The Effects of Direct Questions on Preschool Children’s Responses to Indirect Requests

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Behavioral Education

Volume

9

Publication Date

1999

First Page

193

Last Page

210

Abstract

Indirect instructional approaches, such as responsive interaction, are common in inclusive early childhood settings. Unfortunately, young children with disabilities do not always have the skills to take advantage of these learning opportunities. Teaching children with disabilities to be more responsive to developmentally appropriate indirect instructional strategies may help them take advantage of and benefit from available learning opportunities in inclusive settings. The purpose of this research was to examine the extent to which presenting a series of direct questions increased children's attempts to respond and correct responses to indirect requests. Increased attempts to respond and correct responses to indirect requests were evident for all participants with whom the intervention was implemented. Three of the participants continued to attempt to respond and responded correctly to indirect requests when intervention procedures were removed. The contributions of these findings to literature on language instruction with young children, implications of the findings for practitioners, methodological limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Comments

Publisher’s PDF available to USU students and faculty through remote link.

Originally published by Springer Verlag.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS