# Manipulating linguistic complexity to improve child language treatment outcomes

> **NIH NIH R21** · SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $183,499

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Phonology (relating to the patterning of speech sounds) and morphology (relating to the formation of words)
are known to interact cross-linguistically and in developing systems, and this phenomenon is referred to as
morpho-phonology. For example, in English, the third-person singular morpheme -s is pronounced differently
depending on the preceding sound: “eat[s]” vs. “see[z]” vs. “kiss[ɪz]”. Typically-developing children show
differing levels of accuracy on this morpheme, and this is attributable in part to the surrounding phonological
context. This proposed research program will evaluate the influence of morpho-phonological interaction in the
language of children aged 4 to 6 years with phonological disorder (PD), those with developmental language
disorder (DLD), and those children with co-occurring PD and DLD (PD-DLD) through manipulation of
phonological and morphological complexity in the selection of treatment target words. Experiment 1 will
evaluate effects of phonological complexity on speech-sound generalization learning following treatment of
children with PD and PD-DLD when targets vary with respect to morpho-phonological complexity. Experiment
2 will evaluate morpheme generalization learning following treatment of children with DLD and PD-DLD when
targets vary by phonological complexity. The proposed research will 1) bridge linguistic theory with clinical
treatment to identify ideal targets for generalization learning across populations, 2) focus on both morphology
and phonology, which are known to interact in normal systems, and 3) define how these principles together
can inform the management of disordered systems. Upon completion of the proposed work, the nature of
morpho-phonological interactions within and across these clinical populations will be identified, and the role of
morpho-phonological complexity in driving change following treatment will be delineated.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9896802
- **Project number:** 5R21DC017201-02
- **Recipient organization:** SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JESSICA A BARLOW
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $183,499
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9896802

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9896802, Manipulating linguistic complexity to improve child language treatment outcomes (5R21DC017201-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9896802. Licensed CC0.

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