Narrative Skills in School-Age Children who are Hard of Hearing

The ability to effectively tell a story is a central component of language and a considerable predictor of academic success for children. Due to their reduced access to auditory input, children with hearing loss (CHL) are at risk for delays in language development. Previous research suggests that CHL lag behind their peers with normal hearing (children with normal hearing; CNH) in narrative language development; however few studies focus specifically on children with mild-to-severe hearing loss (children who are hard of hearing; CHH). The current study examined multiple aspects of narrative ability and its underlying mechanisms in second-grade CHH compared to same-age CNH. Results indicated that 1) CHH performed significantly worse on narrative comprehension than CNH, 2) children with severe hearing loss performed worse than CNH on both narrative comprehension and production, and children with moderate hearing loss performed significantly better than children with severe hearing loss on production tasks, 3) grammar and vocabulary contributed uniquely to narrative ability in CHH, while only vocabulary contributed in CNH, and 4) CHH omitted a higher percentage of high-frequency morphemes in their stories than CNH. Overall, CHH demonstrated delays in narrative performance compared to CNH. Narrative language skills should be targeted in intervention to promote literacy development and optimize potential academic success of CHH.