The effect of target-selection strategy on phonological learning

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Childhood Communication Disorders
• Phonological Development

Background:

• Children with moderate to severe phonological delays often require targeted speech therapy.
• The selection of phonemes for intervention is a critical factor in treatment efficacy.
• Traditional and nontraditional criteria exist for choosing phoneme targets in therapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of traditional versus nontraditional phoneme target selection criteria in speech therapy.
• To investigate the impact of target phoneme characteristics (e.g., developmental stage, phonological knowledge) on treatment outcomes.
• To assess generalization learning, child enjoyment, and parental satisfaction in both treatment groups.

Main Methods:

• Forty-eight children with moderate or severe phonological delays participated.
• Children received therapy targeting four phonemes selected based on either traditional or nontraditional criteria.
• Progress in target sound acquisition, generalization, child enjoyment, and parental satisfaction were measured.

Main Results:

• Children treated for early-developing phonemes with greater productive phonological knowledge showed significantly more progress.
• No significant differences were found in generalization learning between the groups.
• Child enjoyment was similar, but parental satisfaction was higher in the traditional target-selection group.

Conclusions:

• Selecting early-developing phonemes that are already part of a child's productive phonological knowledge is more effective for sound acquisition.
• While generalization learning may not differ, traditional target selection may lead to greater parental satisfaction.
• These findings inform clinical decisions regarding phoneme selection in speech therapy for phonological delays.