Longitudinal Development of Phonology and Morphology in Children With Late-Identified Mild-Moderate Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Abstract

Objective Studies of language development in children with mild-moderate hearing loss are relatively rare. Longitudinal studies of children with late-identified hearing loss have not been conducted, and they are relevant for determining how a period of unaided mild-moderate hearing loss impacts development. In recent years, newborn hearing screening programs have effectively reduced the ages of identification for most children with permanent hearing loss. However, some children continue to be identified late and research is needed to guide management decisions. Further, studies of this group may help to discern if language normalizes following intervention, and/or if certain aspects of language might be vulnerable to persistent delays. The current study examines the impact of late identification and reduced audibility on speech and language outcomes via a longitudinal study of four children with mild-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Design Longitudinal outcomes of four children with late-identified mild-moderate sensorinueral hearing loss were studied using standardized measures and language sampling procedures, from at or near the point of identification (28 – 41 months) through 84 months of age. The children with hearing loss were compared to ten age-matched children with normal hearing on a majority of the measures through 60 months of age. Spontaneous language samples were collected from mother-child interaction sessions, recorded at consistent intervals in a laboratory-based play setting. Transcripts were analyzed using computer-based procedures (Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts) and the Index of Productive Syntax. Possible influences of audibility were explored by examining the onset and productive use of a set of verb tense markers, and by monitoring the children’s accuracy in use of morphological endings. Phonological samples at baseline were transcribed and analyzed using Computerized Profiling. Results At entry to the study, the four children with hearing loss demonstrated language delays, with pronounced delays in phonological development. Three of the four children demonstrated rapid progress with development and interventions, and performed within the average range on standardized speech and language measures compared to age-matched children by 60-months of age. However, persistent differences from children with normal hearing were observed in the areas of morphosyntax, speech intelligibility in conversation, and production of fricatives. Children with mild-moderate hearing loss demonstrated later than typical emergence of certain verb tense markers, which may be related to reduced or inconsistent audibility. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that early communication delays will resolve for children with late-identified mild-moderate hearing loss, given appropriate amplification and intervention services. A positive result is that three of four children demonstrated normalization of broad language behaviors by 60-months of age, in spite of significant delays at base...

Finite Verb Morphology in the Spontaneous Speech of Dutch-Speaking Children With Hearing Loss

“…you must sleep) as well as inflectional markers such as present tense -s (e.g., *he walk for he walks) in obligatory contexts, i.e., those contexts in which the respective morpheme has to be present in order for the utterance to be grammatical. The observed morpheme omissions are striking as they rarely occur in hearing children of the same age (Elfenbein & Hardin-Jones 1994;Moeller et al 2010;Koehlinger et al 2013).…”

“…The literature on children with CIs and HAs frequently reports delays in the acquisition of syntax and morphology, indicating that this is a vulnerable language area for both groups (Brown 1984;Elfenbein and Hardin-Jones 1994;Norbury et al 2001;Young & Killen 2002;Wake et al 2004;Borg et al 2007;Hansson et al 2007;McGuckian & Henry 2007;Geers et al 2009;Hawker et al 2008;Moeller et al 2010;Caselli et al 2012;Koehlinger et al 2013). These studies show that school-age children with hearing loss produce more errors in the production of different types of morphemes, including determiners (e.g., a, the), pronouns (e.g., me, him), plural nouns (e.g., apples), and past tense (e.g., he walked).…”

Spontaneous vocal matching in mothers and their hearing impaired infants with cochlear implants : a quantitative analysis.

“…The results of the current study also suggest that there was an increase in the number of infant productions over time, thus, extending results of previous studies on NH and HI infants demonstrating infant language development over time (Fagan, 2014;Geers et al, 2009;Houston et al, 2012;Krishon-Rabin et al, 2005;Miyamoto et al, 2008;Miyamoto et al, 1997;Moeller et al, 2010;Pisoni et al, 2008).…”

Hear here: Children with hearing loss learn words by listening

“…Congenital hearing loss impacts language learning [5,6], speech development [5,7], psychosocial development [8][9][10], literacy [6,11,12], academic success [13] and employment outcomes [13][14][15][16]. As a result, hearing loss is identified as one of the most costly lifelong conditions [16].…”