Beyond the Here and Now: Decontextualized Language Use in Conversations Between Preservice Speech-Language...

This study investigated decontextualized talk produced by preschoolers with language impairment. Although literature has highlighted the pivotal transition from using "here and now" to using "there and then" language in typically developing children entering preschool age, there is limited understanding of this phenomenon in children with developmental disorders.

This study analyzed play-based conversations between four preservice speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and two participant groups: children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 7) and children with developmental language disorder (DLD; n = 9). Data collection included video-recorded conversation samples and standardized assessments of child receptive language development. For dyadic measures, the study examined group differences in total conversation turns, turn-taking rates, and proportion of decontextualized turns. For child and adult language measures, the study analyzed their speech samples, including mean length of utterance (MLU) in words and number of different words (NDW) per minute, and preservice SLPs' use of language facilitation techniques during play-based conversations.

Our findings revealed that dyads from both groups (DLD, ASD) engaged in decontextualized talk (narratives, explanations). Children's standardized language measures correlated with decontextualized talk and conversation turns, although no group differences were observed in these measures. Analysis of preservice SLPs' language behaviors showed equivalent linguistic input (syntactic length, lexical diversity) and comparable use of language facilitation techniques across diagnostic groups. Preservice SLPs' use of repetition showed strong positive correlations with children's immediate language outcomes (MLU in words, NDW per minute). When controlling for both child age and adult facilitation technique use, group differences in dyadic measures remained nonsignificant. This lack of group differences may be attributed to the unique features of language elicited from child-led free-play, a small sample size, and the heterogeneity of language profiles even within two diagnostic groups.

Results provide new information about play-based verbal interactions of children with DLD and ASD, suggesting potential for clinicians to incorporate decontextualized talk into interventions. Future studies can examine the effects of decontextualized talk strategies, such as engaging children in narratives and explanations in more structured activities, on their language outcomes.