Recasting as an Intervention for Language Development
Recasting, like expansions, communication temptations, and verbal routines, is a great tool to encourage language development in children.
A recast is a repeat of what a child said, but with an addition that adds meaning or corrects what the child has said. Recasting is a form of modeling, and what is said by the initiator holds the same meaning as what the child initially said. A recast can be corrective but doesn’t have to be. Imitation is not required for recasting, and it shouldn't be prompted. Recasts should be developmentally appropriate but incorporate elements that the child hasn’t yet mastered.
Recasting can be focused or broad. Focused recasting is when recasts are centered on a specific language goal, while broad recasting is a recast of anything the child says.
A recast works because “the temporal proximity and shared focus with the child’s initial utterance increase the likelihood that the child will attend to the adult utterance. These features also reduce processing demands, allowing the child to make the critical comparison between her production and the adult’s.”1
Systematic Review of Recast Interventions
A 2016 systematic review (Cleave et al.) looked at how effective recasting was as a sole intervention. Recasting can be focused or broad. Focused recasting is when recasts are centered on a specific language goal, while broad recasting is a recast of anything the child says. However, it was found that focused recasting that centered on a language goal was more effective than broad target recasting.2
Recasting can be effective with the initiator being the parent or the clinician. However, if a parent is to facilitate the intervention, the parent should receive adequate instruction and perform recasting regularly for it to be effective.3
Recasting must also be done at an appropriate level relative to the child’s development.4 For example a child who is not yet able to produce subject-verb combinations due to language impairment, may not grasp through recasts. Finally, studies seem to suggest that for those children with language impairment, recasting is most effective when done at least once a minute.
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1. Cleave, Patricia L. et al., “The efficacy of recasts in language intervention: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 24, no. 2(2015): 238. DOI: 10.1044/2015_AJSLP-14-0105. PMID: 25654306; PMCID: PMC4450887.
2. Cleave, “The efficacy of recasts,” 252.
3. Ibid, 249
4. Ibid, 250
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Cleave, Patrica L. et al., “The efficacy of recasts in language intervention: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 24, no. 2(2015):237-55. DOI: 10.1044/2015_AJSLP-14-0105. PMID: 25654306; PMCID: PMC4450887.