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

摘要 糟糕的语言技能与许多负面后果有关，比如更多的人发脾气 以及难以发展友谊，导致学业失败，与司法系统联系，并增加受害者人数。 尽管语言障碍可能早在幼儿时期就被注意到，但有效的治疗可能不会这么早就开始 在这些孩子面临越来越多的语言障碍之前，缩小语言差距的时间相对较少 正规教育对语言的要求和学术斗争的累积效应。对于7%-13%的 语言能力受损的儿童，更快更有效的语言治疗迫在眉睫 需要的。这种相互竞争的更新通过一系列研究来满足这一需求，这些研究将基础研究转化为 统计学习对治疗环境的影响。统计学习框架假设学习者提取单词 他们从语言输入中得到的意义和语法结构，以及输入的统计结构 有助于快速、内隐地学习语言。六项拟议的研究将统计学习原则转化为 治疗环境。理论动机治疗因素在两组贫困儿童中进行了测试 语言技能。“迟言者”指的是儿童(2-3岁)，他们的身份是由数量非常有限的 他们理解和使用的词汇。学龄前儿童发育性语言障碍 (4-5岁)在语法语素的使用上表现出明显的缺陷。平行研究有针对性 词汇治疗(针对说话较晚的人)和词法治疗(针对患有DLD的儿童)将测试是否 利用先前的学习可以通过使学习更快和更有效来改进治疗方法。我们会 还直接解决无反应者(即尽管接受治疗但改善有限的儿童)的问题 这对其他人有效)，这是所有治疗研究固有的一个未解决的问题。我们利用我们之前的 预测哪些儿童极有可能成为无应答儿童并提出替代治疗的研究结果 方法可以帮助这一子集的子集。这些研究代表了原则性研究的必要工作 有证据支持的语言治疗，可以在一定范围内洞察学习的本质 语言能力较差的儿童。

Abstract Poor language skills are associated with numerous negative outcomes ranging from higher rates of tantrums and difficulty developing friendships to school failure, contact with the justice system, and increased victimization. Although language deficits may be noticed as early as toddlerhood, effective treatment may not begin this early and there is relatively little time to close the language gap before these children are faced with the increased language demands of formal education and the cumulative effects of academic struggle. For the 7-13% of children with impaired language skills, language treatments that are faster and more effective are urgently needed. This competing renewal addresses this need with a series of studies that translate basic research in statistical learning to treatment contexts. The Statistical Learning Framework posits learners extract word meaning and grammatical structure from the language input they receive, and the statistical structure of the input accounts for rapid, implicit language learning. Six proposed studies translate statistical learning principles to a treatment context. Theoretically-motivated treatment factors are tested in two groups of children with poor language skills. “Late Talkers” are children (ages 2-3 years) who are identified by the very limited number of vocabulary words that they understand and use. Preschool children with Developmental Language Disorder (ages 4-5 years) show marked deficits in the use of grammatical morphemes. Parallel studies targeting vocabulary treatment (for Late Talkers) and morphosyntax treatment (for children with DLD) will test whether leveraging prior learning can improve treatment methods by making learning faster and more effective. We will also directly address the issue of non-responders (i.e., children who make limited improvement despite treatment that is effective for others), an unaddressed problem inherent to all treatment research. We leverage our previous findings to predict which children are highly likely to be non-responders and propose alternative treatment methods that might assist this subset of children. These studies represent the necessary work for principled language treatment that is supported by evidence, and can provide insights into the nature of learning in a range of children with poor language skills.