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How Do Children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing Process Spoken Language - Does Speaking Rate Matter?
What is it about?
How do children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) process spoken language, and what happens when the speaker speaks more quickly? To investigate this, we studied children aged 7-12, some with normal-hearing (NH) and some who were DHH, fitted with hearing aids and cochlear implants. The children listened to sentences and were asked to press a button when they heard a specific word. The sentences were spoken at both a normal and a faster pace. The results showed that children who are DHH were generally slower at identifying words in sentences compared to children with NH. However, speaking faster didn’t seem to make it harder for them. Our results suggest that children who are DHH may face delays in how quickly they process spoken language. These delays could affect how well they keep up in everyday conversations or classroom settings, especially when there’s background noise or multiple people talking.
Why is it important?
For children who are DHH and that attend mainstream education, spoken language processing plays a big role in school and daily communication. Even small delays in processing language may have an impact on learning and social participation. With more research into the factors that influence spoken language processing in these children, we can better understand what they need to thrive socially and academically. This knowledge can help us create environments—both in classrooms and in daily life—that are better adapted to support their development and communication.