Language Development
Sections Within Language Development
- Developmental Milestones (0 - 3 yrs)
- A Comparative Sample of Language Usage for Auditory English-based Language
- Strategies for Learning and Listening
- Auditory Management
- How Loud is Loud
A child learns language through listening to his/her parents talking, reading aloud, and through incidental listening. This holds true for the deaf child of deaf parents whose native language is American Sign Language. From the time these children are babes in arms, people are communicating with them and they absorb language. It is more difficult for the child who is hard of hearing. There is often a time delay between birth and a hearing loss being identified, and the parents are usually hearing and then must begin to learn a whole new way of communicating and working with their child. It is not uncommon for this child with a hearing loss to be two or more years behind that of his peers. We are totally dependent on our hearing to acquire clear speech, our vocabulary, grammatical structures, and subtleties in meaning carried through the intonation in the voice. The acquisition of accurate word meanings is basic to communication. Being able to accurately retrieve word meanings when required and manipulate the language for comprehension and communication are important skills. Much of this information is either lost to the child with a hearing loss or the message is confusing. Children who are hard of hearing have difficulty with conversation moving too rapidly. They have difficulty with abstract ideas and often miss changes in meaning caused, for example, by voice inflection or by words having multiple meanings. Identifying and understanding definitions, antonyms, homonyms, synonyms, multiple meanings and categorization are important developmental stages in developing of a solid base of language. Reading is a valuable vehicle through which we gain information, vocabulary, syntactic structures of the language and enjoyment. Decoding or the mechanics of reading, is important, however, it must be accompanied with fluency and comprehension of the material that has been read.
North Okanagan-Shuswap SD#83
Developmental Milestones During the First 3 Years
| Birth to 3 Months •Reacts to loud sounds with startle reflex •Is soothed and quieted by soft sounds •Turns head to you when you speak •Is awakened by loud voices and sounds •Smiles in response to voices when spoken to •Seems to know your voice and quiets down if crying |
| 3 to 6 Months •looks or turns toward a new sound •responds to “no” and changes in tone of voice •imitates his/her own voice •enjoys rattles and other toys that make sounds •begins to repeat sounds (ooh, aah, ba-ba) •becomes scared by a loud voice or noise |
6 to 10 Months |
10 to 15 Months |
15 to 18 Months |
| 18 to 24 Months •understands simple “yes-no” questions (Are you hungry?) •understands simple phrases (in the cup, on the table) •enjoys being read to •points to pictures when asked |
| 24 to 36 Months •understands “not now” and “no more” •chooses things by size (big, little) •follows two-step commands, such as “get your shoes and come here •understands many action words (run, jump) |
Taken from BC Childrens Hospital Website
Delta SD#37
Figure 2-2: A Comparative Sample of Language Usage for Auditory
English-based Language
| A Hearing Child | A Deaf/Hard of Hearing Child |
1. Pronunciation By the age of 7, the child should be able to use all distinctive phonemes in the English language correctly. |
1. Pronunciation Depending on the severigy of the loss and the age of onset, may have nasality/poor articulation skills /poor voice quality. |
2. Rules of Grammar By age 2 to 3, has mastered the rules of grammar. These rules govern how a child builds words and how these words are arranged into sentences/phrases, etc. ie i) The ball is under the table. ii) He was waiting. iii) Yesterday she put down the cup. iv) He is drinking some water. |
2. Rules of Grammar May never master these, and may continue to experience difficulty in communicating using auditory-English-based language. ie i) Table under ball. ii) He were waited. iii) Yesterday she putted down caup. iv) He is drinking a water. |
3. Complexity of Language Can easily adjust to these. |
3. Complexity of Language May have difficulty adjusting exceptions in English grammatical rules. Looks for a pattern: ie triangle triangular circle circular square squarular |
4. Multiple Meanings Can easily understand and apply appropriately. ie Trunk Fly •railroad •bug •car •zipper •swimming •action • elephant • tree • box |
4. Multiple Meanings Has difficulty understanding and using all definitions appropriately. ie May only be aware of 1 or 2 definitions. The applications of words with several meanings in context becomes a difficult exercise. |
5. Idiomatic Expressions Can easily understand and apply appropriately in context. ie. • "piece of cake" • "cool" • "get off my back" • "feeling crummy" |
5. Idiomatic Expressions May be taken literally. Needs direct teaching. |
6. Auditory Discrimination Can easily discriminate between similar sounding words. • I have another/I have a mother. • Smile/Mile |
6. Auditory Discrimination May have trouble discriminating between similar sounding words depending on the degree of hearing loss. |
7. Jokes Can easily appreciate inference in jokes especially those that depend on the way things sound. Conversely, jokes which depend on visual information of sign are often not as meaningful to the hearing population. |
7. Jokes Are often taken literally; has difficulty understanding inferences. Deaf people prefer jokes which depend on visual information. |
8. Voice Intonation Can interpret changes in meaning based solely on intonation changes. ie a) HE charged me $40. b) He CHARGED me $40. c) He charged me $40. |
8. Voice Intonation Has difficulty comprehending changes in meaning and/or the emotional intent derived from intonation. |
9. Changing Topics Without Warning Generally can adjust to such changes with little difficulty. |
9. Changing Topics Without Warning May have great difficulty getting back on track. |
10. Vocabulary Can build vocabulary by hearing new words and putting into context. |
10. Vocabulary May have extreme difficulty acquiring and applying new English vocabulary. This can be overwhelming. Generally needs direct teaching. |
Furth, Hans G. (1973). Deafness and Learning, Wadsworth Publishing Company
Strategies for Learning and Listening:
•Anticipate possible vocabulary, review new or unfamiliar terms.•Anticipate possible discussion information.
•Anticipate questions that you might be asked or wish to ask.
•Decide what information you wish to obtain.
•Anticipate and be proactive about possible environmental problems.
•Be a self-advocate: ask for repetition, rephrasing, clarification, and a summary
in writing if necessary.
•Speakers should face the individual, speak clearly but naturally so as not to
exaggerate lip movements.
•Be careful to have the speaker's face well lit but not silhouetted by a strong
background light.
•Ask for repetition, clarification, clear vision of speaker's face, if necessary, ask
for clarification in writing.
•Move away from background noise.
•Have the stronger ear accessing more directly the speaker - especially important
for children with a unilateral hearing loss.
•When attending a concert, movie, or play, review the story line in advance.
•Request the use of microphones, induction loops, FM or infrared systems where
possible.
•Avoid rooms with bad acoustics. Be a self-advocate - ask for a change of rooms.
Undoubtedly, doing this, will help others as well.
Auditory Management
Good listening skills and habits are necessary for good communication skills. It is important for a child to learn to carefully watch a speaker’s face. However, even good listening habits can be made increasingly more difficult when there is constant background noise: pencils being sharpened, computer or lights humming, noise in the halls, or maintenance mowing the lawns outside. By closely watching a speaker’s face the child is better able to absorb information from facial expressiona and body language. Learning to be a self-advocate – say information needs to repeated or clarified is difficult for a young child but a very valuable asset.
•Speakers should face the individual, speak clearly but naturally so as not to exaggerate lip movements. A student can not read lips when the teacher is writing
on and board and still talking.
•Good lighting is important for speechreading. But be careful to have the speaker’s
face well lit but not silhouetted by a strong background light.
•Hearing aids and cochlear implants amplify all sounds, including background noises –
lights or computers humming, pencils being sharpened, desk/chairs being scraped along the floor, heating systems turning off and on, shuffling feet. The child with a hearing loss is
not as able to block out annoying background sounds. Minimizing noises can be done by:
•Putting tennis balls on the feet of the chairs/desks
•Putting down area rugs
•Using acoustic ceiling tiles
•Educate the other children in the class the importance of quiet
•Using baffles to section off classroom areas
•Avoid rooms with bad acoustics. Be a self-advocate – ask for a change of
rooms. It will undoubtedly help others as well.
•The student should sit near the front and side of the classroom so that s/he can easily see the speaker – teacher or other students. Have the stronger ear accessing more directly the
speaker – this is especially important for children with a unilateral hearing loss.
•Let the student quietly relocate for better listening/speechreading access.
•Students need to be taught to only speak one at a time and wait to be acknowledged. It
makes a difference for the teacher to point to the child about to speak so that the child
with a hearing loss can locate from where the voice will come.
•When attending a concert, movie, or play, review the story line in advance.
•Request the use of microphones, induction loops, FM or infrared systems if possible.
•Ask for repetition, clarification, clear vision of speaker’s face, if necessary, ask for
clarification in writing.
How Loud is Loud
Effects of Varying Speech to Noise Ratios on Speech Recognition of Children with Minimal Hearing Losses
| Test Condition | Normal Hearing | Minimal Hearing Loss |
| Quiet | 99% | 96% |
| S/N* = +6 dB | 96% | 83% |
| S/N = +3 dB | 95% | 75% |
| S/N 0 dB | 93% | 67% |
| S/N = -3 dB | 84% | 54% |
| S/N = -6 dB | 71% | 38% |
Crandell, C. (1993). Speech Recognition in Noise by Children with Minimal Degrees of Sensorineural Hearing Loss. Ear and Hearing 14 (3), 211-216.
* ‘S’ (speech or teacher’s voice)/’N’ (background noises)
+6: teacher’s voice is 6 dB louder than background noise
+3: teacher’s voice is 3 dB louder than background noise
0: level of the teacher’s voice and background noise is the same
-3: background noise is louder than teacher’s voice
-6: even with background noise significantly louder than a teacher’s voice, children with
‘normal’ hearing are able to block noise out to block the noise out to a large extent.