THE ROLE OF DIRECTIVES IN EARLY LANGUAGE INTERVENTION

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the appropriate role for direc tives in language intervention. Three types of directives are defined. follow-in, redirectives, and introductions. Two conceptual models for the role of directives in language development are then presented. Th e research supports the hypothesis that follow-in directives facilitat e language development and can play a useful role in intervention. Red irectives are either negatively or nonsignificantly associated with la nguage development and have a less useful role in language interventio n. The role of introductions is less clear, and more research needs to be done. Finally, 3 issues, the possible covariation of directiveness and responsiveness, cultural differences in the else of directives, a nd a useful role for redirectives separate from language development, are discussed.