Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are experiencing the exciting challenge of serving increasing numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools. When ELLs struggle in school, they may be overreferred for speech-language services. SLPs are routinely expected to differentiate a language difference based on cultural, linguistic, and…

Interventions in special education are results of advocacy, legislation, litigation, research, and trends. Since interventions come in many forms, they represent multidimensional viewpoints and perspectives and need to be handled with professional care, integrity, fidelity. This book highlights the fact there are skill-sets needed to work with…

While services for students with disabilities have been vastly improved in recent years, and research has created far greater awareness for the issues they face, there are still many obstacles to overcome as these students progress through the education system. This book discusses the considerable challenges these students conquer in education,…

Purpose: Children with specific language impairment (SLI) demonstrate significant language impairments despite normal-range hearing and nonverbal IQ. Many of these children also show marked deficits in working memory (WM) abilities. However, the theoretical and clinical characterization of the association between WM and language limitations in SLI…

This volume provides a comprehensive and in-depth handbook of qualitative research in the field of communication disorders. It introduces and illustrates the wide range of qualitative paradigms that have been used in recent years to investigate various aspects of communication disorders. The first part of the Handbook introduces in some detail the…

Educators today are challenged with the task of designing curricula and standards for students of varying abilities. While technology and innovation steadily improve classroom learning, teachers and administrators continue to struggle in developing the best methodologies and practices for students with disabilities. "Models for Effective…

Comprehension is the ultimate aim of reading and listening. How do children develop the ability to comprehend written and spoken language, and what can be done to help those who are having difficulties? This book presents cutting-edge research on comprehension problems experienced by children without any formal diagnosis as well as those with…

This study compared the lexical mapping (acoustic-phonetic analysis) stage of auditory word recognition in 21 children (mean age 8 years 9 months) with specific language impairments (SLI) with children matched for either chronological age or vocabulary. The SLI children performed comparably to control groups on all dependent measures related to…

Eighteen preschoolers with language impairments who had participated in a highly effective five-month intervention that focused on expressive grammar received an additional five-month intervention. Although participants improved during Phase 2, improvements generally were not as strong as those noted for Phase l. The costly clinician-administered…

Addresses issues in the persistent gaps between the generation and use of scientific knowledge in educational and therapeutic practices in language disorders. Two science-practice linkage models are discussed for applicability to improved practice. Strategies for integrating research with practice are considered, with case studies illustrating the…

Notes inherent differences between clinical practice and experimental research in speech-language intervention. It suggests that nonexperimental research can be a link between experimental investigation and clinical application. Both researchers and practicing professionals are urged to work in a complementary manner to develop effective…

Examines Internet capabilities such as World Wide Web home pages, electronic journals, on-line bibliographies, mailing lists, and chat rooms in building bridges between research and practice in speech-language pathology. Numerous examples are provided. Cautions in using Internet resources are also noted. (Author/DB)

Twenty-three children (ages 10 to 12) with language impairment and 46 typically achieving adults participated in two auditory lexical-decision tasks evaluating effects of phonological opacity on word recognition. Findings indicated that the language-impaired children were less able than controls to identify phonologically opaque…

Two experiments with 11 children (ages 3 to 7) exhibiting functional phonological delays evaluated the Sonority Sequencing Principle (a principle governing the permissible sequences of consonants within syllables) as applied to the acquisition of onset clusters and adjuncts. Findings are integrated in discussion of the representation of onset…

Discusses how clinicians and researchers can critically evaluate information from efficacy studies of language intervention programs. It argues for combining both experimental and nonexperimental approaches and suggests that the use of matching in nonrandomized studies allows for comparison of groups of children participating in an intervention…