Predicting reading ability in teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing: A longitudinal analysis of language and reading.
Sarah Worsfold, Merle Mahon, Hannah Pimperton and 2 others
PMID 29660589WHAT IT FOUND
For teenagers with permanent hearing loss, language in middle childhood predicted reading comprehension but not word reading accuracy, even after earlier reading scores.
Key findings
01Spoken language ability in middle childhood predicted teenage reading comprehension even after earlier reading comprehension was taken into account.
02Spoken language ability in middle childhood did not significantly predict teenage word reading accuracy after earlier reading accuracy was taken into account.
03Teenagers with permanent childhood hearing loss had lower average reading scores than hearing comparison teenagers, but about 25% had reading scores above the hearing comparison mean.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was observational, so it shows prediction, not that language therapy caused better reading. The analysed sample was 53 participants with hearing loss who had data at both time points, after attrition and exclusion of participants who used British Sign Language as their preferred language or had severe additional disabilities. There was no measure of phonological skills at age 8 years, so the study could not test whether those skills predicted reading accuracy. The sample was born in 1992-1997 and used spoken English, so results may not apply to children born later or sign language users. The expressive language tests differed between time points: one required listening and retelling, the other did not, which may affect comparison of expressive language over time.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that language therapy improves reading. The study observed associations, not an intervention, and language predicted comprehension but not accuracy.