Why it matters:
- To learn a new word, children with developmental language disorder (DLD) need more practice than their peers.
- Spaced retrieval practice helps children with DLD learn and remember new words.
Zoom in:
- Retrieval practice is when you ask a child to recall and tell you a word that they have previously learned, e.g. “What’s this one called?”
- Retrieval practice is not just a test: it actually improves learning.
- Children with DLD benefit from frequent retrieval attempts. But gains are even greater when spacing is used between attempts, e.g. by inserting other material between retrieval attempts, and by spreading retrieval practice trials out over time, e.g. within a session, and/or across sessions.
It works:
- Spaced retrieval has large positive effects for learning new nouns and adjectives, and moderate positive effects for new verb learning.
- We still have a lot to learn about how best to deliver spaced retrieval practice. But we should work with what we know already and give it a go!
Go deeper:
Leonard, L. B., Deevy, P., & Kueser, J. B. (2024). Word learning by children with developmental language disorder: Identifying gaps in our understanding of spaced retrieval effects. Autism & Developmental Language Impairments, 9.
Read more:
Language therapy works. But can we make it better?
For reading, school and life success, which words should we teach our kids? How should we do it?
This article also appears in a recent issue of Banter Booster, our weekly round up of the best speech pathology ideas and practice tips for busy speech pathologists, speech pathology students and others.
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Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.
Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language
Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.
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