So you’ve given the Test of Word Finding – 3rd Edition, you’ve give the Test of Word Finding in Discourse, and you’ve collected information from parents, teachers, and the student himself/herself. Word finding in single words is within normal limits, but the child struggles significantly in conversational speech and classroom narratives. What to do?
There is not a lot of research on this topic. Bottom line is that teaching individual words has not been shown to significantly improve word finding in spontaneous speech, and more research is needed about the long-term efficacy of intervention. Phonemic cuing for individual words has been shown to be effective: http://cdq.sagepub.com/content/23/4/177.short. A 2011 article in the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders supported the value of semantic therapy (secondary students were taught words in categories) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-6984.2011.00073.x/abstract. But discourse? There isn’t much research out there.
These are the ideas I have found to be effective. Again, there is not published research to back this up. But many years of intervention have shown the following are helpful: (1) try to anticipate the vocabulary a student will need. At the very least, this will reduce anxiety about retrieving words in discourse; (2) always extend the learning by having a child produce his own sentences using the word, (3) provide a framework or outline to help structure classroom responses.
Discourse, or connected speech, is where I think strategies are important. I always remind kids that we can’t possibly anticipate all the words they are going to need. So what do you do when you get stuck? Visualize the context: if you are stuck on a baseball word, think of yourself at a game. See the field, see the players, see the scoreboard. Think of words associated with that topic: team, coach, homerun, shortstop, mitt, etc. Encourage describing objects and activities using their salient characteristics.
Remember that frequency of use and recency of use determine ease of retrieval. So try to anticipate the discourse your student will need for the classroom or for his social language. Role-play and practice those conversations before they are needed.
What techniques have you found to be effective? Please share!