The development of interaction-based language intervention program and investigation of its effectiveness among children with delayed speech and language

Delayed language and speech is the late acquisition of language in the absence of any diagnosed disorder or disability related to cognitive and motor development. This situation is quite common in the preschool period. In Turkey, the number of systematically and effectively researched programs for children with delayed speech and language is very limited. With this research, the Interaction-Based Language Intervention Program was developed and its effectiveness among children with delayed speech and language was determined. In the study, a paired experimental model with a pretest-posttest control group was used to determine the effect of the Interaction-Based Language Intervention Program on the language and social development of children with delayed speech and language. The study sample consisted of 12 children in total, 6 children in the experimental group and 6 children in the control group. While no intervention was made to the control group, the Interaction-Based Language Intervention Program consisting of 20 sessions was applied to the experimental group for 10 weeks. Test of Early Language Development (TELD), McArthur-Bates Communication Development Inventory (CDI) and Preschool Social Skills Assessment Scale (OSBED) were used as data collection tools. Data obtained from pre-test and post-test were analysed with Mann Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Z Test. As a result of the analyses made, it was determined that the experimental and control groups differed significantly in terms of post-test scores achieved in TEDİL, TİGE-I, TİGE-II and OSBED (p<,05). Whilst the post-test total scores of the experimental group increased significantly compared to the pre-test scores (p<,05) there was no such increase in the control group (p>,05). Keywords: Delayed language and speech, Language intervention, Program development, Social skill.