Word-learning abilities in deaf and hard-of-hearing preschoolers: effect of lexicon size and language modality

Strategies for Teaching Verbs to Children with and without Language Impairment

The aim of this feasibility study was to extend the current evidence base on intransitive verb learning by evaluating and comparing three strategies (syntactic cues, semantic cues, combined cues) for teaching novel verbs to expand the vocabularies of children with and without language impairment. Twenty-three children with typical development, seven children with developmental language disorder, and eight children with Down syndrome participated in Studies 1, 2, and 3, respectively. They were taught novel, intransitive verbs using syntactic, semantic, and combined cues and then asked to receptively identify and expressively label the novel verbs. Across all conditions, participants learned novel verbs receptively with large effect sizes and participants with typical development and Down syndrome also learned the verbs expressively with large effect sizes. There were no significant differences between conditions. This study extends word-learning research by evaluating not only receptive but also expressive intransitive verb learning to expand one's vocabulary. The results provide positive evidence for three effective strategies for teaching intransitive verbs to children with and without language impairment.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Vocabulary Interventions for Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children and Adolescents

PURPOSE

The development of vocabulary size in deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) children and adolescents can be delayed compared to their peers due to lack of access to early language input. Complementary vocabulary interventions are reported in the literature. Our aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention methods for their vocabulary improvement.

METHOD

Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we searched five databases for peer-reviewed journal articles in English, published between 2000 and 2022 (inclusive), reporting vocabulary interventions for 2- to 18-year-old DHH children and adolescents without comorbidities. We conducted separate meta-analyses using a random-effects model on receptive oral vocabulary, expressive oral vocabulary, and signed vocabulary. We assessed the methodological quality of each paper. This review is preregistered in PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews) with ID CRD42021243479.

RESULTS

We included 25 group studies in this review out of 1,724 identified records. The quality assessment of the studies revealed risk of bias ranging from some concerns to high risk. Experimental vocabulary instruction produced improvement in receptive oral vocabulary (Hedges's g = 1.08, 95% CI [0.25, 1.90], I² = 93.46, p = .01), expressive oral vocabulary (Hedges's g = 1.00, 95% CI [0.18, 1.83], I² = 96.37, p = .02), and signed vocabulary (Hedges's g = 1.88, 95% CI [1.09, 2.66], I² = 96.01, p < .001) in the experimental groups. Written vocabulary and general vocabulary skills are also reported as a synthesis of results.

CONCLUSIONS

Multisensory and multimodal explicit vocabulary instruction for DHH children and adolescents is helpful in improving vocabulary acquisition with respect to baseline levels. However, its effectiveness must be carefully interpreted due to the lack of proper control groups and details on treatment as usual reported in the studies.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23646357.

Resting-state occipito-frontal alpha connectome is linked to differential word learning ability in adult learners

Adult language learners show distinct abilities in acquiring a new language, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain elusive. Previous studies suggested that resting-state brain connectome may contribute to individual differences in learning ability. Here, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) in a large cohort of 106 healthy young adults (50 males) and examined the associations between resting-state alpha band (8-12 Hz) connectome and individual learning ability during novel word learning, a key component of new language acquisition. Behavioral data revealed robust individual differences in the performance of the novel word learning task, which correlated with their performance in the language aptitude test. EEG data showed that individual resting-state alpha band coherence between occipital and frontal regions positively correlated with differential word learning performance (p = 0.001). The significant positive correlations between resting-state occipito-frontal alpha connectome and differential world learning ability were replicated in an independent cohort of 35 healthy adults. These findings support the key role of occipito-frontal network in novel word learning and suggest that resting-state EEG connectome may be a reliable marker for individual ability during new language learning.

PROTOCOL: Instruments for the evaluation of emotional intelligence in persons with hearing impairments: A scoping review

Objective

This scoping review aims to identify and describe the instruments used to evaluate emotional intelligence in deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) persons.

Introduction

Emotional intelligence is a person's ability to work with emotions in response to a particular situation. Deafness or a hard of hearing has a negative effect on functioning in the field of emotional intelligence and leads to a specific approach to the diagnosis or evaluation of emotional intelligence.

Inclusion Criteria

The scoping review will consider studies focused on persons who are deaf or hard of hearing at any age. The review will consider studies that feature existing instruments and the process of the evaluation of emotional intelligence in people with hearing disabilities. Relevant information will include the type, extent, and form of possible modification of specific instruments and approaches. Criteria for the exclusion of the study will be in terms of the target category being persons with a cochlear implant, psychiatric diagnoses, persons who have become deaf, and persons with multiple disabilities.

Methods

The review will be conducted following the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. The databases to be searched include MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Plus, ProQuest Central, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, Clinical Trials, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Google Scholar. The search for unpublished studies will include ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest). Eligible studies will undergo data extraction by two independent reviewers using a tool created by the authors. Along with a narrative summary, the results will be presented in diagrammatic or tabular form.

Flexible fast-mapping: Deaf children dynamically allocate visual attention to learn novel words in American Sign Language

Word learning in young children requires coordinated attention between language input and the referent object. Current accounts of word learning are based on spoken language, where the association between language and objects occurs through simultaneous and multimodal perception. In contrast, deaf children acquiring American Sign Language (ASL) perceive both linguistic and non-linguistic information through the visual mode. In order to coordinate attention to language input and its referents, deaf children must allocate visual attention optimally between objects and signs. We conducted two eye-tracking experiments to investigate how young deaf children allocate attention and process referential cues in order to fast-map novel signs to novel objects. Participants were deaf children learning ASL between the ages of 17 and 71 months. In Experiment 1, participants (n = 30) were presented with a novel object and a novel sign, along with a referential cue that occurred either before or after the sign label. In Experiment 2, a new group of participants (n = 32) were presented with two novel objects and a novel sign, so that the referential cue was critical for identifying the target object. Across both experiments, participants showed evidence for fast-mapping the signs regardless of the timing of the referential cue. Individual differences in children's allocation of attention during exposure were correlated with their ability to fast-map the novel signs at test. This study provides first evidence for fast-mapping in sign language, and contributes to theoretical accounts of how word learning develops when all input occurs in the visual modality.

Effects of Parents' Mealtime Conversation Techniques for Preschool Children With Hearing Loss Who Use Listening and Spoken Language

Purpose This mixed-methods study aimed to examine the conversation techniques used by parents of young children with hearing loss (HL) during dinnertime at home. Parents' usage rates of open- and closed-ended language elicitation, reformulation, imitation, directives, and explicit vocabulary instruction were examined in relation to children's receptive vocabulary and basic-concepts skills. Method Twenty-minute dinnertime segments were extracted from naturalistic, daylong recordings of 37 preschoolers with HL who used listening and spoken language. The segments were hand-coded for parents' use of conversation techniques. Children's receptive vocabulary and basic concepts were assessed using standardized measures. Results Parents' use of conversation techniques varied widely, with closed-ended elicitation and directives used most frequently during dinner. Explicit vocabulary instruction was correlated with general receptive vocabulary and basic-concepts skills. Thematic analysis of the conversations revealed common themes, including concrete topics and sibling speakers. In addition, parents who used many techniques often introduced abstract conversation topics; electronic media was present in all conversations with few techniques. Conclusions Parents of preschoolers with HL may benefit from specific coaching to elicit language and introduce new vocabulary during home routines. These techniques may help develop their children's receptive language.

Assessing Vocabulary in Deaf and Hearing Children using Finnish Sign Language

This study investigates children's vocabulary knowledge in Finnish Sign Language (FinSL), specifically their understanding of different form-meaning mappings by using a multilayered assessment format originally developed for British Sign Language (BSL). The web-based BSL vocabulary test by Mann (2009) was adapted for FinSL following the steps outlined by Mann, Roy and Morgan (2016) and piloted with a small group of deaf and hearing native signers (N = 24). Findings showed a hierarchy of difficulty between the tasks, which is concordant with results reported previously for BSL and American Sign Language (ASL). Additionally, the reported psychometric properties of the FinSL vocabulary test strengthen previous claims made for BSL and ASL that the underlying construct is appropriate for use with signed languages. Results also add new insights into the adaptation process of tests from one signed language to another and show this process to be a reliable and valid way to develop assessment tools in lesser-researched signed languages such as FinSL.

The role of developmental change and linguistic experience in the mutual exclusivity effect

Given a novel word and a familiar and a novel referent, children have a bias to assume the novel word refers to the novel referent. This bias - often referred to as "Mutual Exclusivity" (ME) - is thought to be a potentially powerful route through which children might learn new word meanings, and, consequently, has been the focus of a large amount of empirical study and theorizing. Here, we focus on two aspects of the bias that have received relatively little attention in the literature: Development and experience. A successful theory of ME will need to provide an account for why the strength of the effect changes with the age of the child. We provide a quantitative description of the change in the strength of the bias across development, and investigate the role that linguistic experience plays in this developmental change. We first summarize the current body of empirical findings via a meta-analysis, and then present two experiments that examine the relationship between a child's amount of linguistic experience and the strength of the ME bias. We conclude that the strength of the bias varies dramatically across development and that linguistic experience is likely one causal factor contributing to this change. In the General Discussion, we describe how existing theories of ME can account for our findings, and highlight the value of computational modeling for future theorizing.

Associations Between Parenting Stress, Language Comprehension, and Inhibitory Control in Children With Hearing Loss

Purpose Parenting stress has been studied as a potential predictor of developmental outcomes in children with normal hearing and children who are deaf and hard of hearing. However, it is unclear how parenting stress might underlie at-risk spoken language and neurocognitive outcomes in this clinical pediatric population. We investigated parenting stress levels and the shared relations between parenting stress, language comprehension, and inhibitory control skills in children with and without hearing loss (HL) using a cross-sectional design. Method Families of children with HL (n = 39) and with normal hearing (n = 41) were tested. Children completed an age-appropriate version of the Concepts & Following Directions subtest of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals and the NIH Toolbox Flanker Test of Attention and Inhibitory control. Caregivers completed the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form 4. Results Parenting stress levels were not significantly different between parents of children with and without HL. A significant negative association was observed between parenting stress and our measure of language comprehension in children with HL. A negative association between parenting stress and inhibitory control skills was also found in families of children with HL, but not hearing children. The parenting stress-inhibitory control relationship was indirectly accounted for by delayed language comprehension skills in children with HL. Conclusion Even at moderate levels of parenting stress similar to parents of children with normal hearing, increases in parenting stress were associated with lower scores on our measures of language comprehension and inhibitory control in children with HL. Thus, parenting stress may underlie some of the variability in at-risk pediatric HL outcomes.

Are French Fries a Vegetable? Lexical Typicality Judgement Differences in Deaf and Hearing Learners

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) learners are known to have vocabulary knowledge and language outcomes more heterogeneous than their hearing peers, with a greater incidence of difficulties presumably related (both as cause and effect) to documented challenges in academic domains. In particular, there is increasing evidence that differences may exist in the ways that semantic networks are structured and accessed in DHH and hearing learners. Individuals' judgments of word typicality offers a window into their semantic networks, revealing internal relationships in the mental lexicon. In the present study, 90 DHH and hearing college-aged learners provided typicality ratings at two points in time for 120 words common words considered to be central, borderline, or non-members of six categories. DHH and hearing participants differed in terms of their word knowledge, rating consistency, and rating magnitudes. Relative to hearing peers, DHH participants reported not knowing more of the words, but rated all words as being more typical than did hearing participants and rated the typicality of items more consistently over time. Implications of these findings for understanding mental lexicon structure for DHH and hearing learners, interpreting previous research, and constructing stimuli for future research are discussed.

Analysis of Amount and Style of Oral Interaction Related to Language Outcomes in Children With Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review (2006-2016)

Purpose This systematic review summarizes the evidence for differences in the amount of language input between children with and without hearing loss (HL). Of interest to this review is evaluating the associations between language input and language outcomes (receptive and expressive) in children with HL in order to enhance insight regarding what oral language input is associated with good communication outcomes. Method A systematic review was conducted using keywords in 3 electronic databases: Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Keywords were related to language input, language outcomes, and HL. Titles and abstracts were screened independently, and full-text manuscripts meeting inclusion criteria were extracted. An appraisal checklist was used to evaluate the methodological quality of studies as poor, good, or excellent. Results After removing duplicates, 1,545 study results were extracted, with 27 eligible for full-text review. After the appraisal, 8 studies were included in this systematic review. Differences in the amount of language input between children with and without HL were noted. Conversational exchanges, open-ended questions, expansions, recast, and parallel talk were positively associated with stronger receptive and expressive language scores. The quality of evidence was not assessed as excellent for any of the included studies. Conclusions This systematic review reveals low-level evidence from 8 studies that specific language inputs (amount and style) are optimal for oral language outcomes in children with HL. Limitations were identified as sample selection bias, lack of information on control of confounders and assessment protocols, and limited duration of observation/recordings. Future research should address these limitations.

Relations Between Teacher Talk Characteristics and Child Language in Spoken-Language Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Classrooms

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to examine relations between teachers' conversational techniques and language gains made by their deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Specifically, we considered teachers' reformulations of child utterances, language elicitations, explicit vocabulary and syntax instruction, and wait time.

METHOD

This was an observational, longitudinal study that examined the characteristics of teacher talk in 25 kindergarten through second-grade classrooms of 68 deaf and hard-of-hearing children who used spoken English. Standardized assessments provided measures of child vocabulary and morphosyntax in the fall and spring of a school year. Characteristics of teacher talk were coded from classroom video recordings during the winter of that year.

RESULTS

Hierarchical linear modeling indicated that reformulating child statements and explicitly teaching vocabulary were significant predictors of child vocabulary gains across a school year. Explicitly teaching vocabulary also significantly predicted gains in morphosyntax abilities. There were wide individual differences in the teachers' use of these conversational techniques.

CONCLUSION

Reformulation and explicit vocabulary instruction may be areas where training can help teachers improve, and improvements in the teachers' talk may benefit their students.

Comparing Auditory-Only and Audiovisual Word Learning for Children With Hearing Loss

Although reducing visual input to emphasize auditory cues is a common practice in pediatric auditory (re)habilitation, the extant literature offers minimal empirical evidence for whether unisensory auditory-only (AO) or multisensory audiovisual (AV) input is more beneficial to children with hearing loss for developing spoken language skills. Using an adapted alternating treatments single case research design, we evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of a receptive word learning intervention with and without access to visual speechreading cues. Four preschool children with prelingual hearing loss participated. Based on probes without visual cues, three participants demonstrated strong evidence for learning in the AO and AV conditions relative to a control (no-teaching) condition. No participants demonstrated a differential rate of learning between AO and AV conditions. Neither an inhibitory effect predicted by a unisensory theory nor a beneficial effect predicted by a multisensory theory for providing visual cues was identified. Clinical implications are discussed.

The Effect of Hearing Loss on Novel Word Learning in Infant- and Adult-Directed Speech

OBJECTIVES

Relatively little is known about how young children with hearing impairment (HI) learn novel words in infant- and adult-directed speech (ADS). Infant-directed speech (IDS) supports word learning in typically developing infants relative to ADS. This study examined how children with normal hearing (NH) and children with HI learn novel words in IDS and ADS. It was predicted that IDS would support novel word learning in both groups of children. In addition, children with HI were expected to be less proficient word learners as compared with their NH peers.

DESIGN

A looking-while-listening paradigm was used to measure novel word learning in 16 children with sensorineural HI (age range 23.2 to 42.1 months) who wore either bilateral hearing aids (n = 10) or bilateral cochlear implants (n = 6) and 16 children with NH (age range 23.1 to 42.1 months) who were matched for gender, chronological age, and maternal education level. Two measures of word learning were assessed (accuracy and reaction time). Each child participated in two experiments approximately 1 week apart, one in IDS and one in ADS.

RESULTS

Both groups successfully learned the novel words in both speech type conditions, as evidenced by children looking at the correct picture significantly above chance. As a group, children with NH outperformed children with HI in the novel word learning task; however, there were no significant differences between performance on IDS versus ADS. More fine-grained time course analyses revealed that children with HI, and particularly children who use hearing aids, had more difficulty learning novel words in ADS, compared with children with NH.

CONCLUSIONS

The pattern of results observed in the children with HI suggests that they may need extended support from clinicians and caregivers, through the use of IDS, during novel word learning. Future research should continue to focus on understanding the factors (e.g., device type and use, age of intervention, audibility, acoustic characteristics of input, etc.) that may influence word learning in children with HI in both IDS and ADS.

Symbolic Play and Novel Noun Learning in Deaf and Hearing Children: Longitudinal Effects of Access to Sound on Early Precursors of Language

In the largest, longitudinal study of young, deaf children before and three years after cochlear implantation, we compared symbolic play and novel noun learning to age-matched hearing peers. Participants were 180 children from six cochlear implant centers and 96 hearing children. Symbolic play was measured during five minutes of videotaped, structured solitary play. Play was coded as "symbolic" if the child used substitution (e.g., a wooden block as a bed). Novel noun learning was measured in 10 trials using a novel object and a distractor. Cochlear implant vs. normal hearing children were delayed in their use of symbolic play, however, those implanted before vs. after age two performed significantly better. Children with cochlear implants were also delayed in novel noun learning (median delay 1.54 years), with minimal evidence of catch-up growth. Quality of parent-child interactions was positively related to performance on the novel noun learning, but not symbolic play task. Early implantation was beneficial for both achievement of symbolic play and novel noun learning. Further, maternal sensitivity and linguistic stimulation by parents positively affected noun learning skills, although children with cochlear implants still lagged in comparison to hearing peers.

An Introduction to the Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss Study

The landscape of service provision for young children with hearing loss has shifted in recent years as a result of newborn hearing screening and the early provision of interventions, including hearing technologies. It is expected that early service provision will minimize or prevent linguistic delays that typically accompany untreated permanent childhood hearing loss. The post-newborn hearing screening era has seen a resurgence of interest in empirically examining the outcomes of children with hearing loss to determine if service innovations have resulted in expected improvements in children's functioning. The Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss (OCHL) project was among these recent research efforts, and this introductory article provides background in the form of literature review and theoretical discussion to support the goals of the study. The Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss project was designed to examine the language and auditory outcomes of infants and preschool-age children with permanent, bilateral, mild-to-severe hearing loss, and to identify factors that moderate the relationship between hearing loss and longitudinal outcomes. The authors propose that children who are hard of hearing experience limitations in access to linguistic input, which lead to a decrease in uptake of language exposure and an overall reduction in linguistic experience. The authors explore this hypothesis in relation to three primary factors that are proposed to influence children's access to linguistic input: aided audibility, duration and consistency of hearing aid use, and characteristics of caregiver input.

Effects of Morphographic Instruction on the Morphographic Analysis Skills of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students have delayed morphographic knowledge that negatively affects their morphographic analysis and decoding abilities. Morphographic analysis instruction may improve DHH students' morphographic knowledge delay. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of morphographic instruction on the morphographic analysis skills of reading-delayed, late-elementary DHH students. The research question was: What effect does morphographic instruction have on the morphographic analysis skills of DHH students who are reading below grade level? The study included 3 student participants and 1 teacher participant from a local school district. The researchers used a multiprobe multiple baseline across participants design. The intervention was implemented for 20 min a day, 5 days a week for 2-3 weeks. Visual analysis of the data revealed the requisite number of demonstrations of effect and replications. The intervention improved DHH students' ability to dissect words and determine affix meanings, which may in turn positively affect their decoding abilities. Implications of this study and future research are discussed.

Exploring the use of dynamic language assessment with deaf children, who use American Sign Language: Two case studies

We describe a model for assessment of lexical-semantic organization skills in American Sign Language (ASL) within the framework of dynamic vocabulary assessment and discuss the applicability and validity of the use of mediated learning experiences (MLE) with deaf signing children. Two elementary students (ages 7;6 and 8;4) completed a set of four vocabulary tasks and received two 30-minute mediations in ASL. Each session consisted of several scripted activities focusing on the use of categorization. Both had experienced difficulties in providing categorically related responses in one of the vocabulary tasks used previously. Results showed that the two students exhibited notable differences with regards to their learning pace, information uptake, and effort required by the mediator. Furthermore, we observed signs of a shift in strategic behavior by the lower performing student during the second mediation. Results suggest that the use of dynamic assessment procedures in a vocabulary context was helpful in understanding children's strategies as related to learning potential. These results are discussed in terms of deaf children's cognitive modifiability with implications for planning instruction and how MLE can be used with a population that uses ASL.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The reader will (1) recognize the challenges in appropriate language assessment of deaf signing children; (2) recall the three areas explored to investigate whether a dynamic assessment approach is sensitive to differences in deaf signing children's language learning profiles (3) discuss how dynamic assessment procedures can make deaf signing children's individual language learning differences visible.

Linguistic input, electronic media, and communication outcomes of toddlers with hearing loss

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to examine the quantity of adult words, adult-child conversational turns, and electronic media in the auditory environments of toddlers who are hard of hearing (HH) and to examine whether these factors contributed to variability in children's communication outcomes.

DESIGN

Participants were 28 children with mild to severe hearing loss. Full-day recordings of children's auditory environments were collected within 6 months of their second birthdays by using Language ENvironment Analysis technology. The system analyzes full-day acoustic recordings, yielding estimates of the quantity of adult words, conversational turns, and electronic media exposure in the recordings. Children's communication outcomes were assessed via the receptive and expressive scales of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning at 2 years of age and the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language at 3 years of age.

RESULTS

On average, the HH toddlers were exposed to approximately 1400 adult words per hour and participated in approximately 60 conversational turns per hour. An average of 8% of each recording was classified as electronic media. However, there was considerable within-group variability on all three measures. Frequency of conversational turns, but not adult words, was positively associated with children's communication outcomes at 2 and 3 years of age. Amount of electronic media exposure was negatively associated with 2-year-old receptive language abilities; however, regression results indicate that the relationship was fully mediated by the quantity of conversational turns.

CONCLUSIONS

HH toddlers who were engaged in more conversational turns demonstrated stronger linguistic outcomes than HH toddlers who were engaged in fewer conversational turns. The frequency of these interactions was found to be decreased in households with high rates of electronic media exposure. Optimal language-learning environments for HH toddlers include frequent linguistic interactions between parents and children. To support this goal, parents should be encouraged to reduce their children's exposure to electronic media.

Hear here: children with hearing loss learn words by listening

OBJECTIVES

Early use of hearing devices and family participation in auditory-verbal therapy has been associated with age-appropriate verbal communication outcomes for children with hearing loss. However, there continues to be great variability in outcomes across different oral intervention programmes and little consensus on how therapists should prioritise goals at each therapy session for positive clinical outcomes. This pilot intervention study aimed to determine whether therapy goals that concentrate on teaching preschool children with hearing loss how to distinguish between words in a structured listening programme is effective, and whether gains in speech perception skills impact on vocabulary and speech development without them having to be worked on directly in therapy.

METHOD

A multiple baseline across subjects design was used in this within-subject controlled study. 3 children aged between 2:6 and 3:1 with moderate-severe to severe-profound hearing loss were recruited for a 6-week intervention programme. Each participant commenced at different stages of the 10-staged listening programme depending on their individual listening skills at recruitment. Speech development and vocabulary assessments were conducted before and after the training programme in addition to speech perception assessments and probes conducted throughout the intervention programme.

RESULTS

All participants made gains in speech perception skills as well as vocabulary and speech development. Speech perception skills acquired were noted to be maintained a week after intervention. In addition, all participants were able to generalise speech perception skills learnt to words that had not been used in the intervention programme.

CONCLUSIONS

This pilot study found that therapy directed at listening alone is promising and that it may have positive impact on speech and vocabulary development without these goals having to be incorporated into a therapy programme. Although a larger study is necessary for more conclusive findings, the results from this preliminary study are promising in support of emphasise on listening skills within auditory-verbal therapy programmes.

Effects of a word-learning training on children with cochlear implants

Preschool children with hearing loss who use cochlear implants demonstrate vocabulary delays when compared to their peers without hearing loss. These delays may be a result of deficient word-learning abilities; children with cochlear implants perform more poorly on rapid word-learning tasks than children with normal hearing. This study explored the malleability of rapid word learning of preschoolers with cochlear implants by evaluating the effects of a word-learning training on rapid word learning. A single-subject, multiple probe design across participants measured the impact of the training on children's rapid word-learning performance. Participants included 5 preschool children with cochlear implants who had an expressive lexicon of less than 150 words. An investigator guided children to identify, repeat, and learn about unknown sets of words in 2-weekly sessions across 10 weeks. The probe measure, a rapid word-learning task with a different set of words than those taught during training, was collected in the baseline, training, and maintenance conditions. All participants improved their receptive rapid word-learning performance in the training condition. The functional relation indicates that the receptive rapid word-learning performance of children with cochlear implants is malleable.

The effects of audibility and novel word learning ability on vocabulary level in children with cochlear implants

OBJECTIVES

A novel word learning (NWL) paradigm was used to explore underlying phonological and cognitive mechanisms responsible for delayed vocabulary level in children with cochlear implants (CIs).

METHODS

One hundred and one children using CIs, 6-12 years old, were tested along with 47 children with normal hearing (NH). Tests of NWL, receptive vocabulary, and speech perception at 2 loudness levels were administered to children with CIs. Those with NH completed the NWL task and a receptive vocabulary test. CI participants with good audibility (GA) versus poor audibility (PA) were compared on all measures. Analysis of variance was used to compare performance across the children with NH and the two groups of children with CIs. Multiple regression analysis was employed to identify independent predictors of vocabulary outcomes.

RESULTS

Children with CIs in the GA group scored higher in receptive vocabulary and NWL than children in the PA group, although they did not reach NH levels. CI-aided pure tone threshold and performance on the NWL task predicted independent variance in vocabulary after accounting for other known predictors.

DISCUSSION

Acquiring spoken vocabulary is facilitated by GA with a CI and phonological learning and memory skills. Children with CIs did not learn novel words at the same rate or achieve the same receptive vocabulary levels as their NH peers. Maximizing audibility for the perception of speech and direct instruction of new vocabulary may be necessary for children with CIs to reach levels seen in peers with NH.

Word learning processes in children with cochlear implants

PURPOSE

To determine whether 3 aspects of the word learning process-fast mapping, retention, and extension-are problematic for children with cochlear implants (CIs).

METHOD

The authors compared responses of 24 children with CIs, 24 age-matched hearing children, and 23 vocabulary-matched hearing children to a novel object noun training episode. Comprehension and production were measured immediately following training (fast mapping) as well as 1 day later (retention). Extension was measured in terms of the ability of the participants to identify new (untrained) exemplars.

RESULTS

Compared with their hearing age-mates, children with CIs performed marginally more poorly on fast mapping as measured by the comprehension probe and more poorly on retention as measured by comprehension and production probes. The age-mates improved over the retention interval, but the children with CIs did not. Most of the children with CIs performed similarly to their age-mates on extension, but 2 children underextended, and 5 children failed to understand the task. Compared with younger vocabulary-matched peers, children with CIs did not differ at fast mapping, retention, or extension.

CONCLUSIONS

Children with CIs demonstrated deficits in word learning, with retention being especially problematic. Their learning did not differ from that of younger children with similarly sized vocabularies.

Lexical organization in deaf children who use British Sign Language: evidence from a semantic fluency task

We adapted the semantic fluency task into British Sign Language (BSL). In Study 1, we present data from twenty-two deaf signers aged four to fifteen. We show that the same 'cognitive signatures' that characterize this task in spoken languages are also present in deaf children, for example, the semantic clustering of responses. In Study 2, we present data from thirteen deaf children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in BSL, in comparison to a subset of children from Study 1 matched for age and BSL exposure. The two groups' results were comparable in most respects. However, the group with SLI made occasional word-finding errors and gave fewer responses in the first 15 seconds. We conclude that deaf children with SLI do not differ from their controls in terms of the semantic organization of the BSL lexicon, but that they access signs less efficiently.

Quantity of parental language in the home environments of hard-of-hearing 2-year-olds

Automated analyses of full-day recordings were used to determine whether young children who are hard-of-hearing (HH) received similar levels of exposure to adult words and conversational interactions as age-matched peers with normal-hearing (NH). Differences in adult input between children in this study and in a normative database were considered. Finally, factors were examined that may have contributed to individual differences in the input characteristics of families. Results indicated that the NH and HH groups were exposed to similar numbers of adult words and conversational turns. However, both the NH and HH groups were exposed to more adult words and engaged in more conversational turns than the NH children in the normative sample. Considering only the HH group, both quantity of adult words and conversational exchanges were correlated with children's auditory characteristics. Children's receptive language ability was correlated with conversational exchanges but not with adult word counts.

Korean deaf adolescents' awareness of thematic and taxonomic relations among ordinary concepts represented by pictures and written words

Individuals' relative awareness of thematic and taxonomic relations is influenced by factors such as language and background knowledge. Relatively weak in Korean language skills and also having relatively limited social opportunities, Korean deaf adolescents might be different from hearing adolescents in how they make decisions in taxonomically and thematically associated entities represented by pictures and words. Experiment 1 indicated that deaf adolescents had longer reaction times than hearing adolescents in a forced-choice decision-making task. Both deaf and hearing adolescents had shorter reaction times and higher accuracies with pictures than with words, but deaf adolescents' differences were bigger than those of hearing adolescents. Experiment 2 further showed that deaf adolescents had lower accuracies than hearing adolescents in a priming task of living-nonliving categorization. Both deaf and hearing adolescents had shorter reaction times with taxonomic than with thematic categories, but deaf adolescents' difference was bigger than that of hearing adolescents. In conclusion, Korean deaf adolescents were aware of thematic and taxonomic relations less than hearing adolescents in general. They were more likely than hearing adolescents to show the advantage of pictures over words in their performance in conceptual activities and to prefer taxonomic to thematic associations for written words in Experiment 2.

Effects of early auditory experience on word learning and speech perception in deaf children with cochlear implants: implications for sensitive periods of language development

HYPOTHESIS

That early word learning and speech perception skills have different sensitive periods and that very early implantation may affect later vocabulary outcomes more than speech perception outcomes.

BACKGROUND

Several studies have found that deaf children who receive cochlear implants before 3 years of age tend to have better speech perception outcomes than children implanted later. Recent studies have not found age-at-implantation effects on speech perception or central auditory processing among children implanted younger than 2 years, suggesting that there may be a sensitive period for speech perception skills that closes by around 3 years of age. There has been very little work investigating possible sensitive periods for other language skills, such as the ability to learn words. Recent work suggests the possibility that the development of word-learning skills may have an earlier sensitive period than the development of speech perception skills.

METHODS

Assess speech perception and vocabulary outcomes in children implanted before 13 months of age and in children implanted between 16 and 23 months of age.

RESULTS

Children implanted during the first year of life had better vocabulary outcomes than children implanted during the second year of life. However, earlier implanted children did not show better speech perception outcomes than later implanted children.

CONCLUSION

There may be an earlier sensitive period for developing the ability to associate the sound patterns of words to their referents than for developing speech perception and central auditory processing skills.