Historically, researchers have identified that reading outcomes for students in upper grades who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) have typically rested around the late 3rd to early 4th grade. In recent years, wide-scale state-level testing has called into question these prognostications. The authors conducted a descriptive, multiunit, embedded-designs case study of 7 states' data from multiyear annual assessments of reading of participants in grades 3, 5, and 8, and in high school. Participants, states' definitions of reading outcomes, and states' reported reading results are described. The authors, who found that many students are reading at levels above the perceived 3rd-to-4th-grade "glass ceiling," build the case for a more hopeful look at reading outcomes for these students than that of the past and recommend approaches for acquiring wide-scale data that will allow professionals in the field to better understand reading outcomes in this population.
Two key areas of language development include semantic and phonological knowledge. Semantic knowledge relates to word and concept knowledge. Phonological knowledge relates to how language parameters combine to create meaning. We investigated signing deaf adults' and children's semantic and phonological sign generation via one-minute tasks, including animals, foods, and specific handshapes. We investigated the effects of chronological age, age of sign language acquisition/years at school site, gender, presence of a disability, and geographical location (i.e., USA and Puerto Rico) on participants' performance and relations among tasks. In general, the phonological task appeared more difficult than the semantic tasks, students generated more animals than foods, age, and semantic performance correlated for the larger sample of U.S. students, and geographical variation included use of fingerspelling and specific signs. Compared to their peers, deaf students with disabilities generated fewer semantic items. These results provide an initial snapshot of students' semantic and phonological sign generation.
The Authors examined classifier production during narrative retells by 10 deaf and hard of hearing students in grades 2-4 at a day school for the deaf following a 6-week intervention of repeated viewings of stories in American Sign Language (ASL) paired with scripted teacher mediation. Classifier production, documented through a multiple-baseline-across-participants design, was followed by visual analysis and calculation of the percentage of non-overlapping data (Scruggs, Mastropieri, & Casto, 1987). Following the intervention, most students increased specific elements within their classifier production during narrative retells of stories they had watched and showed improved performance from pre- to postintervention measures. Picture support and fading of teacher mediation during retells variably affected classifier production. The results suggest that students may benefit from tailored intervention, including repeated viewings of ASL models paired with teacher mediation and possibly picture support, to increase classifier production during narrative retells.
This chapter reviews research on communication and vocabulary development of deaf and hard of hearing children with hearing parents from infancy through preschool, as well as features of their language learning environment. Important aspects of early development include the acquisition of complex vocalizations or babbling, intentional communication, joint attention, and the pragmatic function and role of language in communication with others. Vocabulary development is described by exploring changes in vocabulary size, growth rate, lexicon content, and the ability to learn novel words quickly. The final section reviews research on the characteristics of parental input that may affect the rate of vocabulary development. Throughout the chapter, changes in developmental trajectories resulting from early identification and intervention, and improved technologies (i.e., digital hearing aids and cochlear implants) are described.
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