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Verb learning in children with SLI: frequency and spacing effects.
N G Riches1, M Tomasello, Gina Conti-Ramsden
1University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR
|February 16, 2006
Summary
Children with specific language impairment (SLI) learn verbs best with frequent, spaced presentations. This approach optimizes their learning, unlike typical language learners.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- Children typically learn words more efficiently with increased frequency and appropriate spacing of presentations.
- Children with specific language impairment (SLI) may exhibit heightened sensitivity to presentation frequency and rapid forgetting of new vocabulary.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of presentation frequency and spacing on novel verb acquisition in children with SLI.
- To determine if children with SLI benefit from optimized learning parameters, similar to typically developing children.
Main Methods:
- Twenty-four children with SLI and 24 language-matched controls participated in a play-based verb learning task.
- A repeated measures design examined four conditions combining frequency (12 or 18 presentations) and spacing (massed vs. distributed over 4 days).
- Comprehension and production probes assessed learning immediately after training and one week later.
Main Results:
- Children with SLI demonstrated significant learning benefits from frequent and widely spaced verb presentations.
- The control group showed no significant effects related to frequency or spacing.
- Language-impaired children exhibited rapid forgetting of newly learned verbs.
Conclusions:
- The frequency and spacing of learning opportunities critically influence verb acquisition in children with SLI.
- Training protocols incorporating spaced intervals and moderate repetition are recommended for optimal lexical learning in this population.
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