Reading comprehension intervention in populations with developmental language disorder: A scoping review

Approximately 25-50 % of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) demonstrate difficulties in reading comprehension, which are associated with difficulty in language learning. Given the high likelihood that children with DLD will experience difficulties in reading comprehension, it is important to examine the effectiveness of interventions that target these challenges. The purpose of this study is to conduct a scoping review of the literature on reading comprehension interventions in populations with DLD to synthesize the existing literature and highlight knowledge gaps in supporting reading comprehension in this population.

The five-step framework for scoping reviews described by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) was adopted to identify and evaluate literature focused on reading comprehension interventions for populations with DLD. Twenty-four studies met the inclusion criteria, with five randomized controlled trials, 12 group comparison studies, and seven single case studies or reports.

Identified interventions were aligned with the Active View of Reading (Duke & Cartwright, 2021), targeting active self-regulation, word recognition, bridging processes, and extended discourse. The majority of the included studies reported improvements in reading comprehension. All studies targeting vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness found significant positive gains. However, several validity concerns emerged in the included studies, such as high variability in the intervention dosage and intensity and a lack of diversity in measurement methods. These issues could hinder the translation of the findings into clinical practice.

The current review reveals several gaps: (1) underrepresentation of multilingual children with DLD and children speaking languages other than English as a first language; (2) insufficient examination of children with DLD's performance across various genres and question types; and (3) a lack of understanding of optimal intervention dosage for reading comprehension intervention in this population.