Speech-Language Pathologists' Responsivity During School-Based Therapy

This study explored speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') verbal responsivity during school-based speech-language therapy sessions. Further, we examined the relations between SLP responsivity and child initial language skill and child talk during sessions, and the associations between SLP responsivity and child language gains over a school year.

Study methods involved a secondary analysis of 26 one-on-one school-based speech-language therapy sessions involving certified SLPs and children with developmental language disorder in the United States. Session data were manually transcribed and coded.

Therapy transcripts were manually coded to determine the categories and subcategories of SLPs' verbal responses to child utterances. These categories included responsivity (viz., recasts and expansions), prompt, repeat, labeling, clarification, praise, comment, acknowledgment, and missed opportunity, which, across sessions, showed wide variability. SLPs' responsivity accounted for less than 9% of temporally contingent utterances. Children's initial language skill in the fall and lower quantity and complexity of child talk during sessions were both negatively correlated with SLPs' responsivity. SLPs' responsivity was not associated with children's language gain 1 year later.

SLPs' responsivity during school-based therapy sessions demonstrated a low percentage among all SLP responses to children. This suggests that SLPs may need training and support in responsivity during therapy interactions. Importantly, however, the negative relationship between SLPs' responsivity and children's language skill and language production (in terms of quantity and complexity) suggest that SLPs may be more responsive with less-skilled children, thus providing heightened levels of linguistic stimulation. Study findings suggest numerous areas for future research.