Identification of treatment parameters that maximize language treatment efficacy for children.

糟糕的语言技能会破坏学业成功，最终影响社会经济成果， 生活质量当幼儿第一次注意到语言技能不足时， 在他们面临正规教育日益增长的语言需求之前， 以及学业失败的可能性。对于8-13%的语言能力受损的学龄前儿童， 我们迫切需要更快、更有效的语言治疗。然而，目前的治疗方法 众所周知，这是一种旷日持久且昂贵的疾病，而且治疗效果可能很弱。越来越多的人呼吁 学者们从常规的治疗研究方法中退一步，支持系统的 一种将有前途的理论框架与旨在分离的实验操作相结合的方法 加强治疗方法的有效成分。这项赠款旨在利用来自 语言习得的统计学习观点，它解释了快速，无指导的学习，有时 即使是在语言障碍的情况下。该补助金提出了六项治疗研究，针对两组 语言能力差的孩子。“晚说话者”指的是2-3岁的儿童， 有限的词汇。有特殊语言障碍的学龄前儿童（4-5岁）在以下方面表现出明显的缺陷： 语法语素的使用。对这两个人群的平行研究将确定 治疗变量在多大程度上增强或减损跨语言领域的治疗效果。的 这项工作的目标将是确定具体的治疗方法，从一般的学习原则， 临床医生可以采用，以提高学习成果的儿童与受损的语言技能。

Poor language skills undermine academic success, which eventually impacts socio-economic outcomes and quality of life. When deficient language skills are first noticed in young children, there is relatively little time available to close the gap before they are faced with the increased language demands of formal education as well as the potential for academic failure. For the 8-13% of preschool children with impaired language skills, language treatments that are faster and more effective are urgently needed. Yet current treatments are notoriously protracted and expensive, and the effects of treatment can be weak. There is a growing call among scholars to step back from the business-as-usual approach to treatment research in favor of a systematic approach that integrates promising theoretical frameworks with experimental manipulations designed to isolate and enhance the effective components of treatment approaches. This grant proposes to leverage insights from the statistical learning perspective on language acquisition, which explains rapid, unguided learning sometimes even in the presence of impaired language. The grant proposes six treatment studies that target two groups of children with poor language skills. “Late Talkers” are children (ages 2-3 years) who are identified by their limited lexicons. Preschool children with specific language impairment (ages 4-5 years) show marked deficits in the use of grammatical morphemes. Parallel sets of studies with these two populations will determine the extent to which treatment variables enhance or detract from treatment efficacy across language domains. The goal of this work will be to identify specific treatment methods, derived from general learning principles, that clinicians can employ to enhance learning outcomes for children with impaired language skills.