Strategies to monitor & develop the Idiom Skills of 7-16 year olds with Language Impairment

Summary:

An essential part of being an effective everyday communicator involves understanding and using non-literal language, including idioms. An idiom is a non-literal phrase such as “hold your horses” meaning “wait.” Idiom Skills (IS) encompass four components; idiom identification, comprehension, explanation and use. The demand placed on children’s idiom skills to access the national curriculum and social scenarios increases as they progress through primary and secondary education (Colston and Kuiper, 2002; Lazar et al, 1989; DfE 2013, DfE, 2014). Research exploring methods to evaluate and support the idiom skill development of 7 to 16 year olds with language impairment has been limited.

The project aims to investigate:

- the sequence in which 7 to 16 year olds with and without language impairment develop idiom skills;

- the extent to which 7 to 16 year olds depend on idiom skills to access the National Curriculum in England and age-appropriate social conversation;

- which prerequisite skills are required to develop idiom skills in 7 to 16 year olds with and without language impairment;

- which methods are effective for evaluating idiom skills in 7 to 16 year olds;

- which methods are effective for developing idiom skills in 7 to 16 year olds: 1:1 therapy versus collaborative classroom support.

In order to make intervention resources functional and relevant, all resources will be designed following information gathering from children age 7 to 16 years old with and without language impairments, speech and language therapists and teachers.

Further Information: Please see the twitter handle @lucynicoll1 or #idiomproject for regular project updates.