Background: In Lower Saxony, Germany, pre-school children with language- and speech-deficits have the opportunity to access kindergartens with integrated language-/speech therapy prior to attending primary school, both regular or with integrated speech therapy. It is unknown whether these early childhood education treatments are helpful and…

Background: This study represents an effort to advance our understanding of the nature of school readiness among children with language impairment (LI), a population of children acknowledged to be at risk of poor academic achievement. The academic, social-emotional, and behavioural competencies with which children arrive at kindergarten affect the…

This study examined vocabulary intervention--in terms of targets and techniques--for children with language impairment receiving speech-language therapy in public schools (i.e., non-fee-paying schools) in the United States. Vocabulary treatments and targets were examined with respect to their alignment with the empirically validated practice of…

Background: Children's low scores on vocabulary tests are often erroneously interpreted as reflecting poor cognitive and/or language skills. It may be necessary to incorporate the measurement of word-learning ability in estimating children's lexical abilities. Aims: To explore the reliability and validity of the Dynamic Assessment of…

Background: Children with specific language impairment are known to struggle with expressive grammar. While some studies have shown successful intervention under laboratory conditions, there is a paucity of evidence for the effectiveness of grammar treatment in young children in community settings. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a…

Background: A trial parent-focused early intervention (PFEI) programme for children with delayed language development is reported in which current research evidence was translated and applied within the constraints of available of clinical resources. The programme, based at a primary school, was run by a speech-language pathologist with…

Background: Sure Start has been a flagship policy for the UK Labour Government since 1998. Its aim was to improve the life chances of children under five years of age who live in areas of socio-economic disadvantage by means of multi-agency, multidisciplinary Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs). Speech and language therapists have played a key…

Background: Specific language impairment (SLI) is diagnosed when a child shows isolated structural language problems. The diagnosis of pragmatic language impairment (PLI) is given to children who show difficulties with the use of language in context. Unlike children with SLI, these children tend to show relatively intact structural language skills…

Background: Pragmatic assessment methods are very diverse and differ in informant type. Some rely on parents, others on teachers/professionals and some directly test pragmatic abilities in the children themselves. A widely used pragmatic parent questionnaire is the Children's Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2). However, it is not known how scores…

Background: A number of previous studies have revealed that children with Specific Language Impairment have limitations in Phonological Working Memory as revealed by a task that requires them to repeat non-words of increasing syllable length. However, most published studies have used non-words that are phonotactically English. Aims: The purpose…

Background: Parental and speech and language therapist (SLT) explanatory models may affect engagement with speech and language therapy, but there has been dearth of research in this area. This study investigated parents' and SLTs' views about language development, delay and intervention in pre-school children with language delay. Aims: The aims…

Background: Past research has indicated that speech and language therapists hold some negative attitudes towards people who stammer, their parents and the treatment of stammering. However, studies on attitudes towards stammering have predominantly focussed on therapists in the USA. Recent trends towards earlier intervention suggest that more…

Background: The discovery of clinical markers for specific language impairment (SLI) in children can assist in the accurate identification of children with this disorder, and in a description of the disorder's phenotype for genetic study. One challenge to this type of research is the fact that languages vary in the most salient symptoms of SLI.…

Background: Children who have reached the age of 2 years without having acquired a 50-word vocabulary and/or who use no word combinations are referred to in the literature as "Late Talkers". Research has not yet identified the factors that cause slow development of expressive language; in particular, relatively little research has been carried out…

Background: Despite a large body of evidence regarding reliable indicators of language deficits in young children, there has not been a standardized, quick screen for language impairment. The Grammar and Phonology Screening (GAPS) test was therefore designed as a short, reliable assessment of young children's language abilities. Aims: GAPS was…