# Retrieval-Based Word Learning in Specific Language Impairment

> **NIH NIH R01** · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $518,637

## Abstract

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) experience a significant deficit in language
ability that is longstanding and harmful to the children's academic, social, and eventual
economic well-being. Word learning is one of the principal weaknesses in these children. This
project focuses on the word learning abilities of four- and five-year-old children with SLI in an
effort to understand the nature of these difficulties. The goal of the project is to determine
whether special benefits accrue when these children must frequently recall newly introduced
words during the course of learning. Preliminary studies reported in this application suggest that
such “repeated retrieval” activities can be applied to children of this age and might produce
dramatic word learning gains. The planned studies seek to determine whether repeated retrieval
produces larger gains than current procedures even in the face of less exposure to the new
words, and whether the degree of effort in retrieving new words is a significant factor in the
children's success. A deeper understanding of the benefits of this process will be obtained
through the use of both eye gaze and neural measurements of the children's word learning,
along with more conventional measures such as picture naming and picture identification. Of
special interest will be whether repeated retrieval activities narrow the differences between
children with SLI and their typically developing peers relative to other word learning procedures.
If the planned studies reveal larger word learning gains than current methods, repeated retrieval
activities can serve as the basis for the development of new methods of treatment for children
with word learning difficulties.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9980843
- **Project number:** 5R01DC014708-05
- **Recipient organization:** PURDUE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Laurence Baker Leonard
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $518,637
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-08-01 → 2021-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9980843

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9980843, Retrieval-Based Word Learning in Specific Language Impairment (5R01DC014708-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9980843. Licensed CC0.

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