Effectiveness of intervention focused on vocational course vocabulary in post-16 students with (developmental) language disorder.

What is already known on this subject Very few services exist for young adults with DLD, despite their persisting language difficulties and the detrimental impact of these on their academic attainment and employment prospects. Most careers involve specific vocabulary which is crucial to executing a role successfully and these need to be learned by those looking to move into these careers. However, children, adolescents and adults with DLD struggle to learn new words and may need help in this area. What this study adds to existing knowledge The young adults with (D)LD received 9 weeks of intervention targeting individualized course-specific vocabulary (nouns, verbs and adjectives), using word maps to focus on word forms, definitions, morphologically related words and syntactic information such as word class and how to use the word in a sentence. An online learning tool provided regular spaced retrieval practice of previously taught words and their definitions. The participants showed significant progress with learning course-specific vocabulary from attending lessons. However, they made significantly greater progress on those words which were also targeted in individual SLT sessions, regardless of word class. Progress was maintained over 14 weeks. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Direct one-to-one vocabulary intervention with an SLT can lead to significantly greater gains in the acquisition of targeted course-specific terminology for young adults with (D)LD than the vocabulary teaching available in lessons. Individual intervention delivered by SLTs should therefore be offered to this age group of students with (D)LD to maximize their ability to access the academic curriculum and their future careers. Indeed, the broader role of SLTs in helping these young adults to access the world of work and independent living should be further investigated and supported.