Phonological Intervention

Principles, Methods, and a Paradigm

Variables in Phonologic Intervention

• Structure or paradigm - “What is the anatomy of a session?” – imitation vs spontaneous – Criterion levels– Programming for generalization

• Intervention approach– traditional - cycling - MPs - MOs – MaxO - ES -

NSIT (recasts) -whole language

• Goal attack strategies• Meaningful words vs NSWs • Number of exemplars

– “depth” vs “breadth” of training

Deep vs Broad Training

• Deep training: massed(lots) practice on a limited aspect of the sound system– goal is to make new sound contrast automatic

• Broad training: distributed practice over the range and extent of a rule– goal is to provide opportunities for child to

discover new rule

Goals of Phonological Intervention

• Child learns the new RULE• Production of new contrast becomes

AUTOMATIC

– Density of responses (Automatic)– Bridging activities to program for

generalization(RULE)

Duality of Phonology

• Two levels of learning– Production– Rule

• Phonetic – Phonemic Continuum

Phonological Treatment Paradigm: Rationale

• Opportunities to discover RULE

• Opportunities to practice new form(s) in naturalistic play activities (phonemic)

• Focused practice on new form(s) for automaticity (phonetic)

• Linguistic/communicative feedback

Phonological Treatment Paradigm: Important Considerations

• Meaningfulness

• Contrasts “paired”

• Linguistic feedback

• Pace -- no drill

Phase I: Familiarization + Production

• Familiarization– Rule– Sounds– Vocabulary

• Production– One treatment set = 20 responses (5 contrasts x 4 repetitions)

Criteria: Treatment and Generalization

• Treatment Criteria– 70% accuracy across 2 consecutive tx sets (IMIT

-> SPON) Phase 2– 90% accuracy across 2 consecutive tx sets

(Phase 2 -> add new pictures OR move to Phase 3)

• Generalization Criteria– 90% accuracy on target in untrained probe items– If this is met, 50% accuracy on target in

conversation

Phase 2: Contrasts + Naturalistic Activity

• Imitation– Comparison word first, then target word– Slower models, physical prompts, focus (antecedent

event)– Shadowing, set-ups (during)– Feedback (consequent event)– Gradually fade supports; switch order of presentation

• Naturalistic Play Activities– Sound-loaded communication-centered activities that

bridge focused practice and natural use of new contrasts• brief 5 minute activities that “flood” child with opportunities to

hear and use new contrast

– Dense responses (generally at least 20 responses in 5-8 min)

Phase 2 Naturalistic Activities

• Programming for generalization involves more than bridging activities, but the way they are implemented

• Similar to the systematic structure of focused stimulation of the contrastive word pairs, naturalistic activities must also have a structure along a continuum of support (or difficulty) that incorporates 3 components:– Functionality– Focus– Feeback

Examples of Activities at Different Levels

• Level 1: “I spy” or “Bee, bee bumblebee”

• Level 2: Read short story (adapted to increase occurrence of target sound).

• Level 3: Restaurant scenario

Phase 3: Contrasts within Communicative Contexts

• The focused practice and the play are intertwined

– spontaneous

– communicative• teacher• “go fish”• memory• concentration

Phase 4: Conversational Recasts

• Develop sound-loaded communicative scenarios

– Naturalistic Speech Intelligibility Training (NSIT)

– Immediate recasts (“hotspots”)– Practice new contrasts within conversational

context– Incorporate self-monitoring activities

NSIT (con’t)

• “hot spots” are critical moments of awareness and attention in which learning from the recast is maximized

• Activities designed to have high proportional frequency of occurrence of targeted sound in naturalistic activities (i.e., high density)

Naturalistic Speech Intelligibility Training/Conversational Recasts (Camarata, 1993; 1995)

• Conversation-based model of intervention to parallel “naturalistic” movement in language intervention

• Clinicians recast child’s error productions without use of imitative prompts or direct motor training

Vowel Errors

• Children with multiple sound errors often also exhibit vowel errors

• Can use contrastive approaches of MP and MO to treat vowel errors (PI or ESL)

Parent Involvement

• Range of activities to engage parents in intervention

• Naturalistic, sound-loaded play activities that can be implemented within typical daily routines

• Usually 5-10 minutes per day at least once daily

The Problem of Generalization

• How do you DEFINE generalization?– How is this linked to your

theoretical perspective?

• How do you PROGRAM for generalization?– Specify activities and how

they are linked to your theory

• How do you ASSESS generalization?– Describe the nature and

construction of your generalization measure(s)

Exercises for Measuring Generalization

• What is the difference between “broad” generalization and “narrow” generalization?”

• How would you measure narrow generalization? Broad generalization?

• How are broad/narrow generalization related to “local” and “global” generalization?