According to Owens (1995), receptive/expressive language disorder can be characterized as a condition involving the impairment of the abilities to receive (comprehend) and/or express oral language. Behavioral dimensions of the condition can include difficulty following directions and listening, failure to comprehend orally read stories, inappropriate responses to questions and other modes of verbal communication, limited vocabulary, difficulty telling stories, and reluctance to participate in activities and tasks involving verbal exchange.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss five dimension aspects central to the successful remediation of receptive/expressive language disorder. Specifically, the dimensions that will be discussed in terms of association with receptive/expressive language disorder are: (1) storage and retrieval problems associated with the disorder and methods of intervention to correct or overcome these problems; (2) the learning environment needed to remediate the condition; (3) pragmatics; (4) the relation of storytelling activities to the disorder; and (5) the use of curriculum-based assessment in work with the condition.
Receptive/Expressive Language Disorder
Storage/Retrieval Problems and Methods of Correction
Nature of the storage/retrieval component of the condition and causative factors. The first two questions that can be asked regarding the condition of receptive/expressive language disorder and its remediation are: What are the storage and retrieval problems associated with the disorder and what can be done to correct for these problems? Regarding the nature of the problem, Nippold (1992) describes receptive/expressive language disorder as a developmental lag in the cognitive capacity for storing and/or retrieving information. Specifically, the child or adolescent with the disorder experiences either impairment in his/her ability to learn words--an ability requiring that information be ...