Comparison of Process Targeting and Whole Language Treatments for Phonologically Delayed Preschool Children

Abstract
Two, 4-year-old phonologically delayed children were treated using two intervention approaches for a 6-week period. The phonological approach targeted cluster reduction through practice in production and perception of affected minimal pair contrasts in words, phrases, sentences, and story-telling tasks. The whole language approach targeted production of narratives without specific attention to the cluster reduction error pattern. Similar improvements were seen in the phonological performance of both children; however, the child in the whole language treatment showed greater improvements in expressive language performance. Results are discussed with respect to the holistic nature of language and its implications for phonological treatment.

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