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Abstract

This study examines the effects of direct (nonlinear) phonological intervention on phonological and morphosyntactic development for children severely impaired in both domains. Subjects were 9 children aged 3 to 4 years. Seven had severe phonological and morphosyntactic production disorders (treatment group) and two had only a severe phonological disorder (control reference subjects). Phonological measures used were Percentage Consonants Correct (PCC), plus nonlinear word shape and feature analyses. Language observations used were MLU, Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn), Brown's stages, morphological analysis and Mean Length of Longest Utterance (MLUL). Results indicate an influence of phonological intervention on morphosyntactic development for the subjects with both disorders. All subjects improved on their phonological measures. On the language measures, only those with severe disorders in both domains displayed notable improvement. Targeting the phonological domain in therapy may be a cost-effective way to conduct treatment for at least some children with severe phonological and morphosyntactic production impairments.