Clinician elicitation strategies and child participation. Comparing two methods of phonological intervention.

The focus of this paper is on interaction between clients and clinicians during language intervention. Two kinds of phonological interventions are compared, viz. Metaphon therapy and traditional therapy. Elicitation strategies used by the clinicians and the effects on child participation are analysed. The results show that the elicitation strategies used in Metaphon significantly more often required a comprehension response, elicited by an indirect rather than a direct request. The elicitations in traditional therapy significantly more often required direct productions from the child. Both kinds of intervention showed an asymmetric pattern where the adults dominated the session, but the asymmetry was more pronounced in traditional therapy. Non-focal turns were more frequent in traditional therapy; these were instances when clinician and child talked at cross-purposes.