A critical review of interventions targeting prosody

Abstract

This is a critical review of the research literature pertaining to the treatment of prosody. The studies were located using electronic databases and were analysed with respect to participants, design, treatment methods, outcome measures, and findings. Although only 14 studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, there was considerable diversity among the studies with respect to age of participants, type of communication disorder, treatment procedures, and outcomes. Each of the 14 studies reported at least partial success for outcomes such as increased pitch differential, appropriate production of affect in sentences, increased sound pressure level or loudness, and appropriate use of stress. The results were interpreted as supporting the contention that prosody of people with communication impairment can be changed as the result of treatment. However, several concerns about the rigor of the research were offered. For example, there was limited blinding of data analysers, inconsistent presentation of reliability data, assignment to treatment groups involved more matching/counterbalancing than randomization.

Keywords:

• Prosody
• intervention
• treatment