Pragmatic Skills in Children with Cochlear Implants
,
Abstract
Introduction: Pragmatics refers to how language is used in social communication. Pragmatics has different dimensions. This study investigated the turn-taking, topic maintenance, and duration of topic maintenance in children with Cochlear implants (CIs) and normal-hearing children matched with chronological age and language age.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, pragmatics were compared in 15 CI children, 15 normal-hearing children matched with chronological age, and 15 normal-hearing children matched with language age. Pragmatic skills of subjects such as turn-taking, topic maintenance, and duration of topic maintenance in verbal conversation were observed and measured in two groups including CI children with age-matched peers and CI children with language-matched normal-hearing children. The children’s conversations were transcribed and the data were analyzed based on the normality of their distribution by independent-sample t-test and Mann-Whitney U tests.
Results: Findings showed no significant difference between the mean of turn-taking, topic maintenance, and duration of topic maintenance skills of CI children with their hearing peers (P>0.05). Also, the results obtained by comparing the mean of turn-taking, topic maintenance, and duration of topic maintenance skills in CI children with normal-hearing children matched with language age did not show a significant difference (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Children with CIs achieved a level of skills in turn-taking, topic maintenance, and duration of topic maintenance, which was similar to age-matched and language-matched normal-hearing children. Probably, the duration of auditory experience after cochlear implantation, age of implantation of the prosthesis, age of diagnosis of hearing loss, age of rehabilitation intervention, and family follow-up have been effective in achieving these skills.
2. Goberis D, Beams D, Dalpes M, et al., editors. The missing link in language development of deaf and hard of hearing children: pragmatic language development. Seminars in speech and language; 2012: Thieme Medical Publishers.
3. Parsons L, Cordier R, Munro N, et al. Peer’s pragmatic language outcomes following a peer-mediated intervention for children with autism: A randomised controlled trial. Research in developmental disabilities. 2020;99:103591.
4. Lavelli M, Majorano M, Guerzoni L, et al. Communication dynamics between mothers and their children with cochlear implants: effects of maternal support for language production. Journal of communication disorders. 2018;73:1-14.
5. Longobardi E, Lonigro A, Laghi F, et al. Pragmatic language development in 18-to 47-month-old Italian children: A study with the Language Use Inventory. First Language. 2017;37(3):252-266.
6. Most T, Shina-August E, Meilijson S. Pragmatic abilities of children with hearing loss using cochlear implants or hearing aids compared to hearing children. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. 2010;15(4):422-437.
7. Lederberg AR, Everhart VS. Conversations between deaf children and their hearing mothers: Pragmatic and dialogic characteristics. Journal of deaf studies and deaf education. 2000;5(4):303-322.
8. Church A, Paatsch L, Toe D. Some trouble with repair: Conversations between children with cochlear implants and hearing peers. Discourse Studies. 2017;19(1):49-68.
9. Toe D, Paatsch L, Szarkowski A. Assessing pragmatic skills using checklists with children who are deaf and hard of hearing: A systematic review. The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. 2019;24(3):189-200.
10. Yoshinaga-Itano C, Sedey AL, Coulter DK, et al. Language of early-and later-identified children with hearing loss. Pediatrics. 1998;102(5):1161-1171.
11. Nicholas JG, Geers AE. Will they catch up? The role of age at cochlear implantation in the spoken language development of children with severe to profound hearing loss. 2007.
12. Paatsch L, Toe D. The fine art of conversation: The pragmatic skills of school-aged children with hearing loss. The Oxford handbook of deaf studies in language: Research, policy and practice. 2016:94-113.
13. Wallenius K, Loukusa S, Välimaa T, et al. Parental views on communication: A study of Finnish children with bilateral cochlear implants. CLS 2015, Coventry, Iso-Britannia. 2015.
14. Guerzoni L, Murri A, Fabrizi E, et al. Social conversational skills development in early implanted children. The Laryngoscope. 2016;126(9):2098-2105.
15. Hasanzadeh S MA. Adaptation and Standardization of the Test of TOLD-P: 3 for Farsi - Speaking Children of Tehran. Journal of Exceptional Children. 2002;1(2):119-134.
16. Toe D, Beattie R, Barr M. The development of pragmatic skills in children who are severely and profoundly deaf. Deafness & Education International. 2007;9(2):101-117.
17. Brinton B, Fujiki M. Development of topic manipulation skills in discourse. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 1984;27(3):350-358.
18. Tannen D. Turn-taking and intercultural discourse and communication. The handbook of intercultural discourse and communication. 2012;29:135.
19. Archbold S, Sach T, O'neill C, et al. Outcomes from cochlear implantation for child and family: parental perspectives. Deafness & Education International. 2008;10(3):120-142.
20. Blamey PJ, Sarant JZ, Paatsch LE, et al. Relationships among speech perception, production, language, hearing loss, and age in children with impaired hearing. 2001.
21. Caselli MC, Rinaldi P, Varuzza C, et al. Cochlear implant in the second year of life: Lexical and grammatical outcomes. 2012.
22. Leigh IW, Maxwell-McCaw D, Bat-Chava Y, et al. Correlates of psychosocial adjustment in deaf adolescents with and without cochlear implants: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Deaf studies and deaf education. 2009;14(2):244-259.
23. Kondaurova MV, Smith NA, Zheng Q, et al. Vocal turn-taking between mothers and their children with cochlear implants. Ear and hearing. 2020;41(2):362-373.
24. Caissie R, Dawe AL, Donovan C, et al. Conversational performance of adults with a hearing loss. JOURNAL-ACADEMY OF REHABILITATIVE AUDIOLOGY. 1998;31:45-68.
25. Martin D, Bat-Chava Y, Lalwani A, et al. Peer relationships of deaf children with cochlear implants: Predictors of peer entry and peer interaction success. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. 2011;16(1):108-120.
26. Duncan J. Conversational skills of children with hearing loss and children with normal hearing in an integrated setting. Volta Review. 1999;101(4):193-212.
27. Bloom L, Rocissano L, Hood L. Adult-child discourse: Developmental interaction between information processing and linguistic knowledge. Cognitive Psychology. 1976;8(4):521-552.
28. Roth FP, Spekman NJ. Assessing the pragmatic abilities of children: Part 1. Organizational framework and assessment parameters. Journal of speech and Hearing Disorders. 1984;49(1):2-11.
29. Dammeyer J. A longitudinal study of pragmatic language development in three children with cochlear implants. Deafness & Education International. 2012;14(4):217-232.
30. Lloyd J, Lieven E, Arnold P. Oral conversations between hearing-impaired children and their normally hearing peers and teachers. First Language. 2001;21(61):83-107.
31. Meadow KP, Greenberg MT, Erting C, et al. Interactions of deaf mothers and deaf preschool children: Comparisons with three other groups of deaf and hearing dyads. American Annals of the Deaf. 1981:454-468.
32. de Hoog BE, Langereis MC, van Weerdenburg M, et al. Linguistic profiles of children with CI as compared with children with hearing or specific language impairment. International journal of language & communication disorders. 2016;51(5):518-530.
33. Guasti MT, Papagno C, Vernice M, et al. The effect of language structure on linguistic strengths and weaknesses in children with cochlear implants: Evidence from Italian. Applied Psycholinguistics. 2014;35(4):739-764.
34. Majorano M, Guidotti L, Guerzoni L, et al. Spontaneous language production of Italian children with cochlear implants and their mothers in two interactive contexts. International journal of language & communication disorders. 2018;53(1):70-84.
35. Shoeib RM, Kaddah FE-ZA, El-Din STK, et al. Study of pragmatic language development in children with hearing loss. The Egyptian Journal of Otolaryngology. 2016;32(3):210-218.
36. Lin T-J, Chen J, Justice LM, et al. Peer interactions in preschool inclusive classrooms: The roles of pragmatic language and self-regulation. Exceptional Children. 2019;85(4):432-452.
37. Curtiss S, Prutting CA, Lowell EL. Pragmatic and semantic development in young children with impaired hearing. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 1979;22(3):534-552.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 17 No 1 (2023) | |
| Section | Research Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/jmr.v17i1.11294 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Pragmatics Turn-taking Topic maintenance Duration of topic maintenance Cochlear implanted children Conversational skills | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
