Language Sample Practices With Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Abstract

Purpose In this study, we aimed to identify common language sample practices of professionals who work with children who are Deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) who use listening and spoken language as a means to better understand why and how language sampling can be utilized by speech-language pathologists serving this population. Method An electronic questionnaire was disseminated to professionals who serve children who are DHH and use listening and spoken language in the United States. Participant responses were coded in an Excel file and checked for completeness. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze trends. Results A total of 168 participants participated in the survey. A majority of participants reported that they use language sampling as a part of their intervention when working with children who are DHH. However, approximately half of participants reported using norm-referenced testing most often when evaluating language of children who are DHH, regardless of the fact that they felt that language samples were more sensitive in identifying the errors of children who are DHH. Participants reported using language samples to monitor progress and set goals for clients. Participants rarely used language samples for eligibility and interprofessional collaboration. Conclusions Language samples offer a unique way to examine a child's language development that norm-referenced assessments are not sensitive enough to detect, particularly for children who are DHH. This offers insights into current practice and implications for the development of a more clearly defined language sample protocol to guide practices in the use of language samples with children who are DHH and use listening and spoken language.

Language and Reading Outcomes in Fourth-Grade Children With Mild Hearing Loss Compared to Age-Matched Hearing Peers

“…Use of these end-state measures does not allow for examination of language processing in real time. Furthermore, these tests may not be sensitive to the unique vulnerabilities of children who are hard of hearing, especially with respect to high-frequency verb and noun morphology (Blaiser & Shannahan, 2018;Koehlinger et al, 2013;Koehlinger, Van Horne, Oleson, McCreery, & Moeller, 2015). The vocabulary measure, in particular, only assessed surface-level lexical knowledge.…”

Early Vocabulary in Children With Cochlear Implants: A Comparison Between Three Assessment Methods

“…Language samples are recognized as part of the "best practices" in the evaluation of young children with hearing loss (Blaiser & Shannahan, 2018). However, this method of investigation is demanding in terms of the time required to complete the transcription and analysis (Nott et al, 2003).…”

“…Again, age at the time of test ranged from 5 to 13 years of age. According to Blaiser and Shannahan (2018), the fact that most language tests do not include children with hearing loss in their norming population prevents their widespread use with deaf and hard-of-hearing children.…”