Use of cloze and contrast word procedures in repeated storybook reading: targeting multiple domains.

UNLABELLED: The purposes of this study were: (1) to implement an intervention approach for children with language and phonological impairments, targeting multiple linguistic domains within a unitary activity, and (2) to investigate whether any observed changes in selected outcome measures were associated with particular scaffolding procedures. The intervention approach employed a variety of scaffolding procedures (cloze procedures; cloze procedures with expansions; contrast words) within an interactive repeated storybook reading activity. It was delivered across 12 sessions to three kindergarten children with language and phonological impairments. Pre-treatment and post-treatment probes, together with treatment data, provided indices of the semantic and phonological complexity of the participants' utterances. Changes in complexity levels were observed in all participants. Associations between increases in outcome measures and use of particular scaffolding techniques were identified. LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) The reader will learn a rationale for use of cloze procedures, cloze procedures with expansions, and contrast words during repeated storybook reading as an intervention for some children with both language and phonological disorders. (2) The reader will learn how to implement cloze procedures, cloze procedures with expansions, and contrast words during repeated storybook reading. (3) The reader will learn how various outcome measures (e.g., level of semantic complexity) may be used to track change in performance over time.