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The effectiveness of the Oral Language for Literacy Intervention (OLLI) program in children with developmental language difficulties

The effectiveness of the Oral Language for Literacy Intervention (OLLI) program: a randomized controlled trial

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ISRCTN
Registry ID
ISRCTN78621766
Enrollment
324
Registered
2021-12-13
Start date
2021-06-01
Completion date
Unknown
Last updated
2026-05-04

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Developmental language difficulties Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Interventions

Schools have been recruited from London Boroughs, the South East of England and Cambridgeshire. All children in all participating classrooms will undergo language assessments at pretest and all pretes
CELF 4 Formulating Sentences
CELF 4 Understanding Spoken Paragraphs
Renfrew Action Picture test ((i) information and (ii) grammar). These baseline tests will be administered by trained testers prior to randomisation. After pretesting is completed, pupils will be rando

Sponsors

University of Oxford
Lead Sponsor

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
All
Age
6 Years to 9 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Children must be in Year 4 class (or Year 3-4 mixed class). 2. Children must be aged 6 years 10 months to 9 years at pretest. 3. Children will be selected for having language weaknesses in comparison to their peers

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Does not meet inclusion criteria

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
A latent language variable created from the four individually administered language tests (CELF 4 Recalling Sentences; CELF 4 Formulating Sentences; CELF 4 Understanding Spoken Paragraphs; Renfrew Action Picture test - Information and Grammar) measured at pretest (baseline) in December 2021 and at posttest (on completion of the 20-week intervention in June/July 2022)

Secondary

MeasureTime frame
Measured at pretest (baseline) in December 2021 and at posttest (on completion of the 20-week intervention in June/July 2022): 1. A latent language variable created from the four LanguageScreen subtests (Receptive Vocabulary, Expressive Vocabulary, Listening Comprehension and Sentence Repetition) 2. A latent language factor based on the four individually administered language tests (CELF 4 Recalling Sentences; CELF 4 Formulating Sentences; CELF 4 Understanding Spoken Paragraphs; Renfrew Action Picture test - Information and Grammar) 3. A latent variable of expressive writing based on the Writing Assessment Measure (WAM) involving measures of sentence structure and grammar, organisation and planning, vocabulary and ideas. 4. A latent variable for arithmetic skills based on one minute addition and subtraction tests (TOBANS) 5. Two observed variables assessing bespoke taught vocabulary (i.e. a measure of the understanding of words directly taught in the intervention) and bespoke untaught vocabulary (i.e. a measure of the understanding of words of similar difficulty to the bespoke taught words, but which have not been directly taught in the intervention)

Countries

England, United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: May 7, 2026