Vocabulary Interventions for Children With Developmental Language Disorder: A Systematic Review

Frontiers in Psychology

Ansari, R., Chiat, S., et al. (2025).

Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1517311.

<div>This systematic review explores the effects of vocabulary interventions for children ages 5 to 11 with developmental language disorder (DLD).&nbsp;</div>

Health Education England/National Institute for Health Research (United Kingdom)

1990 to 2023

<div>Randomized control trials, non-randomized controlled studies, pre-post comparisons, single-subject designs with outcomes measured at multiple timepoints</div>

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<div>Vocabulary interventions led to generally positive outcomes for children with DLD, with greater treatment effects noted for integrated and client-centered approaches. Specific findings included:</div> <div> <ul> <li>Combined phonological and semantic interventions led to improved expressive vocabulary in six out of six studies. One study reported improvements on receptive targeted-words, but not on standardized receptive and expressive tests. Treatment order did not have a significant effect on outcomes for these combined treatments.</li> <li>Across three studies, semantic interventions alone demonstrated improvements in expressive vocabulary, with two studies reporting improvements in targeted words and one reporting improvements to targeted and un-targeted words.&nbsp;</li> <li>Semantic and/or phonological treatment effects were impacted by the children's impairment profile (e.g., children with greater semantic impairment benefitted from semantic by not phonological intervention).&nbsp;</li> <li>Two out of three studies demonstrated improved vocabulary following story-based interventions. The third reported that individuals with increased language deficit severity were negatively impacted by the influence of background noise in e-books.&nbsp;</li> <li>Combined treatments of story-based, phonological, and semantic interventions led to improvements in both receptive and expressive language (2 studies).</li> <li>Combined treatments of story-based and semantic interventions led to improvements in expressive vocabulary (2 studies). More mild language deficits led to greater treatment effects.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <div>Limitations to this review include reduced methodological rigor of included studies, small sample sizes, weak or absent controls, and heterogeneity between studies. Additional research is warranted.&nbsp;</div> </div>