. Twenty-six kindergartners used the software successfully during field- testing. In Phase II these efforts will be expanded by developing an integrated series of language intervention modules and verifying that the modules are effective under typical classroom conditions. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Speech-language pathologists, teachers and parents recognize the importance of intervention when a child's language status is impaired, and such intervention is mandated by Federal Law. As such, we anticipate that our computer-based language intervention system, designed to facilitate language development in school-age children, will be a commercial success and will fulfill an unmet need for individual services.