Post #5: Current Approaches: Taxonomic Organization Part 1

Jennifer Kent-Walsh & Cathy Binger

10/4/2016 3:44 PM

What does it mean to use a taxonomic approach to vocabulary organization?
Using a taxonomic approach to vocabulary organization involves grouping symbols by superordinate categories such as people, places, feelings, food, actions etc. If you were given a stack of flash cards containing a printed word on each and were asked to place the cards in piles, you might automatically start organizing the cards in this manner. This approach tends to immediately make sense to adults, because this is the way we mentally organize words. However, research has provided indications that this approach to organization may not be as intuitive to younger children – perhaps not until they are at least 6 or 7 years old.

AAC displays are often organized using taxonomic displays: one display for animals, another for food (and perhaps more specific displays for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts) etc. Systematic research has not been conducted to look at the long-term language development impact of using these kinds of displays within AAC systems. Ideally, we want young children to be able to quickly locate thousands of words, but we know that taxonomic displays have significant learning costs; this is not an easy task, even for young typically developing children. For example, consider the different displays a child would have to find to say basic sentence such as “I broke a glass and cut my arm.” Depending on the system, he would have to locate pronouns, actions, articles, kitchenware, conjunctions, body parts – you can see how this might take a significant amount of time and effort, particularly for a young child who doesn’t yet understand which words go in which categories.

And what about words that fit into more than one category? For example, ‘glass’ may be located with kitchenware, but ‘glass’ also is a type of material. Should these types of words – and there are thousands in English – be stored in one location, or in multiple categories? Which approach is better in the short-term? Or the long-term? These are questions that we must consider as we look at this overall approach.

In the next post, we’ll examine the ways in which the taxonomic vocabulary organization approach may and may not adhere to normal language development.

References:
Beukelman, D. R. and Mirenda, P. (2013). Augmentative & Alternative Communication: Supporting children and adults with complex communication needs. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing Co.

Fallon, K., Light, J & Achenback, A. (2003). The semantic organization patterns of young children: Implications for augmentative and alternative communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 19, 74-85.

Drager, K. D. R., Light, J. C., Speltz, J. C., Fallon, K. A., & Jeffries, L. Z. (2003). Performance of typically developing 2 1/2-year-olds on dynamic display AAC technologies with different system layouts and language organizations. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 46, 298–312. http://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2004/084)

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