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Helping Children Develop Word-Retrieval Abilities
by
Valerie Johnston, MS, CCC-SLP
Word-retrieval, or word-finding, is the
ability to recall words that are already known and stored in memory. Many
children with language disorders have difficulty with this aspect of language.
Some common behaviors of children who have word-retrieval difficulties include
using vague words (stuff, thing, etc), describing or giving the function of the
word they are having difficulty recalling, using gestures and repeating words
or phrases when relating an experience.
Organizing words by common features and
expanding the number of features known about each individual word strengthens
the efficiency (accuracy and rapidity) of word recall. The following strategies
use these principles (organization and elaboration) and can be used with your
child to improve his word-finding abilities both informally as you go about
your daily routines and in structured activities.
Strategy 1: Word Association
This strategy improves word recall by
identifying the important features of an object and the things that are
commonly associated with it. To use this strategy, you think of an object and
give your child hints, or clues, about it and let him guess what you are
talking about. There are four major categories of descriptors (hints). The
first is what you see when you look at the object or its color, size,
shape, and parts. The second category is where you find the object. The
third is what the object does or what you can do with it. The final
category involves other things about the object, such as how it smells
and tastes, the way it feels, the sound it makes and things that are typically
associated with it. Your clues should include things from several of these
categories. For example, for bird, you might give the following clues:
It has feathers, wings and a beak, it chirps, lives in a nest and eats worms.
After you have given your child clues for
several objects, you might want to let him give you clues about an object he is
thinking of. At first, it might help him think of an object and describe it if
you have a stack of pictures from which he can choose. Make sure he gives clues
from several of the major categories highlighted in bold in the paragraph
above. In order to help him do this you might have to discuss these categories
with him and even make "cue" cards to help him remember what clues he
needs to give so you are able to guess. This activity will also help your child
improve his ability to describe things.
Strategy 2: Categorization
This strategy assists word recall by
organizing words into groups based on shared characteristics. When you use
categorization to improve word recall you ask your child to name several items
within a given category. For example, you might ask your child to name things
that fly, bugs, fruits, musical instruments, etc. Be sure that your child knows
at least five items from the categories you use. If he doesn't, you can expand
his knowledge of category members by naming, or helping him name other things
in the category. To assist him in naming other category members you can use the
types of clues discussed in the word association section above.
As an alternative activity, present a set of
items and have your child name them and then group them into appropriate
categories. Have him explain why he grouped them the way he did. Encourage
flexibility of thinking by finding multiple ways to classify, or group, the
same set of objects. For example, if you have a bird, a turtle, a fish, a
rowboat, a canoe, an airplane and a helicopter, they can be grouped in several
different ways (things that fly, things that go in the water, animals, and
vehicles). After grouping them one way, encourage your child to talk about
different ways the items could be grouped and explain why the things go
together.
Strategy 3: Visual Imagery
This strategy involves creating a picture in
your mind of the object or its associated environment. For example, for things
in a bedroom, you might say, "Close your eyes and pretend you are
walking through the door to your bedroom and tell me everything you see as you
are walking around." You might want to have your child "open"
the drawers and closet door as he's walking around the room and tell you what
he sees inside.
You could also have your child draw a
picture of the scene. If you have your child draw the scene be sure to
encourage use of color and detail in the picture. After your child has drawn
the picture have him talk about the scene with you. Encourage him to label
the things he has drawn.
Strategy 4: Sound/Letter Cueing
Use this strategy when your child is having
difficulty retrieving a specific word and you know what the word is. You can do
this by providing the first sound or syllable of the target word. With younger
children, you will probably need to start with the syllable cue (pop for
popsicle) and then, as their retrieval skills improve, change to
the first sound, not the letter name, (p for popsicle).
With older children who are able to read you can give the letter cue (It starts
with the letter c). Try the different types of sound/letter cues and
decide which ones work best for your child.
To complete a structured drill using this
strategy you could tell your child that you are going to think of some words in
a certain category, but you're only going to say the first parts of these words.
His job is to guess what word you are thinking of. For example, if the category
is things that are red you could say, "ap (apple), straw
(strawberry), toma (tomato), ketch (ketchup). Give these clues
one at a time and give him time to guess after each clue. When he gets good at
this you could even let him give you clues and guess what word he is thinking
of. Make sure he gives you the category before he gives the clues.
In addition to using these strategies in
structured activities, encourage your child to use them when he is having
trouble recalling a word. If he still can't think of the word he is trying to
say after using these strategies, encourage him to say, "I forgot what
that is called", "What is that?" or "I can't remember that
word".
For more information on word finding
difficulties visit www.wordfinding.com.
If
you have questions or need more information you can contact us at:
Overton
Speech & Language Center, Inc.
4763 Barwick Drive, Suite 103
Fort Worth, TX 76132
(817) 294-8408