Rhythm-based Intervention Leads to Improved Receptive Grammar in Children With Developmental Language Disorder

The temporal sampling (TS) framework suggests that Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) arises from impaired neural entrainment to slower amplitude modulations (AMs) in speech (Goswami, 2011). Such entrainment deficits impede syllable stress perception in children, thus compromising prosodic bootstrapping processes that support grammatical development. Consequently, we hypothesized that enhancing acoustic rhythms (and AMs) in speech may mitigate the prosodic difficulties of DLD. To investigate this, we designed an intervention that adapts Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) (Albert, Sparks & Helm, 1973) for children with DLD. This was piloted with 10 children with DLD aged 7-11, and 10 age-matched controls (AMCs). Each child received 16-20 intervention sessions (1-to-1, approx. 30 minutes each) where they were taught to tap the syllabic rhythm of children’s rhyming books while chanting (rhythm-only) or singing (rhythm+pitch) the words. For example, children would sing/chant phrases from children’s storybooks, tapping harder on stressed syllables and lighter on unstressed syllables. When singing, we used one pitch for stressed syllables and a lower pitch for unstressed syllables. According to the TS theory, this approach would highlight stress patterns in speech, which should mitigate DLD-associated language difficulties. Before and after the intervention, the Test for Reception of Grammar 2 (TROG-2) (Bishop, 2003) was used to measure children’s understanding of grammatical structures. Whether storybooks were chanted or sung, children with DLD (Pretest: mean=74.6, SD=15.7; Posttest: mean=85.2, SD=13.4) and AMCs (Pretest: mean=97.7, SD=6.02; Posttest: mean=106.9, SD=7.95) showed significant improvement in TROG-2 scores (10.6 and 9.2 standard points respectively, p<0.05) after the intervention. TROG-2 scores are standardized by age (mean=100 and SD=15). Overall, our pilot data highlight the potential value of rhythm-based interventions in improving receptive grammar for DLD. We are currently testing an unseen (no intervention) control group to estimate normative change over time.

References:

Albert, M. L., Sparks, R. W., & Helm, N. A. (1973). Melodic intonation therapy for aphasia. Archives of neurology, 29(2), 130-131.

Bishop, D.V.M. (2003). Test for Reception of Grammar: TROG-2 Version 2. Pearson Assessment. London, UK.

Goswami, U. (2011). A temporal sampling framework for developmental dyslexia. Trends in cognitive sciences, 15(1), 3-10.