Comprehension monitoring strategy intervention in children with hearing loss: a single case design study

ABSTRACT

The objective of this single case design study was to examine the effectiveness of teaching comprehension monitoring strategy on strategy use as well as on reading comprehension performance. Four children with bilateral severe-profound hearing loss between the ages of 10–11 years and enrolled in the 3rd–5th grade classroom in a regional day school for the deaf participated in the study. Two comprehension monitoring strategies, namely retell and questioning, were taught to all four children. A third strategy, namely prediction, was used as a control strategy. Children received intervention for 20 min, twice a week for 13 weeks across a total of 26 sessions. During the first three sessions, children participated in probe sessions only. Following this baseline period, children participated in one intervention session and one probe session each week. Sessions were videotaped to monitor for treatment fidelity and to code for strategy use. Results showed a moderate evidence for a functional relation between comprehension strategy instruction and strategy use. Similarly, across participants, data also revealed moderate evidence for a functional relation between strategy implementation and reading comprehension performance. Future studies should investigate the effects of teaching a combination of reading comprehension monitoring strategies by increasing the duration and number of intervention sessions on reading comprehension performance by a larger group of children with hearing loss.

KEYWORDS:

• Hearing loss
• deaf
• children
• comprehension monitoring
• reading comprehension
• reciprocal teaching
• cochlear implants

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Woodcock Institute Research Grant awarded to the first author. Authors thank children and their families for their participation in this study. Authors also thank their colleague Ellen Depee, graduate and undergraduate students at Texas Woman's University and Texas Christian University for their assistance during data collection and analyses. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Sneha V. Bharadwaj is an associate professor in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Texas Woman's University. Her research interests include speech, language and literacy issues in children with hearing loss.

Emily Lund, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an assistant professor in the Davies School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Texas Christian University. Her research interests include spoken and written word learning in children with hearing loss.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Woodcock Institute Research Grant awarded to the first author.