There are many ways to teach speech and language but we think it is important to remember that the goal should be to teach spontaneous language. So all the strategies we discuss will be part of a responsive conversational style and be real or authentic to  conversation. They will be for the facilitator (most often the adult) to use.  There should be a purpose or strategy applied to each and every thing we communicate or ‘say’ when teaching language.  This extra ‘dose’ of language facilitation is what transitions ordinary talking or language stimulation to specific language teaching/ or speech-language intervention.

At the beginning of the month, we introduced language facilitation strategies by talking about aided language input, which is an authentic way of adding visual language and AAC modeling to the conversation. This week we are talking about RECASTS.

Recasts serve to add or correct information without obstructing the natural flow of communication.  Recasting is another form of modelling. The recast occurs when the facilitator modifies a learners utterance by adding new or different grammar (syntactic) or word meaning information (semantic) information.  Think of it as the facilitator repeating the ‘Right Thing’ or a ‘New Thing’.

How to use Recasts

Use them Frequently

Emphasize with loudness and pause time the corrected or new information

Do Not Make the learner repeat (repetition may happen naturally but repetition is not a

requirement of this strategy and should not be expected)

A Sample of Recast:

Learner: “want cookie”

Facilitator: “I love cookies, my favorite are chocolate chips” OR“I want the cookie please”

Robin Parker