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NIH grant 1F31DC023755-01: Therapy for Adverbial Clauses
Institute: {'code': 'DC', 'abbreviation': 'NIDCD', 'name': 'National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders', 'admin_org_id': '12500019', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: Melissa C White. Award: $43295.
Start: 2026-09-30T00:00:00.
Project Summary
Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have more difficulty using complex sentences
compared to typically developing peers, including sentences with adverbial clauses. These difficulties can
impact academic performance, given there are demands for complex sentence comprehension and use
throughout elementary school. Despite the importance of syntax knowledge for expressing complex ideas and
for listening and reading comprehension, there are few effective researched treatments for complex sentences
for young children with DLD. Most existing treatments are designed for older children and involve explicit
instruction. The aim of this feasibility study is to determine whether a novel implicit intervention for sentences
with varied adverbial clauses improves language expression for six- to seven-year-old children with DLD, and
whether the treatment results in change to syntax use that is maintained over time. The treatment will
capitalize on principles thought to support implicit learning. Adverbial clauses that include four to seven
different conjunctions will be targeted based on child performance on pretreatment probes. Treatment for each
child will address one target at a time, but children may be treated for two conjunctions throughout the course
of the study. Performance on a proximal measure (generalization probes) as well as a distal measure (a
sentence repetition task), both administered immediately after treatment and again six weeks after, will be used
to measure the treatment efficacy. The expected outcomes of this work are to identify whether implicit
intervention for complex sentences is feasible for a variety of conjunctions, whether specific conjunctions are
differentially difficult, and whether children improve their use of complex sentences following an implicit
language treatment.
The fellowship training will take place at the University of Arizona, under the guidance of a mentoring
team with expertise in treatment research. In addition to the proposed research study, the fellowship training
plan will involve additional coursework related to the research and workshops on research ethics. Research
will be disseminated through publications and conference presentations.document fetched 2026-10-15 02:48