English grammar develops in a fairly predictable sequence, and errors are common as children learn grammar rules. Children with language impairments often demonstrate continued difficulty with grammatical morphemes. This journal self-study explores issues related to grammar development, as well as factors to consider when assessing and treating grammar deficits. Clinicians can use this information to improve intervention and optimize grammar development in children with language disorders.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• identify grammatical structures that may be most problematic for children with language impairments to learn and use
• discuss factors that impact a child’s ability to perceive and produce grammatical morphemes
• describe at least three tasks that can be used to examine grammar development
• explain three treatment approaches that can be used to address grammar errors

Contents

The following articles are included in this course:

• The Changing View of Input in the Treatment of Children With Grammatical Deficits, by Laurence B. Leonard and Patricia Deevy
• The Role of Frequency in Learning Morphophonological Alternations: Implications for Children With Specific Language Impairment, by Ekaterina Tomas, Katherine Demuth, and Peter Petocz
• Do the Hard Things First: A Randomized Controlled Trial Testing the Effects of Exemplar Selection on Generalization Following Therapy for Grammatical Morphology, by Amanda Jean Owen Van Horne, Marc Fey, and Maura Curran
• Accentuate the Negative: Grammatical Errors During Narrative Production as a Clinical Marker of Central Nervous System Abnormality in School-Aged Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, by John C. Thorne
• Distributional Learning in College Students With Developmental Language Disorder, by Jessica Hall, Amanda Owen Van Horne, Karla K. McGregor, and Thomas Farmer

Learning Assessment
Online, multiple-choice exam