Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: Selecting Treatment Words to Boost Phonological Learning

• Published in: Language, speech & hearing services in schools Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 482 - 496
• Main Author: Storkel, Holly L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 01.07.2018
• Subjects: Age Differences; Age of acquisition; Articulation disorders; Auditory Perception; Care and treatment; Children; Children & youth; Cognition & reasoning; Evidence Based Practice; Experimental psychology; Humans; Hypotheses; Hypothesis Testing; Influences; Language Acquisition; Listening Comprehension; Literature Reviews; Management; Medical personnel; Memory; Methods; Nonsense words; Pathology; Phonemes; Phonetics; Phonological Awareness; Phonology; Research methodology; Sound; Speech; Speech Sound Disorder - rehabilitation; Speech therapy; Speech Therapy - methods; Stimuli; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary; Word Frequency; Word Lists; Words
• ISSN: 0161-1461; 1558-9129; 1558-9129
• DOI: 10.1044/2017_LSHSS-17-0080

Purpose: Word selection has typically been thought of as an inactive ingredient in phonological treatment, but emerging evidence suggests that word selection is an active ingredient that can impact phonological learning. The goals of this tutorial are to (a) review the emerging single-subject evidence on the influence of word characteristics on phonological learning in clinical treatment, (b) outline hypotheses regarding the mechanism of action of word characteristics, and (c) provide resources to support clinicians incorporating word selection as an active ingredient in their approach to phonological treatment. Method: Research demonstrating the influence of the word frequency, neighborhood density, age of acquisition, and lexicality of treatment stimuli on phonological learning is summarized. The mechanism of action for each characteristic is hypothesized. Methods from the research studies are used to create a free set of evidence-based treatment materials targeting most of the mid-8 and late-8 consonants. Results: Clinicians have numerous evidence-based options to consider when selecting stimuli for phonological treatment including (a) high-frequency and high-density words, (b) low-frequency and high-density words, (c) high-frequency and mixed-density words, (d) low-frequency and late-acquired words, and (e) nonwords. Conclusion: Incorporating word characteristics into phonological treatment may boost phonological learning.