Emily Lund

Vocabulary Knowledge of Children With Cochlear Implants: A Meta-Analysis

This article employs meta-analysis procedures to evaluate whether children with cochlear implants demonstrate lower spoken-language vocabulary knowledge than peers with normal hearing. Of the 754 articles screened and 52 articles coded, 12 articles met predetermined inclusion criteria (with an additional 5 included for one analysis). Effect sizes were calculated for relevant studies and forest plots were used to compare differences between groups of children with normal hearing and children with cochlear implants. Weighted effect size averages for expressive vocabulary measures (g = -11.99; p < .001) and for receptive vocabulary measures (g = -20.33; p < .001) indicated that children with cochlear implants demonstrate lower vocabulary knowledge than children with normal hearing. Additional analyses confirmed the value of comparing vocabulary knowledge of children with hearing loss to a tightly matched (e.g., socioeconomic status-matched) sample. Age of implantation, duration of implantation, and chronological age at testing were not significantly related to magnitude of weighted effect size. Findings from this analysis represent a first step toward resolving discrepancies in the vocabulary knowledge literature.

Effects of a Word-Learning Training on Children With Cochlear Implants

Preschool children with hearing loss who use cochlear implants demonstrate vocabulary delays when compared to their peers without hearing loss. These delays may be a result of deficient word-learning abilities; children with cochlear implants perform more poorly on rapid word-learning tasks than children with normal hearing. This study explored the malleability of rapid word learning of preschoolers with cochlear implants by evaluating the effects of a word-learning training on rapid word learning. A single-subject, multiple probe design across participants measured the impact of the training on childrens rapid word-learning performance. Participants included 5 preschool children with cochlear implants who had an expressive lexicon of less than 150 words. An investigator guided children to identify, repeat, and learn about unknown sets of words in 2-weekly sessions across 10 weeks. The probe measure, a rapid word-learning task with a different set of words than those taught during training, was collected in the baseline, training, and maintenance conditions. All participants improved their receptive rapid word-learning performance in the training condition. The functional relation indicates that the receptive rapid word-learning performance of children with cochlear implants is malleable.

Phonological Awareness and Vocabulary Performance of Monolingual and Bilingual Preschool Children with Hearing Loss.

This pilot study compared the phonological awareness skills and vocabulary performance of English monolingual and Spanish–English bilingual children with and without hearing loss. Preschool children with varying degrees of hearing loss (n = 18) and preschool children without hearing loss (n = 19) completed measures of phonological awareness and receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge. On phonological awareness tasks, the performance of bilingual children with hearing loss was significantly higher than bilingual children with normal hearing, but not higher than either monolingual group of children. On norm-referenced vocabulary knowledge measures, the performance of monolingual and bilingual children with hearing loss was significantly lower than monolingual and bilingual children with normal hearing. Correlations for phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge were found for both groups of children with normal hearing, but not children with hearing loss. This study represents preliminary evidence that children with hearing loss may develop phonological awareness differently than children with normal hearing and that language and educational experience are critical to understanding the phonological awareness performance in children with hearing loss.

Teaching Vocabulary to Preschool Children With Hearing Loss

Despite poor vocabulary outcomes for children with hearing loss, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of specific vocabulary teaching methods on vocabulary learning for this group. The authors compared three vocabulary instruction conditions with preschool children with hearing loss: (a) explicit, direct instruction; (b) follow-in labeling; and (c) incidental exposure using an adapted alternating-treatments single-subject experimental design. Nine preschool children with hearing loss participated in the study across 6 weeks, with intervention implemented by 4 teachers of the deaf. Visual analysis of the results of the data indicated that participants learned the most words in the explicit, direct instruction condition and the fewest words in the incidental exposure condition. These results are not consistent with some recommendations currently made to educators. The authors discuss implications for practice, including emphasis on direct instruction.

Print Knowledge of Preschool Children With Hearing Loss

Measures of print knowledge were compared across preschoolers with hearing loss and normal hearing. Alphabet knowledge did not differ between groups, but preschoolers with hearing loss performed lower on measures of print concepts and concepts of written words than preschoolers with normal hearing. Further study is needed in this area.

Semantic Richness and Word Learning in Children with Hearing Loss who are Developing Spoken Language: A Single Case Design Study

Abstract Children with hearing loss who are developing spoken language tend to lag behind children with normal hearing in vocabulary knowledge. Thus, researchers must validate instructional practices that lead to improved vocabulary outcomes for children with hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to investigate how semantic richness of instruction interacts with individual child profiles to influence word learning. A single subject adapted alternating treatments design measured the effects of three semantic richness conditions – Semantically Sparse, Semantically Rich, and Semantically Super Rich – on expressive vocabulary learning at the end of the school week. Participants included eight preschool children with hearing loss who were developing spoken language. Each week for 7 weeks teachers taught children new vocabulary words presented in one of three semantic richness conditions; conditions were randomly assigned by week. The probe measure, an expressive naming task, was collected in baseline and intervention conditions. Four participants learned more words in the two semantically rich conditions as compared to the semantically sparse condition. One participant with very low omnibus language performance and limited listening experience learned more words in the Super Rich condition than the other two conditions. The remaining three participants did not demonstrate a functional relation between condition and performance. The functional relations demonstrated indicate that the semantic richness of instruction differentially affects the expressive vocabulary learning of children with hearing loss depending on individual child characteristics.

Taxonomic Knowledge of Children With and Without Cochlear Implants

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to compare the taxonomic vocabulary knowledge and organization of children with cochlear implants to (a) children with normal hearing matched for age, and (b) children matched for vocabulary development. METHOD Ten children with cochlear implants, 10 age-matched children with normal hearing, and 10 vocabulary-matched children with normal hearing participated in this study. The children completed 2 experimental tasks: a forced-choice taxonomic sorting task, and a naming task requiring the children to use labels at multiple taxonomic levels. RESULTS In the first task, the children in the cochlear implant group sorted pictures with accuracy consistent with the age-matched group. In the second task, the children with cochlear implants demonstrated delayed knowledge of superordinate relations as compared with the age-matched group, similar to the vocabulary-matched group. However, the children with cochlear implants did not demonstrate delayed knowledge of basic or subordinate relations. CONCLUSION The children with cochlear implants demonstrated a delay in use of superordinate taxonomic labels as compared with the children with normal hearing of the same age, which may lead to later difficulties with academic performance.

The Effects of Parent Training on Vocabulary Scores of Young Children With Hearing Loss

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of short-term parent training on maternal use of language stimulation strategies and vocabulary scores in children with hearing loss. Method Six mother-child dyads participated in the multiple-baseline study. During baseline and maintenance, children engaged in a business-as-usual model of clinician-only therapy. During intervention, mothers and children participated in parent training focused on transparent labeling and linguistic mapping strategies. Parent strategy use was measured via weekly play-based probe assessments. Child vocabulary growth was measured via parent report. Results A relation between parent training and use of transparent labeling was established for all mothers, and a relation between parent training and use of linguistic mapping was established for 3 of 6 mothers. Child vocabulary growth rate increased from baseline to intervention in 4 of 6 children. Conclusions Short-term parent training can change parent behavior. However, parents may not maintain these skills without support. Further research is needed to characterize the extent to which short-term training can make long-term changes in parent and child outcomes.

Word-learning performance of children with and without cochlear implants given synchronous and asynchronous cues

ABSTRACT This study sought to evaluate the effects of synchronous and asynchronous auditory–visual cues on the word-learning performance of children with cochlear implants and children with normal hearing matched for chronological age. Children with cochlear implants (n = 9) who had worn the implant for less than one year and children matched for chronological age (n = 9) participated in rapid word-learning trials. Children with cochlear implants did not learn words in either the synchronous or asynchronous condition (U = 49.5, p = .99; d = 0.05). Children with normal hearing learned more words in the synchronous rather than asynchronous condition (U = 78.5, p = .04; d = 0.95). These findings represent a first step toward determining how task-level factors influence the lexical outcomes of children with cochlear implants.

Pairing New Words With Unfamiliar Objects: Comparing Children With and Without Cochlear Implants

Purpose This study investigates differences between preschool children with cochlear implants and age-matched children with normal hearing during an initial stage in word learning to evaluate whether they (a) match novel words to unfamiliar objects and (b) solicit information about unfamiliar objects during play. Method Twelve preschool children with cochlear implants and 12 children with normal hearing matched for age completed 2 experimental tasks. In the 1st task, children were asked to point to a picture that matched either a known word or a novel word. In the 2nd task, children were presented with unfamiliar objects during play and were given the opportunity to ask questions about those objects. Results In Task 1, children with cochlear implants paired novel words with unfamiliar pictures in fewer trials than children with normal hearing. In Task 2, children with cochlear implants were less likely to solicit information about new objects than children with normal hearing. Performance on the 1st task, but not the 2nd, significantly correlated with expressive vocabulary standard scores of children with cochlear implants. Conclusion This study provides preliminary evidence that children with cochlear implants approach mapping novel words to and soliciting information about unfamiliar objects differently than children with normal hearing.