Treating Passive Structure Knowledge Deficits in School-Age Children With Developmental Language Disorder

Launched by OHIO UNIVERSITY · Apr 10, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is looking at two different ways to help school-age children (ages 8 to 11) who have difficulties with language, specifically in understanding and using passive sentences. The goal is to see which method is more effective. One method, called Treatment 1, helps children learn grammar naturally by listening to a sentence repeated multiple times while looking at a picture. The second method, Treatment 2, teaches children the rules of grammar more directly, where they listen to sentences about a picture and then answer questions about who is doing what in the sentence, receiving feedback on their answers. Throughout the study, children will be checked on their progress in understanding and using sentences at the beginning, right after the treatment, and again five weeks later.

To participate in this trial, children must have a specific level of language difficulty, as shown by a test score, and should have normal hearing and vision. They should also be native English speakers. However, children with certain disorders or previous treatments for language issues will not be eligible. If chosen for the study, participants can expect to attend 20 sessions over 10 weeks, where they will receive one of the two treatments. The researchers hope that those in Treatment 1 will show better improvements in their language skills.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Language impairment: standard score of 34 or lower on the Test of Language and Learning Skills
• • Nonverbal IQ: nonverbal quotient of 77 or higher
• • Normal range hearing
• • Normal or corrected vision
• • Native English speaker
• • Sentence comprehension screening/sentence chunking screening 50% or lower
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Neurodevelopmental disorder
• • Emotional/behavioral disorder
• • Frank neurological disorder
• • Treatment for complex syntax from outside clinician