Deaf children with spoken language bilingualism: Professional guidance to parents

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for professional views on factors that affect the ability of deaf children, with a bilateral severe-to-profound sensorineural deafness and cochlear implants, to become bilingual in two spoken languages.

Factor	Percentage of each professional role who responded “yes”
	SLT	Audiologist	QToD/ToD
Degree of deafness	59.6%	63.6%	86.0%
Age of diagnosis	91.5%	100%	100%
Type of hearing technology used	55.3%	72.7%	76%
Age of receiving hearing technology	95.7%	100%	100%
Socioeconomic status (SES) of the family	44.7%	72.7%	56.0%
Enrolment in an oral-aural programme	40.4%	81.8%	50.0%
Presence of additional speech, language and/or communication impairments	85.1%	100%	96.0%
Presence of comorbid diagnoses	87.2%	100%	92.0%
Parent’s proficiency level in English	57.4%	45.5%	84.0%
Quantity of exposure to the two languages	100%	100%	100%
Opportunities to speak the two languages	100%	100%	98.0%
What language the main caregiver speaks	48.9%	90.9%	84.0%
Whether both parents speak the home language to the child	38.3%	54.5%	56.0%
Number of different speakers in the two languages that interact with the child	61.7%	72.7%	86.0%

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for professional views on consequences of deaf children, with a bilateral severe-to-profound sensorineural deafness and cochlear implants, being exposed to two spoken languages.

Potential consequence	Percentage of each professional role who responded “yes”
	SLT	Audiologist	QToD/ToD
Home language maintenance	97.9%	90.9%	94.0%
Improved family relationships and dynamics	100%	90.9%	100%
Linguistic confusion	17.0%	72.7%	26.0%
Access to culture of heritage language	97.9%	90.9%	98.0%
Better identity/sense of self	97.9%	90.9%	98.0%
Difficulties with peer relationships	2.1%	9.1%	8.0%
Speech, language and/or communication difficulties	4.3%	27.3%	4.0%
Reduced proficiency in English	2.1%	18.2%	16.0%
Reduced proficiency in the home language	2.1%	18.2%	18.0%
Advantages in cognitive skills	83.0%	63.6%	88.0%
Reduced academic achievement in English at school	2.1%	18.2%	12.0%