Changes in the generativity and use of semantic relationships concurrent with milieu language intervention

Changes associated with a milieu language intervention implemented to teach productive semantic relationships (e.g., action-object combinations) were investigated. Subjects were 11 young children with borderline to moderate levels of mental retardation, all in the early stages of language development. Following a baseline period, each subject received three to four training sessions per week in a small group interactive play situation. Measures of generativity were analyzed via pre/post group comparisons. Concurrent with the intervention subjects showed substantial gains in their ability to generatively produce semantic relationships in the intervention context and across settings, adults, and interaction styles. Subjects also correctly responded to an increasing proportion of target probe questions in both the intervention and generalization settings. The results suggest that, for most of the subjects, milieu teaching was associated with enhanced generativity and use of semantic relationships.