Software for Verb Based Early Language Intervention

Delays in language acquisition are the most prevalent developmental problem in preschool children.acquisition of verbs poses a special challenge for children with language problems; perhaps this isendowed with syntactic and semantic information and play a central role in the development of grammaWe plan to develop and publish a microcomputer-based system designed to facilitate the development oin children at risk for chronic language disorders. The curriculum will be based on linguistic researole for verbs in language acquisition. The system will feature graphics, animation, input/interfacechildren with special needs, digital speech output, and will be controlled by an intelligent computethat uses artificial intelligence to generate individualized intervention strategies. The system wilto increase the size and diversity of the verb lexicon, increase semantic and syntactic accuracy, anof infected verb forms. Our Phase I objective is to demonstrate the feasibility and technical meritproducing a prototype software module that features a subset of the intervention strategies and instused in the completed system. We envision the system being useful in clinical, school, and preschoolthe home.