Word Learning in Children With Developmental Language Disorder: The Use of Retrieval Practice During Shared Book...

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) benefit from the inclusion of retrieval practice during word learning. However, most studies reporting this positive effect have been conducted in controlled laboratory conditions. In this study, we take a step toward real-world application by matching the design details of a previous laboratory study and inserting them in a shared book reading activity.

Thirteen children with DLD (M_age = 59.13 months) and 14 children with typical language development (TD; M_age = 57.07 months) learned eight novel words presented in two illustrated children's books. Half of the novel words appeared in a repeated spaced retrieval (RSR) condition, and half appeared in a repeated study (RS) condition. The children learned both the novel word forms (e.g., /bog/) and their arbitrarily assigned "meanings" (e.g., "likes rain") in two learning sessions. Five minutes after the second learning session and 1 week later, the children's ability to learn the novel words was assessed.

Both groups of children showed better recall of the novel words in the RSR condition than in the RS condition. This was true for both the novel word forms and their meanings. Scores on a recognition test did not show a difference between the two conditions. The children with TD performed at a higher level than the children with DLD on the word form recall and recognition tests. Both groups showed only a slight decline in word form recall after 1 week. There were no interactions.

The results indicate that incorporation of retrieval practice into shared book reading activities can produce benefits to children's word learning. These findings should encourage future retrieval practice studies with ever closer approximations to the everyday shared book reading experiences of children.