Language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children: Successes and challenges.

Abstract

Childhood hearing loss presents challenges to language development, especially spoken language. In this article, we review existing literature on deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children's patterns and trajectories of language as well as development of theory of mind and literacy. Individual trajectories vary significantly, reflecting access to early identification/intervention, advanced technologies (e.g., cochlear implants), and perceptually accessible language models. DHH children develop sign language in a similar manner as hearing children develop spoken language, provided they are in a language-rich environment. This occurs naturally for DHH children of deaf parents, who constitute 5% of the deaf population. For DHH children of hearing parents, sign language development depends on the age that they are exposed to a perceptually accessible 1st language as well as the richness of input. Most DHH children are born to hearing families who have spoken language as a goal, and such development is now feasible for many children. Some DHH children develop spoken language in bilingual (sign-spoken language) contexts. For the majority of DHH children, spoken language development occurs in either auditory-only contexts or with sign supports. Although developmental trajectories of DHH children with hearing parents have improved with early identification and appropriate interventions, the majority of children are still delayed compared with hearing children. These DHH children show particular weaknesses in the development of grammar. Language deficits and differences have cascading effects in language-related areas of development, such as theory of mind and literacy development.

Assessment of Expressive Written English Functioning Level of Class Three Pre-Lingually Deaf Learners in Kenya

“…From the results, lack of mastery of reading comprehension at sentence level is a contributor to the learners' low functioning level in expressive written English. The finding is consistent with Lederberg, Schick and Spencer (2012) and Moeller, Tomblin, Yoshinaga-Itano, Conner and Jerger (2007) who found that PRE-LD learners lacked mastery of reading comprehension at sentence level to be able to write a comprehensive text. However, the current finding specifically shows the sentence type the learners are unable to read and understand to facilitate expression at text level by the end of Class III.…”

Assessment of English Grammar Functioning Level of Class Three Prelingually Deaf Learners in Kenya

“…The findings concurred with Lederberg, Schick and Spencer (2012), Lederberg and Spencer (2001), Weizerman andSnow (2001), William, (2012) who found that Elementary School PRE-LD learners were limited in the use of vocabulary in written language. The current study, however, showed the specific verb and adjectival phrases that PRE-LD learners lacked by the end of Class III.…”

“…The finding concurred with Berent (1993Berent ( ,2001), Lederberg,Schick & Spencer(2012, Marschark & Knoor (2012, Moeller, Tomblin,Yoshinaga-Itano, Conner & Jerger (2007;Quigley and King,1980;Wilbur and Quigley, 1975 )which also showed that Elementary school PRE-LD learners were deficient in sentence construction. The current study, however, specifically showed the compound sentences that PRE-LD learners who had not been exposed to language during CLAP.…”

Language and reading comprehension in middle childhood predicts emotional and behaviour difficulties in adolescence for those with permanent childhood hearing loss

“…The beneficial impact of early intervention on language for children with permanent hearing loss has been demonstrated (Meinzen‐Derr, Wiley, & Choo, 2011). However, there is a paucity of evaluation studies to identify optimal intervention strategies to enhance language in the deaf population (Lederberg et al., 2013). …”