What Types of Noun- and Verb-Semantic Feature Analysis Treatment Are More Effective in Eliciting Treatment and...

People with aphasia (PWA) experience lexical retrieval impairments, hindering effective communication. The semantic feature analysis (SFA) protocol, a specific semantically based lexical retrieval treatment, is widely used to improve naming abilities. This study applied SFA treatment to Korean-speaking PWA, a verb-final language, to compare the efficacy of noun-SFA and verb-SFA across various linguistic levels.

A total of 10 Korean-speaking PWA participated in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to either the noun-SFA or verb-SFA group. Pre- and post-assessments were conducted before and after 20 treatment sessions to evaluate the treatment and transfer effects across various linguistic domains.

Group comparisons indicated that near transfer effects to untreated items within the treated word class and nonverbal semantic association abilities were more robust in the verb-SFA group. Within-group analysis showed that both SFA treatments demonstrated significant direct treatment and near transfer effects on treated word class tests. However, near transfer effects to untreated word class tests were not significant in either group. For far transfer effects, the verb-SFA group showed greater gains in sentence-level tests. Aphasia severity improved in both groups, with more pronounced recovery in the verb-SFA group.

The efficacy of verb-SFA treatment for Korean-speaking PWA can be attributed to the unique verb-final structure of the Korean language, where verbs and their thematic roles are emphasized at the end of sentences. This underscores the importance of considering language-specific factors when developing and implementing semantic-based treatments for PWA, particularly in verb-final languages.