Effect of Language Intervention on Mean Length of Utterance in Monolingual and Bilingual Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in a Multi-Ethnic-Lingual Context

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of language intervention in English on twenty monolingual (only English) and twenty bilingual (English and anyone of the Mother Tongue Language) children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, aged between 4;0 and 6;11 years, in Singapore. Each participant received language intervention for six months. Mean Length of Utterance was computed at the baseline and after twenty-four weeks of language intervention. The results revealed statistically significant increase in the vocabulary growth in English in both the study groups, but no significance was indicated between the groups. The study indicated that bilingual exposure in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders does not have any negative impact in their language development.