An Examination of Parent Mediated Strategies during a Joint Routine

Volume 12 Issue 2 August - October 2018

Research Article

An Examination of Parent Mediated Strategies during a Joint Routine

Sekhar Pindiprolu * , Teresa Boggs**

* Professor, Special Education Program, The University of Toledo, USA

** Director of Clinical Services, Speech-Language Pathology Program, East Tennessee State University, USA.

Pindiprolu, S., & Boggs, T. (2018). An Examination of Parent Mediated Strategies during a Joint Routinei-manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology, 12(2), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.12.2.14643

Abstract

Children with speech and language delays are at a high risk for future reading difficulties (Al Otaiba & Smartt, 2003). Hence, it is vital to identify effective language interventions for children with language delays that can be embedded in their daily routines. This study examined the effects parental use of language strategies (i.e., praise, expansions, pause, and open-ended questions) on the language skills of children with language delays during a natural routine. The primary purpose of the study was to examine parental acquisition and use of praise, comments, expansions, pauses, and openended questions in the context of joint television viewing. The secondary purpose was to evaluate the effects of the strategies on the child's initiations, responses, vocabulary, and mean length of utterance. Further, parental satisfaction with the intervention strategies was examined. The results indicated that parental use of strategies increased after the intervention and both children increased their (a) initiations, (b) responses to parental comments and questions, (c) vocabulary, and (d) mean length of utterance. Further, both parents perceived that the strategies were useful and effective in promoting their child's language. The results of the study and contributions to the literature are discussed.