Actively Recruiting
The Relationship Between Child Language Proficiency and Treatment Language on Outcomes in Bilingual Children with Developmental Language Disorder
Led by University of Houston · Updated on 2025-01-14
120
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
246 weeks
Total Duration
On this page
Sponsors
U
University of Houston
Lead Sponsor
N
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Collaborating Sponsor
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
Researchers are studying Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in bilingual children aged 4 to 6 years who struggle with language learning and use. This disorder affects about one million bilingual children in the USA. The study aims to understand how a child's proficiency in English and Spanish affects the best language of intervention. It compares monolingual English, monolingual Spanish, and bilingual treatment approaches to improve language skills and academic success in children with DLD. The study involves a randomized controlled trial where 120 bilingual children with DLD receive one of three treatments: English-only, Spanish-only, or bilingual therapy using sentence recast methods. Each child receives treatment for one grammatical structure over 9 weeks, followed by assessment, and then treatment for a second structure for another 9 weeks. Sentence recast therapy involves adults repeating the child's speech but including the targeted grammar structure, delivering a high dose of therapy with frequent practice. Participants will be evaluated before treatment, midway, and after treatment using language probes focused on conditional and complement clauses in both languages. Researchers will measure language gains, cross-linguistic transfer effects, and overall treatment outcomes. The study includes hearing screenings, intelligence testing, and language proficiency assessments. The total participation spans roughly 18 weeks of treatment with multiple assessments to determine the best therapy approach for bilingual children with DLD.
CONDITIONS
Official Title
The Relationship Between Child Language Proficiency and Language of Treatment on the Outcomes of Bilingual Children with Developmental Language Disorder
Who Can Participate
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Parent concerns or history of receiving services in public schools
- Age-specific cutoff scores on morphosyntax subtests for best language (English or Spanish) on the Bilingual English Spanish Assessment: 84 for 4-year-olds, 85 for 5-year-olds, 81 for 6-year-olds
- Nonverbal IQ score of 70 or above on the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test-2, matrices subtest
- Pass a hearing screening test
- Bilingual, producing simple sentences or understanding both Spanish and English
- Accuracy below 40% on elicited production probes for conditional adverbial and complement clauses in both languages, showing ability to benefit from treatment
You will not qualify if you...
- Children with significant sensory-motor concerns or psychiatric disorders as reported by parents will not be enrolled
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Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
School Districst
Houston, Texas, United States, 77204
Actively Recruiting
Research Team
A
Anny Castilla-Earls
P
Paula Nino Kher
How is the study designed?
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Masking
SINGLE
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Model
CROSSOVER
Primary Purpose
TREATMENT
Number of Arms
3
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