Language Use in Social Interactions of School-Age Children With Language Impairments: An Evidence-Based Systematic Review of Treatment
Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools
Gerber, S., Brice, A., et al. (2012).
Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 43(2), 235-249.
This systematic review investigates a variety of treatment approaches (e.g., positve behavioral support, parent-mediated interventions, milieu therapy, etc.) for addressing social language in 5- to 11-year-old children with a language impairment.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
From 1975 to June 2008
Peer-reviewed, original studies (not further specified)
8
<div>In light of the paucity of information on the efficacy of select treatments on social communication and pragmatic language skills, clinicians should continue to employ their clinical expertise by using "treatment procedures within their clinical practice that have supported positive outcomes in the children they serve" (p. 246).</div>
<div>Social language interventions improved topic management skills, narrative production, and some semantic and structural aspects of language in children ages 5 to 11. However, the specific impacts of any one treatment cannot be determined due to differences between studies, limited research evidence, and lack of investigation of maintenance and generalizability. Additional research is needed.</div>
<div>Though this systematic review provides "preliminary support for the feasibility of various treatment procedures to change selected social communication behaviors and pragmatic language skills.... further investigation of each of these treatments is warranted [prior to recommending] ... changes in standard clinical practice" (p. 246).</div>
