Literacy Skills in Children With Cochlear Implants: The Importance of Early Oral Language and Joint Storybook Reading

Abstract

The goal of this study was to longitudinally examine relationships between early factors (child and mother) that may influence children's phonological awareness and reading skills 3 years later in a group of young children with cochlear implants (N = 16). Mothers and children were videotaped during two storybook interactions, and children's oral language skills were assessed using the "Reynell Developmental Language Scales, third edition." Three years later, phonological awareness, reading skills, and language skills were assessed using the "Phonological Awareness Test," the "Woodcock-Johnson-III Diagnostic Reading Battery," and the "Oral Written Language Scales." Variables included in the data analyses were child (age, age at implant, and language skills) and mother factors (facilitative language techniques) and children's phonological awareness and reading standard scores. Results indicate that children's early expressive oral language skills and mothers' use of a higher level facilitative language technique (open-ended question) during storybook reading, although related, each contributed uniquely to children's literacy skills. Individual analyses revealed that the children with expressive standard scores below 70 at Time 1 also performed below average (<85) on phonological awareness and total reading tasks 3 years later. Guidelines for professionals are provided to support literacy skills in young children with cochlear implants.

Early Literacy Gains in Children With Cochlear Implants

“…The strong association between receptive language and early reading is therefore not a surprising finding, although DesJardin et al (14) found expressive language to be more predictive. The additional impact of reading on language gaps is of particular importance in children with CIs as they struggle to catch up and keep up with their hearing peers.…”

“…Furthermore, the extent of literacy development is related to how frequently children participate in analytical talk including the making of predictions and inferences (9). Parental use of complex and facilitative language in daily communication (12) and joint reading (13,14) has also been reported to influence the language development and reading performance of children with CIs.…”

“…Verbal language skills are also predictive of emergent reading skills including phonologic awareness (14). Reports of the benefits of early intervention on both verbal language (2,15) and reading (16Y18) suggest that in the age of newborn screening, improved reading outcomes may now be realized.…”

Reliability of the Language ENvironment Analysis system (LENA™) in European French

“…It is well-known that degraded sensory inputs will negatively impact oral language development in children with hearing loss (Briscoe, Bishop, & Norbury, 2001;StoelGammon, 1988;Yoshinaga-Itano, Sedey, Coulter, & Mehl, 1998), whereas appropriate auditory stimulations will play a major role in both phonological and lexical development (Desjardin, Ambrose, & Eisenberg, 2009;Farran, Ledesberg, & Jackson, 2009). Recent studies using LENA also point in this direction.…”

Supplement to the JCIH 2007 Position Statement: Principles and Guidelines for Early Intervention After Confirmation That a Child Is Deaf or Hard of Hearing

“…21 Ask families of newly identified infants/ children who are D/HH annually whether they received the family resource manual and if a service coordinator or EI provider reviewed the information with them. 28 Goal 3 (and Appendix 1) promotes reliance on qualified providers, and recommends processes for ensuring that families access them. Goals 3a and 3b are not intended to be mutually exclusive; rather, they describe key quality elements when providers are using spoken or visual languages.…”