Expressive vocabulary development in children with moderate hearing loss – the impact of auditory variables and early consonant production

ABSTRACT

In this study, the early expressive vocabulary development was investigated in a group of children with moderate hearing loss (HL). Size and development of expressive vocabulary from 18 30 months were analyzed and compared to a group of children with normal hearing (NH). For the children with HL, the impact of auditory variables on number of words were examined. The relationship of early consonant production to number of words produced of both groups were examined and the phonological complexity of reported words was compared between the groups. The results showed that children with HL (n = 8) produced a similar number of words as the NH (n = 8) at 18 months, but fewer at 24 and 30 months. Hours of HA use showed significant correlations to number of words. The number of different true consonants at 18 months for the whole group showed a significant relationship to number of words produced at 24 months. No significant differences were found between children with HL and NH children regarding phonological complexity of reported words. The findings indicate that the children born with moderate HL who were fitted with hearing aids (HAs) before 6 months of age are at risk in their development of expressive vocabulary. Full-time use of HAs and monitoring of early consonant use should be encouraged in the early intervention of this target group.

KEYWORDS:

• hearing loss
• expressive vocabulary
• consonant development

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the participating children and their families for their contributions to this longitudinal study. Special thanks to all colleagues involved in data collection and assessments. This work would not have been possible without the financial support from Wibelfonden, Tysta skolan, Majblomman, and Region Stockholm (Medical Unit Speech and Language Pathology).

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by funding from Wibelfonden, Tysta skolan, Majblomman and Region Stockholm.