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The effect of the gestural prompt on syntax training
The Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders
|November 1, 1978
Summary
Gestural prompts in syntax training did not significantly speed up learning for young children. However, children receiving prompts made fewer errors during syntax acquisition sessions.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Developmental Psychology
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- Syntax acquisition in children is crucial for language development.
- Understanding the role of different teaching strategies, like prompts, can optimize language interventions.
- Previous research has explored various methods to enhance syntactic structure learning in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effectiveness of gestural prompts in syntax training for young children.
- To compare syntax acquisition with and without gestural prompts.
- To determine if prompts facilitate the learning of the double object syntactic structure.
Main Methods:
- Ten typically developing children aged 4-5 years participated.
- An experimental group received a gestural prompt during syntax training for the double object structure.
- A control group received the same training but without gestural prompts.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in the number of sessions to reach criterion was found between groups.
- The experimental group (with prompts) made significantly fewer errors per session than the control group.
- Gestural prompts appeared to reduce errors during the learning process.
Conclusions:
- Gestural prompts may not accelerate the overall learning rate for syntax acquisition.
- Prompts can be effective in reducing errors during the learning of specific syntactic structures.
- Further research could explore the long-term effects and optimal use of gestural prompts in language intervention.