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Very little empirical work has been done with preschoolers with language impairments to explore the nature of their emergent literacy development or their response to interventions which target emergent literacy skills. Traditionally, language therapy for preschool children focused on meeting the specific language-based needs of the individual child. Within such traditional therapeutic models, little attention was typically paid to children’s early literacy. Yet with an increasing body of research indicating a link between language and literacy, organizations and governing bodies have recognized the need to reconsider the role of speech-language pathologists in addressing the promotion of literacy needs in preschoolers.
The current project aimed to respond to the need to integrate literacy into traditional models of language therapy for young children with specific language impairments. Specifically, this project investigated the impact of an integrative emergent literacy program for preschool children identified with specific language impairments.
This study asked three related questions:
1) For preschoolers with language impairments, will an emergent-literacy-enhanced language intervention result in more significant improvements in early reading and language skills than traditional language therapy, 2) Will the intervention impact children with severe and non-severe language impairments differently, and 3) If there are gains observed in children’s early reading and language skills after participating in language therapy, are these gains clinically significant?
1) For preschoolers with language impairments, will an emergent-literacy-enhanced language intervention result in more significant improvements in early reading and language skills than traditional language therapy,
2) Will the intervention impact children with severe and non-severe language impairments differently, and
3) If there are gains observed in children’s early reading and language skills after participating in language therapy, are these gains clinically significant?
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