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Understanding Language Patterns in Children with DLD

This study aims to understand how children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), also known as Specific Language Impairment, learn language patterns. Researchers will assess how children respond to different sound patterns (phonological rules) and how they learn rules when given semantic (meaning-based) cues. The goal is to see if difficulties in learning these patterns are linked to language challenges in DLD. This research could lead to better ways to identify and help children with DLD earlier. Children aged 4 to 8 years old who score above 75 on a nonverbal intelligence test may be eligible to participate. The study will measure how accurately and consistently children respond to these language patterns.

Study design
This interventional study plans to enroll 400 participants. It will assess how children respond to different types of language patterns.
What's involved
Participants will complete a large test battery. The primary measurements will be taken at 30 minutes.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
The primary outcomes are measured at 30 minutes, indicating a short assessment period.

AI-generated from the public study record. Only the study team can confirm whether you're eligible — confirm details with them before making decisions.

NCT04558541

A Developmental Framework For Linking Phonological And Morpho-syntactic Sequential Pattern Rules In DLD: Production

Recruiting
NAAges 4–8InterventionalBasic science
Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
~400 participants
Updated 2025-10-27 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Sensitivity to phonological rulesSensitivity to semantic category cues.

At a glance

Recruiting sites
2 of 2 listed sites are recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Transcription Accuracy Measures of Children's Sensitivity to OR/disjunction, Family resemblance/prototype and/or Single feature rules
Measured over 30 minutes
+7 more outcomes measured

Conditions

Developmental Language Disorder
Speech Sound Disorder
Specific Language Impairment

Explore related trials

Developmental language disorderSpecific language impairmentSpeech Sound Disorders

NCT04558541

Where you'd take part

This study runs at 2 sites. They're the same protocol — you choose where, and that choice sets who your contact draft is addressed to.

  • Boys Town National Research Hospital

    Omaha, Nebraskastudy coordinator listed

    Recruiting

  • University of Arizona

    Tucson, Arizonastudy coordinator listed

    Recruiting

Sites open and close at different times, so the status above is per site — it can differ from the study's overall status.

Who to contact

Lisa Goffman, PhD
[email protected]
531-355-5038
Email the study team

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

All children (TD, DLD, DLD + SSD, SSD) will score above 75 on the Nonverbal Scale of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC-II), which is above the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual cut-off for intellectual disability, even considering the standard error of measurement.
Hearing will be within normal limits
Oral structures will be within normal limits (Robbins \& Klee, 1987).
The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (Schopler et al., 2010) and parent report, will be used to rule out autism.
Children with DLD will score below the cutoff of 87 on the Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test-P2 (SPELT-P2; Dawson et al., 2005) that has demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for DLD.
Children with DLD will perform below 80% in their spontaneous production of finite verb morphemes.
Performance on a nonword repetition task will also support DLD status. Scores below 70% for total phonemes correct across all nonword lengths are greater than 1 SD below the mean for typical children.
Speech production skills will be measured via the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-3 (GFTA-3; Goldman \& Fristoe, 2015) and the inconsistency subtest of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP, Dodd, et al., 2006). Many 4- to 6-year-old children with DLD are expected to perform below expected levels on the GFTA-3; for this study half of the children with DLD will show performance below expected levels and half above a standard score of 85. Children with SSD will show impaired performance on the GFTA-3, but typical performance on grammatically weighted language measures (SPELT-P2 and finite verb morphemes). The DEAP serves as a standardized measure of segmental inconsistency and will provide a post hoc analysis that may be related to sequence pattern variability.
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4th ed (Dunn \& Dunn, 1997)
Expressive Vocabulary Test, 2nd ed (Williams, 1997)
Verbal and nonverbal memory span.
Because of the emphasis on English phonological and morpho-syntactic patterns, all participants will be monolingual English learners or report dominant exposure to English from infancy. Exposure to other languages will be documented.

Exclusion

Hearing impairment
Intellectual impairment
Autism
Significant motor impairment.
Histories of developmental, speech, language, or hearing disorders.

What this trial measures

  • Transcription Accuracy Measures of Children's Sensitivity to OR/disjunction, Family resemblance/prototype and/or Single feature rules30 minutes

    Learning shown via changes in transcription accuracy

  • Transcription Variability Measures of Children's Sensitivity to OR/disjunction, Family resemblance/prototype and/or Single feature rules30 minutes

    Learning shown via changes in transcription based syllable co-occurrence variability

  • Articulatory Variability Measures of Children's Sensitivity to OR/disjunction, Family resemblance/prototype and/or Single feature rules30 minutes

    Learning shown via changes in articulatory variability (articulatory spatiotemporal variability)

  • Acoustic Measures of Children's Sensitivity to OR/disjunction, Family resemblance/prototype and/or Single feature rules30 minutes

    Learning shown via changes in acoustic variability (Acoustic spatiotemporal variability)

  • Transcription Accuracy Measures of Children's Sensitivity to OR/disjunction with the inclusion of a semantic category cue.30 minutes

    Learning shown via changes in transcription accuracy

  • Transcription Variability Measures of Children's Sensitivity to OR/disjunction with the inclusion of a semantic category cue.30 minutes

    Learning shown via changes in transcription based syllable co-occurrence variability

  • Articulatory Variability Measures of Children's Sensitivity to OR/disjunction with the inclusion of a semantic category cue.30 minutes

    Learning shown via changes in articulatory variability (articulatory spatiotemporal variability)

  • Acoustic Variability Measures of Children's Sensitivity to OR/disjunction with the inclusion of a semantic category cue.30 minutes

    Learning shown via changes in acoustic variability (acoustic spatiotemporal variability)