The 'point' of language intervention lessons

There has been a small accumulation of studies of clinician-child discourse. Early work has demonstrated the value of careful description of real lessons as they are carried out by clinicians working with speech and language-disordered children. In this descriptive report the role of non verbal communication is emphasized, particularly with reference to pointing as a clinical teaching device. Transcriptions of three clinician-led lessons were analysed. The results verified the systematic nature of pointing as an augmentation to remedial control. The need for full descriptions of nonverbal communication as it facilitates lesson applications is discussed.