The effectiveness of a meta-pragmatic awareness training program in reducing the severity of pragmatic language disorder and enhancing language skills among children with specific language disorder.

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Mental Health department, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

     The current study aimed to identify the effectiveness of a meta-pragmatic awareness training program in reducing the severity of pragmatic language disorder and developing language skills (receptive and expressive) among children with specific language disorder. The main study sample consisted of two groups, one experimental and a control group, each consisting of (10) children with a specific language disorder. The researcher used the Stanford-Binet for Intelligence, the specific language disorder diagnosis scale, and the pragmatic language disorder scale, in addition to the training program prepared by the researcher. The psychometric properties of the tools were calculated and reassured that they have good validity and reliability coefficients. The researcher relied on the experimental design with two groups, and the data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test, the Wilcoxon test, in addition to the effect size and Blake’s modified rate of gain. The results showed the effectiveness of the training program in reducing the intensity of the pragmatic language disorder and developing the receptive and expressive language skills of children with a specific language disorder, as shown by the results of the comparison between the pre and post measurements of the experimental group, as well as the comparison of the post measurement of the experimental and control groups. Follow-up measurement results showed the persistence of the efficacy of the program. The results were interpreted in the light of the results of previous research and studies. The research ended with a set of recommendations and proposals for subsequent studies.
 

Highlights

 

 

Keywords

Full Text

 

 

References

Ahmed El-Sayed Abdel-Qawy Qansouh (2019). The effectiveness of an electronic program based on language activities to improve expressive language and social communication for the hearing impaired. The Arab Journal of Disability and Giftedness Sciences, p. 7, 1-36
Adib Abdullah Al-Nawisa, Iman Taha Al-katawna.(2015) Language and cognitive development of the children. Amman,Jordon, Arabic society for publishing and distribution.
Abdul-Aziz Al-Shakhs, Zainab Reda Kamal Al-din Abdul-Halim, Mohammed Abdou Hossieni (2018) A scale for diagnosing specific Language Disorder among children. Journal of Reading and Knowledge,Volume,203:145-177.
Abdul-Aziz Al-Shakhs, Mahmoud Al-Tantawi, Reda Khairy (2018) A scale for diagnosing pragmatic Language Disorder among children. Journal of Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University,Volume,39,part 4
Adel Abdallah Mohammed (2020) Social use of Language Scale for normal and disabled children. Alexandria, Horus institution.
Samar Muhammad Kamel Mahmoud, Amina Abdel Fattah Abdullah and Hussein Hassan Hussein Tahoun. (2018). Psychometric properties of the measures of receptive language and expressive language among pre-school children. Journal of Psychological Counseling, p. 53, 279-320
Faten Abdel-Rahman Al-Tanbary, Fifian Mohamed Ibrahim, Ashraf Mostafa Ahmed Shalaby (2018) The effectiveness of a program using the kinetic story in developing the deliberative language and pragmatics of a sample of children who are linguistically retarded in the age group of 4-6 years. Childhood Studies, Volume (21), part (4):23-58.
Firas Ahmed Al-Taqatqa (2018). The effectiveness of the auditory rehabilitation program in developing the receptive and expressive language skills of hearing-impaired children in the pre-school stage. International Journal of Science and Rehabilitation of People with Special Needs, p. 9, 124-168.
 
Mustafa Abdel Rauf Ahmed Abdel Latif, Ashraf Muhammad Ali Shalaby, Ashraf Salah Ahmed Othman and Asma Ibrahim Muhammad Matar. (2022). The effectiveness of training on improving the auditory memory of children with cochlear implants in improving their expressive language. Journal of Science for People with Special Needs, Vol. 4, P. 7, 4196-4243.
Huda Al-Nashif, (2016). Developing the language skills of pre-school children. Dar Al-Fikr for publication and distribution. Cairo.
ثالثاً: المراجع الأجنبية:
Adams, C., & Gaile, J. (2012). Managing children’s pragmatic and social communication needs in the early school years. Manchester; Roundway Centrsal Publ.
Adams, C., & Gaile, J. (2015). Social Communication Intervention Programme: Managing children’s pragmatic and social communication needs in the early school years.
Adams, C., Lockton, E., & Collins, A. (2018). Metapragmatic explicitation and social attribution in social communication disorder and developmental language disorder: A comparative study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61(3), 604-618.
Adams, C., Lockton, E., & Collins, A. (2018). Metapragmatic explicitation and social attribution in social communication disorder and developmental language disorder: A comparative study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61(3), 604-618.
Adams, C., Lockton, E., Freed, J., Gaile, J., Earl, G., McBean, K., . . . Law, J. (2012). The Social Communication Intervention Project: a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of speech and language therapy for school-age children who have pragmatic and social communication problems with or without autism spectrum disorder. International journal of language & communication disorders, 47(3), 233-244. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-6984.2011.00146.x
 
Adams, C., Lockton, E., Freed, J., Gaile, J., Earl, G., McBean, K., . . . Law, J. (2012). The Social Communication Intervention Project: a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of speech and language therapy for school‐age children who have pragmatic and social communication problems with or without autism spectrum disorder. International journal of language & communication disorders, 47(3), 233-244.
Alduais, A., Qasem, F., Alfadda, H., Alfadda, N., & AlAmri, L. (2022). Arabic Validation of the Pragmatic Language Skills Inventory to Assess Pragmatic Language Development in Preschoolers with and without Pragmatic Language Impairment. Children, 9(6), 809.
American Psychiatric Association, A., & Association, A. P. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (Vol. 10): Washington, DC: American psychiatric association.
Andrés-Roqueta, C., Adrian, J. E., Clemente, R. A., & Villanueva, L. (2016). Social cognition makes an independent contribution to peer relations in children with Specific Language Impairment. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 49, 277-290.
Arosio, F., Foppolo, F., Pagliarini, E., Perugini, M., & Guasti, M. T. (2017). Semantic and pragmatic abilities can be spared in Italian children with SLI. Language Learning and Development, 13(4), 418-429.
Ben-Shlomo, O. R., & Sela, T. (2021). Conversational categories and metapragmatic awareness in typically developing children. Journal of Pragmatics, 172, 46-62.
Bishop, D. V. (2014). Pragmatic language impairment: A correlate of SLI, a distinct subgroup, or part of the autistic continuum? Speech and language impairments in children (pp. 113-128): Psychology Press.
Blom, E., Vasić, N., & Baker, A. (2015). The pragmatics of articles in Dutch children with specific language impairment. Lingua, 155, 29-42.
Collins, A. (2013). Metapragmatic awareness in children with typical language development, pragmatic language impairment and specific language impairment: The University of Manchester (United Kingdom).
Collins, A., Lockton, E., & Adams, C. (2014). Metapragmatic explicitation ability in children with typical language development: Development and validation of a novel clinical assessment. Journal of Communication Disorders, 52, 31-43.‏
Cordier, R., Munro, N., Wilkes-Gillan, S., Speyer, R., & Pearce, W. M. (2014). Reliability and validity of the Pragmatics Observational Measure (POM): A new observational measure of pragmatic language for children. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35(7), 1588-1598.
Cummings, L. (2017). Research in clinical pragmatics (Vol. 11): Springer.
Curtis, P. R., Frey, J. R., Watson, C. D., Hampton, L. H., & Roberts, M. Y. (2018). Language disorders and problem behaviors: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 142(2).
de Marchena, Ashley B. Ph.D., "Executive and Nonverbal Contributions to Pragmatic Language in Autism Spectrum Disorder" (2013). Doctoral Dissertations. 205.https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/205
Félix, J., Santos, M. E., & Benitez-Burraco, A. (2022). Specific Language Impairment, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorders: Is There Overlap in Language Deficits? A Review. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-21.‏
Fujiki, M., Brinton, B., McCleave, C. P., Anderson, V. W., & Chamberlain, J. P. (2013). A social communication intervention to increase validating comments by children with language impairment. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch, 44(1), 3-19. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2012/11-103).
Gaile, J. (2015). The nature of metacognition in speech and language therapy for children with pragmatic language impairment. The University of Manchester (United Kingdom). 
Gerber, S., Brice, A., Capone, N., Fujiki, M., & Timler, G. (2012). Language use in social interactions of school-age children with language impairments: An evidence-based systematic review of treatment. Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2011/10-0047).
Gladfelter, A., Barron, K. L., & Johnson, E. (2019). Visual and verbal semantic productions in children with ASD, DLD, and typical language. Journal of communication disorders, 82, 105921.‏
Helland, W. A., Lundervold, A. J., Heimann, M., & Posserud, M.-B. (2014). Stable associations between behavioral problems and language impairments across childhood–The importance of pragmatic language problems. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35(5), 943-951.
Helland, W. A., Posserud, M.-B., & Lundervold, A. J. (2022). Emotional and behavioural function in children with language problems-a longitudinal, population-based study. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 37(2), 177-190.
Hessling, A., & Schuele, C. M. (2020). Individualized narrative intervention for school-age children with specific language impairment. Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 51(3), 687-705.
Jensen de López, K. M., Kraljević, J. K., & Struntze, E. L. B. (2022). Efficacy, model of delivery, intensity and targets of pragmatic interventions for children with developmental language disorder: A systematic review. International journal of language & communication disorders.
Jensen de López, K., Rosenberg, K. B., Hansen, T. G., & Søndergaard, H. B. S. (2023). Self-compassion and satisfaction with life in Danish adolescents with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD): We are all in the same boat´. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 134, 104400.‏
Joffe, V. L., Rixon, L., & Hulme, C. (2019). Improving storytelling and vocabulary in secondary school students with language disorder: A randomized controlled trial. International journal of language & communication disorders, 54(4), 656-672.
Katsos, N., Roqueta, C. A., Estevan, R. A. C., & Cummins, C. (2011). Are children with Specific Language Impairment competent with the pragmatics and logic of quantification? Cognition, 119(1), 43-57.
Ketelaars, M. P., & Embrechts, M. T. (2017). Pragmatic language impairment Research in clinical pragmatics (pp. 29-57): Springer.
Koch, G. (2012). Theory of Mind, Pragmatic Language, and Social Skills in Male Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/ 763
Li, M. (2022). The Effect of Feedback Timing on Feedback-Based Probabilistic Learning in Children with Developmental Language Disorder (Doctoral dissertation, MGH Institute of Health Professions).‏
Lockton, E., Adams, C., & Collins, A. (2016). Do children with social communication disorder have explicit knowledge of pragmatic rules they break? A comparison of conversational pragmatic ability and metapragmatic awareness. International journal of language & communication disorders, 51(5), 508-517.
Mok, P. L., Pickles, A., Durkin, K., & Conti‐Ramsden, G. (2014). Longitudinal trajectories of peer relations in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(5), 516-527.‏
Narayanan, S., Vijayan, K., Mekhala, V., & Barman, A. (2021). Pragmatic Language Difficulties in Children with Specific Language Impairment–A Systematic Review. Journal of Child Language Acquisition and Development-JCLAD, 306-320.
Norbury, C. F. (2014). Practitioner review: Social (pragmatic) communication disorder conceptualization, evidence and clinical implications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(3), 204-216.
Norbury, C. F., Gooch, D., Wray, C., Baird, G., Charman, T., Simonoff, E., . . . Pickles, A. (2016). The impact of nonverbal ability on prevalence and clinical presentation of language disorder: Evidence from a population study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(11), 1247-1257.
O’Handley, R. D., Radley, K. C., & Lum, J. D. (2016). Promoting social communication in a child with specific language impairment. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 37(4),              199-210.
Osman, D. M., Shohdi, S., & Aziz, A. A. (2011). Pragmatic difficulties in children with Specific Language Impairment. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 75(2), 171-176.
Paul, R., & Norbury, C. F. (2012). Language disorders from infancy through adolescence. St Louis, MI: Elsevier Health Sciences.‏
Pereira, T., & Lousada, M. (2022). Psychometric Properties of Standardized Instruments that are Used to Measure Pragmatic Intervention Effects in Children with Developmental Language Disorder: A Systematic Review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-17.
Pereira, T., Ramalho, A. M., Valente, A. R. S., Couto, P. S., & Lousada, M. (2022). The Effects of the Pragmatic Intervention Programme in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder. Brain Sciences, 12(12), 1640.‏
Prelock, P. A., & Hutchins, T. L. (2018). Clinical guide to assessment and treatment of communication disorders. Springer International Publishing.‏
Qasem, F., Alduais, A., Alfadda, H., Alfadda, N., & Amri, L. A. (2022). A Study on the Relationship between Pragmatic Language Development and Socioeconomic Status in Arab Preschoolers with and without Pragmatic Language Impairment. Sustainability, 14(10), 6369.‏
Leonova, A., & Raeva, T. (2022). Prevention program of emotional and behavioral disorders in children with developmental language delay. European Psychiatry, 65, S225-S226. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.586
Reilly, S., Tomblin, B., Law, J., McKean, C., Mensah, F. K., Morgan, A., . . . Wake, M. (2014). Specific language impairment: a convenient label for whom? International journal of language & communication disorders, 49(4), 416-451.
Reynolds, B. M., Gast, D. L., & Luscre, D. (2014). Self-management of social initiations by kindergarten students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 16(3), 137-148.
Rudolph, J. M., & Leonard, L. B. (2016). Early language milestones and specific language impairment. Journal of Early Intervention, 38(1), 41-58.
 
Ryder, N., & Leinonen, E. (2014). Pragmatic language development in language impaired and typically developing children: incorrect answers in context. J Psycholinguist Res, 43(1), 45-58. doi:10.1007/s10936-013-9238-6
Sharma, G., Prasad, D., Umapathy, K., & Krishnan, S. (2020). Screening and analysis of specific language impairment in young children by analyzing the textures of speech signal. Paper presented at the 2020 42nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC).
Siregar, I. (2022). The Effectiveness of Multisensory Stimulation Therapy in People with Specific Language Disorder. Budapest International Research and Critics Institute (BIRCI-Journal): Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(1), 5315-5325.
Stanton-Chapman, T. L., & Snell, M. E. (2011). Promoting turn-taking skills in preschool children with disabilities: The effects of a peer-based social communication intervention. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(3), 303-319.
Szücs, M., & Babarczy, A. (2017). The role of theory of mind, grammatical competence, and metapragmatic awareness in irony comprehension. Pragmatics at its Interfaces, 17, 129.
Szukiel, B., Górska, M., & Kruk, U. (2017). Differential Diagnosis of Specific Language Impairment–SLI. Polish Journal of Applied Sciences, 3(1), 5-10.
Timler, G. R., & Moss, D. (2021). Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder Handbook of Pragmatic Language Disorders (pp. 25-44): Springer.
Vandewalle, E., Boets, B., Ghesquiere, P., & Zink, I. (2012). Auditory processing and speech perception in children with specific language impairment: Relations with oral language and literacy skills. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 33(2), 635-644.
Wake, M., Levickis, P., Tobin, S., Gold, L., Ukoumunne, O. C., Goldfeld, S., . . . Reilly, S. (2015). Two-year outcomes of a population-based intervention for preschool language delay: An RCT. Pediatrics, 136(4), e838-e847.
Weismer, S. E. (2013). Developmental language disorders: Challenges and implications of cross-group comparisons. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 65(2), 68-77.
World Health Organization. (2020). International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11). 2019. Aavailable online: https://icd. who. int/browse11/lm/en (accessed on 11 June 2019).‏
 

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics