Sentences Are Key: Helping School-Age Children and Adolescents Build Sentence Skills Needed for Real Language
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Academic Unit
College of Health and Human Services
Publication Date
6-5-2023
Document Type
Article
Abstract
In this article, we present key concepts pointing to the importance of targeting complex sentences for school-age children and adolescents with developmental language disorders (DLD). Drawing on current treatment research, we argue that the sentence is a crucial but often neglected piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding relationships between DLD and academic outcomes. We provide detailed suggestions for how clinicians can focus on complex sentence structures in natural academic contexts to bridge this gap. Method: Background information on sentence complexity is presented, along with a rationale for targeting complex sentences with school-age children and adolescents with DLD. Intervention methods from a variety of studies targeting multiclausal sentences are discussed in relation to current accounts of language learning and language processing models. We provide a robust catalog of suggested strategies for targeting sentence complexity in a manner that is aligned with research findings to date and integrated into real academic contexts.
Journal Title
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
Volume
33
Beginning Page Number
564
Last Page Number
579
DOI
10.1044/2023_AJSLP-23-00038
Recommended Citation
Balthazar, Catherine H. and Scott, Cheryl M., "Sentences Are Key: Helping School-Age Children and Adolescents Build Sentence Skills Needed for Real Language" (2023). Faculty Authors and Creators Reception. 302.
https://opus.govst.edu/fac/302