Essay On Language Development In Deaf Children: Importance, Issues, And Strategies.

The goal of this assignments is the completion of a topic of interest that is directly related to Early Childhood Education and Deafness. 

There are four parts which will be completed as a whole but in selections:

1. Introduction: Identify the Topic
2. Statement of the Problem
3. Guiding Question(s) and Strategy

1. Literature Review

Conduct a literature review of 10 or more scholarly articles related to the topic/issue you have identified for the assignemt. Please do not confuse a literature review with an annotated bibliography (a list of references). The literature review should be a discussion of the related literature, organized by topic or themes (not a “list” of the articles). 

Problem Statement

Topic: Language Development in Deaf Children

The presence of hearing impairment has a negative effect on the development of a child’s speech.  The aftermath of this is the delay in the child’s acquisition of social, linguistic, sensory and academic abilities. According to Martineau, Lamarche, Marcoux, and Bernard (2001), three millions of children experience hearing problems. This is an indication that language development in the education of children born with hearing impairments is an important exercise. The prerequisites of cognitive development are language and speech development. The nearness of imperfections in the hearing may the affect the deaf child’s intellectual ability. The development of the verbal ability is a human skill whose education is a step by step process. The daily interactions lead to the acquisition of language without any intervention or education in normal and non-hearing impaired children. However, presence hearing impairment hinders the development of language.  

Language development and speech development to the hearing impaired has not been a walk in the park. Special education, based on the degree of the hearing impairment, requires special training.  It is also argued that it is not possible to fully compensate hearing defects through sign language training, acoustic amplification and lip/speech reading. Essential preconditions for pre-lingual actions are reception and perception of acoustic stimuli. Normal language development for children must include hearing aid fitting and descriptions, family consultations and educational strategies. Language development is an important prerequisite for the social and academic success in school. Furthermore, proper language development of semantic and syntax skills are the basis of academic success.

Speech development is very important whether in normal hearing or in hearing-impaired children. The development, usage, and perception of verbal development are strongly related to the auditory sense. Improper improvement of dialect and cognizance in hard of hearing and the deaf has led to poor performance and academic difficulties during schooling. According to Nicholas and Geers (2006), two out of 1000 children in America have been fitted with hearing aids after acquiring permanent hearing loss. However, a research by Svirsky, Robbins, Kirk, Pisoni, and Miyamoto (2000) showed that 80% of the children who learned a linguistic system with an implant did not effectively get it. Language development should, therefore, be done to the children as early as from birth. Nicholas and Geers (2006) concludes that children who receive the intervention of language development below six years are likely to get a better linguist system as compared to those who get at a later age. The problem of improper language development impacts so negatively on the academic performance and the overall individual’s language.

Guiding Questions and Strategy

The focus of this study will be on the development of language. It will follow the guidance of the question below:

1. What are the spoken language skills achieved by children who are educated orally and whose auditory impairment was identified in time and had hearing aids fitted?

Substantial deferrals in the obtaining of a spoken dialect in youngsters who have extreme deafness have been archived. This includes hearing-impaired children who have experienced sound-related oral preparation and trained in the use of hearing aids. Particularly, the articles that will be focused on must have conducted research using deaf children rated by a teacher rating scale and have gone through a language sample analysis.     

2. Do the auditory experience, age, and duration has any effects on the spoken language competence of the deaf children?

The sources for the information will be based on the children who had a mild or deep degree bilateral auditory deficiency. Only children who had been fitted with digital nonlinear auditory devices were considered. The hearing aids of 45% of these children had been fit when the children were less than six years of age (Ching, Crowe, Martin, Day …and Orsini, 2010). Amplification must have been received by the remaining children before they were between the six and 34 months of age.    

3. What are the effects of hearing loss on the language development?  

Various researchers have documented the effects that hearing loss have on the growth of linguistic in kids. This includes studies by the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI). The Preschool Language Scale (PLS-4), Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and Child Development Inventory (CDI) were also used to assess the language abilities of children. Papers which had interviewed parents using the Parents’ Evaluation of Aural/oral performance of Children (PEACH) were considered in the assessment of the everyday operative of young kids.

Conclusion

Children with hearing impairment, unless intervention is done, experience difficulty in the acquisition of social, sensory, linguistic and academic abilities. Language development should, therefore, be a paramount exercise in order to effectively acquire these skills. The spoken language skills, effects of auditory experience, age and duration on spoken language and also the effects of hearing loss on the development of language will be the major focus on this paper. 

Children at the age of three are expected to have already developed extensive syntax and skills which are essential in the facilitation of both intellectual and social growth. Kids having severe-profound deafness have been reported to have substantial delays in the development of speech (Nicholas and Geers, 2006). This includes those who have undergone training on auditory skills and hearing aid use. The issue of the development of language in children will be addressed in the following literature review.

Conclusion

In a report by Ching et al. (2012), 133 children who were less than three years of age and who had a hearing impairment ranging from mild to a profound degree. The children were reported to have used the hearing aid for at least four hours per day. Rehabilitation of the children was done using different programs such as aural-oral, auditory-verbal, bi-lingual programs and sign support. The report found that language levels below 1 SD were obtained by those children who had been intervened before six months. It also found out that the two most important factors affecting the development of children are the level of maternal education and the degree of the hearing loss. It gave an example that educated parents took the time to perform reading activities with their deaf children, unlike the uneducated ones. Nicholas and Geers (2006) also found out that prolonged use of the cochlear implant in babies affected the amount of spoken language demonstrated by deaf children below three years. The report concluded that the most fundamental period in the acquisition of information, communication, and the development of intellectual and verbal foundation is when the child is less than three years old. Poor communication between the parent and the children and poor language skills in the child's early life is associated with the child's behavioral and social-emotional problems. Lieberman, Hatrak, and Mayberry (2011) also confirm that hearing impairment is associated with delayed language development.

   All children require a critical period to be exposed to a natural language. According to Humphries et al. (2012), a change in plasticity occurs during the early development of a child. The children who fail to acquire a first language in their early years may find it very difficult, or may not even fully develop fluency in any language. There are numerous effects of auditory experience, age, and duration of the competence verbal communication in the hearing-impaired (Martineau et al., 2001). According to a research by Crume (2013), literacy, number manipulation, and memory organization might be underdeveloped. This can occur if the child lacks exposure to a natural language. Sole reliance on the inputs of the spoken language only may lead to linguistic withdrawal if the child’s learning atmosphere does not include the sign language (Meadow, 2005). Linguistic withdraw of Language deprivation can be defined as the resultant harm when a child fails to receive sufficient language input necessary for learning any other language and to develop cognitive abilities (Davidson, Lillo-Martin, and Pichler, 2014). Further, studies by Lieberman, (2008) argue that exposing children below three years to visual language heightens joint attention skills and changes the child’s visual processing. Exposure of children to graphical language early enough give them the ability to shift their eye gaze (Crume and Singleton, 2013). This skill enables them to have an early vocabulary development. These studies also show that acquires a self-regulating attention to graphic information (Harris and Chasin, 2005).

Literature Review

The most appropriate period for a child to acquire material information, converse with other siblings and to develop a verbal and intellectual foundation is the first three years of their life (Nicholas and Geers, 2006).  This period is the most appropriate for the child to comfortably develop a language. The level of parental training in child beneath three years of age is one of the colossal elements that influence the youngster's dialect improvement. In spite of the fact that the maternal instruction might be non-particular, it incorporates numerous perspectives. The papers reviewed suggest that further investigations are required in order to ascertain on the effects of each method (oral, auditory-verbal, sign-supported or bilingual) on the language development outcome. According to Corona and Singleton (2009), there is no critical impact of age intercession on the dialect advancement of youngsters with hearing aids. However, previous researchers had indicated that there are benefits of intervening in the child's language development before their six months of age. The research concludes that more investigation on multiple factors, such as age intervention, can only be done once there is more data. There is also a disparity in academic performance once the loss of hearing occurs. The performance of children can be normal, poor while some perform better. This question can, therefore, be addressed much more clearly at a future date.      

Conclusion

The best period for a children to develop their first language the period between birth and three years. This is the period when the child is expected to have developed extensive syntax skills. The level of maternal education and hearing loss impairment are the most important factors that affect a child’s development of language. Children who fail to acquire a first language between birth and three years of age are less likely to acquire fluency in age other language.  

References

Ching, T. Y. C., Crowe, K., Martin, V., Day, J., Mahler, N., Youn, S. …& Orsini, J. (2010). ‘Language development and everyday functioning of children with hearing loss assessed at 3 years of age’, International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 12(2), pp. 124–131.

Corona, D., & Singleton, J. (2009). ‘Developmental social cognitive neuroscience: insights from deafness’, Child Development, 80(4), pp. 952-967.

Crume, P. (2013). ‘Teachers’ perceptions of promoting sign language phonological awareness in an ASL/English bilingual program’, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 18(4), pp. 464-488.

Crume, P., & Singleton, J. (2008). ‘Teacher practices for promoting visual engagement of deaf children in a bilingual school’, Paper presented at the Association of College Educators of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Monterey, CA.

Davidson, K., Lillo-Martin, D., & Pichler, D. (2014). ‘Spoken English language development among native signing children with cochlear implants’, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 19(2), pp. 238-250.

Harris, M., & Chasin, J. (2005). ‘Visual attention in deaf and hearing infants:  the role of auditory cues’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(10), pp. 1116-1123.

Humphries, T., Kushalnagar, P., Mathur, G., Napoli, D. J., Padden, C., Rathmann, C., & Smith, S. R. (2012). ‘Language acquisition for deaf children: Reducing the harms of zero tolerance to the use of alternative approaches’, Harm Reduction Journal, 9, 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7517-9-16

Kennedy, C. R., McCann, D. C., Campbell, M. J., Law, C. M., Mullee, M., Petrou, S., … Stevenson, J. (2006). Language Ability after Early Detection of Permanent Childhood Hearing Impairment. New England Journal of Medicine, 354(20), 2131-2141. doi:10.1056/nejmoa054915

 Khine, M. S., & Saleh, I. M. (2011). Practitioner Research in Teacher Education: Theory and Best Practices. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang AG.

Lieberman, A. (2008). Attention-getting strategies of deaf children using ASL in a preschool classroom. Paper presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development, Boston, MA.

Lieberman, A., Hatrak, M., & Mayberry, R. (2011). The development of eye gaze control in deaf children. Paper presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development, Boston, MA.

Martineau, G., Lamarche, P., Marcoux, S. & Bernard, P. (2001). ‘The Effect of Early Intervention on Academic Achievement of Hearing-Impaired Children’, Early Education & Development, 12(2), pp. 275-289.

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Meadow, P. K., (2005). ‘Early Manual Communication in Relation to the Deaf Child's Intellectual, Social, and Communicative Functioning’, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 10 (4), pp. 321-329. doi: 10.1093/deafed/eni035

Nicholas, J. G., & Geers, A. E. (2006). ‘Effects of Early Auditory Experience on the Spoken Language of Deaf Children at 3 Years of Age’, Ear and Hearing, 27(3), pp. 286–298. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.aud.0000215973.76912.c6

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Svirsky, M. A., Robbins, A. M., Kirk, K. I., Pisoni, D. B., & Miyamoto, R. T. (2000). ‘Language Development in Profoundly Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants’, Psychological Science, 11(2), pp. 153–158.