18th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 3-5, 2019 • Chicago, IL
Re-visiting Print Knowledge Assessments to Identify Vocabulary Targets for Later Literacy Achievement in Children with Hearing Loss
Children with hearing loss are at-risk for poor literacy achievement (Geers & Hayes, 2011; Qi & Mitchell, 2012). Delays in emergent literacy skills are well-documented among children with hearing loss using spoken language (e.g., DesJardin, Ambrose, & Eisenberg, 2009; Werfel, Lund & Schuele, 2015). Print knowledge, specifically concepts of print, has been identified as an early area of weakness in preschool children with hearing loss (Werfel, 2017). This poster evaluates how conceptual vocabulary knowledge likely contributes to deficits in print knowledge via: (a) analysis of vocabulary content of children with/without hearing loss between the ages of 12 months and three years (N = 30), (b) a content analysis of a popular print awareness assessment, and (c) a comparison of responses on questions that do and do not require conceptual vocabulary knowledge by preschool children with hearing loss (N = 24). Parent report measures from two groups of children matched for age (with and without hearing loss) indicate that concept words (e.g., under) are less likely to appear in the first 150 words of the lexicon of children with hearing loss as for children with normal hearing (p < .05). A content analysis of the Preschool Word and Print Awareness Assessment (Justice & Ezell, 2001) indicates that, of the 24 questions on the measure, 17 include words considered “concept vocabulary” that range in age of acquisition 2.8 years to 5.5 years (Kuperman, Stadthagen-Gonzalez, & Brysbaert, 2012). The performance of 24 children with hearing loss on each of those items is compared across items, to describe trends in participant responses for questions containing high-level concept words (particularly spatial/temporal words). We conclude by describing how interventionists can be aware of the concept words present in a criterion-referenced assessment, and how interventionists can begin teaching concept words from an early age.
- Participants will describe print awareness and conceptual vocabulary
- Participants will consider ways to increase conceptual vocabulary in young children with hearing loss
- Participants will identify the relation between print awareness and conceptual vocabulary knowledge in children with hearing loss
Poster:
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Presenter: Krystal Werfel
Krystal L. Werfel, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an assistant professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders and director of the Written Language Lab at the University of South Carolina. Her research addresses early language and literacy acquisition in children with hearing loss who use amplification and develop spoken language. Dr. Werfel's research is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Grants for Other activities from NIH.
• Receives Salary for Employment from University of South Carolina.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Emily Lund, PhD, CCC-SLP is an Assistant Professor at Texas Christian University. Her research focuses on assessment and intervention related to spoken and written word learning in children with hearing loss.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Grants for Other activities from NIH/NIDCD.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Professional (On Hands and Voices F3L Scientific Advisory Board)
relationship for Volunteer membership on advisory committee or review panels.