# Evaluation of an Explicit Approach to Teach Grammatical Forms to Children with Language Impairment

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2021 · $603,610

## Abstract

Project Summary
The proposed study is a randomized clinical trial that uses a Sequential Multiple Assignment
Randomized Trial (SMART) study design. The study will directly compare the efficacy of an
innovative intervention that combines explicit and implicit approaches to a traditional implicit
treatment approach to teach true grammatical forms to children with developmental language
disorder (DLD). The study will also compare interventions that include sequences of Explicit-
added and Implicit-only treatments. Participants will include 5- through 8-year-old children with
DLD who present with significant grammatical weaknesses. In Phase 1, 155 participants will be
randomized 1:1 to an Explicit-added treatment group or an Implicit-only treatment group. Each
participant will complete 32 sessions targeting four unique grammatical forms (8 sessions/form).
In Phase 2, “Masters” will be re-randomized to receive no treatment 32 sessions of the same
treatment, or 32 sessions of the alternative treatment. “Non-Masters” will be re-randomized to
receive 32 additional sessions of the same treatment or 32 sessions of the alternative treatment.
Performance will be measured on acquisition, maintenance, and generalization probes obtained
immediately,1-, 6-, and 12- months post-intervention. The SMART study design will be used to
determine if child factors, including expressive and receptive language abilities, nonverbal IQ,
and executive function skills can reliably predict the treatment sequence that optimizes
language learning. Study results will help to determine the best sequence approach to
ameliorate grammatical weaknesses, one of the core deficits of young children with language
impairment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10186123
- **Project number:** 1R01DC019374-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Lizbeth H Finestack
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $603,610
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10186123

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10186123, Evaluation of an Explicit Approach to Teach Grammatical Forms to Children with Language Impairment (1R01DC019374-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10186123. Licensed CC0.

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