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Is Knowing Words Enough? Assessing Vocabulary in Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

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Title: Is Knowing Words Enough? Assessing Vocabulary in Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.
Authors: Evans, Leo1 lee.evans@boystown.org, Lund, Emily A.2, Werfel, Krystal L.1
Source: Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools. Apr2025, Vol. 56 Issue 2, p252-266. 15p.
Subject Terms: *Comparative grammar, *Children with disabilities, *Speech evaluation, *Communication, *Vocabulary, *Children, Secondary analysis, Research funding, Deafness, Mean length of utterance
Geographic Terms: South Carolina
Abstract: Purpose: Vocabulary skills in children are typically measured with norm-referenced assessments of receptive and expressive vocabulary. Language sample analysis is an alternative method of examining vocabulary actually produced in communicative events and may be better suited to exposing subtle vocabulary weaknesses. Here, we examine the relationship between norm-referenced vocabulary testing and language sample analysis in preschool children, both children with typical hearing (CTH) and children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Method: Expressive and receptive vocabulary and spontaneous language samples were collected. Language samples were analyzed for complexity (mean length of utterance in words [MLUw]) and variability (number of different noun and verb types produced). Results: CTH had significantly higher scores on both expressive and receptive norm-referenced tests and produced sentences with greater syntactic complexity and semantic variability. Relationships between expressive test scores and MLUw were seen in both groups; the number of noun/verb types produced was related for children who are DHH only. Receptive vocabulary was not related to spontaneous spoken language for CTH. Receptive vocabulary was significantly related to MLUw and noun/verb types for children who are DHH. However, when the DHH group was subdivided into performance above and performance below the 50th percentile, relationships held only for the group with below-average performance. Conclusions: Results suggest that single-word vocabulary, norm-referenced measures indicating performance above the 50th percentile may not be sufficient to capture nuanced difficulties with vocabulary in children who are DHH. For children who are DHH, performance in the "range of normal" on a normreferenced test may not capture ways in which their language performance differs from that of peers with typical hearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Is Knowing Words Enough? Assessing Vocabulary in Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Evans%2C+Leo%22">Evans, Leo</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> lee.evans@boystown.org</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lund%2C+Emily+A%2E%22">Lund, Emily A.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Werfel%2C+Krystal+L%2E%22">Werfel, Krystal L.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Language%2C+Speech+%26+Hearing+Services+in+Schools%22">Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools</searchLink>. Apr2025, Vol. 56 Issue 2, p252-266. 15p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+grammar%22">Comparative grammar</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children+with+disabilities%22">Children with disabilities</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech+evaluation%22">Speech evaluation</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Communication%22">Communication</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Vocabulary%22">Vocabulary</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children%22">Children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+analysis%22">Secondary analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Deafness%22">Deafness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mean+length+of+utterance%22">Mean length of utterance</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22South+Carolina%22">South Carolina</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Purpose: Vocabulary skills in children are typically measured with norm-referenced assessments of receptive and expressive vocabulary. Language sample analysis is an alternative method of examining vocabulary actually produced in communicative events and may be better suited to exposing subtle vocabulary weaknesses. Here, we examine the relationship between norm-referenced vocabulary testing and language sample analysis in preschool children, both children with typical hearing (CTH) and children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Method: Expressive and receptive vocabulary and spontaneous language samples were collected. Language samples were analyzed for complexity (mean length of utterance in words [MLUw]) and variability (number of different noun and verb types produced). Results: CTH had significantly higher scores on both expressive and receptive norm-referenced tests and produced sentences with greater syntactic complexity and semantic variability. Relationships between expressive test scores and MLUw were seen in both groups; the number of noun/verb types produced was related for children who are DHH only. Receptive vocabulary was not related to spontaneous spoken language for CTH. Receptive vocabulary was significantly related to MLUw and noun/verb types for children who are DHH. However, when the DHH group was subdivided into performance above and performance below the 50th percentile, relationships held only for the group with below-average performance. Conclusions: Results suggest that single-word vocabulary, norm-referenced measures indicating performance above the 50th percentile may not be sufficient to capture nuanced difficulties with vocabulary in children who are DHH. For children who are DHH, performance in the "range of normal" on a normreferenced test may not capture ways in which their language performance differs from that of peers with typical hearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1044/2024_LSHSS-24-00046
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Comparative grammar
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Children with disabilities
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      – SubjectFull: Speech evaluation
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      – SubjectFull: Communication
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      – SubjectFull: Vocabulary
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      – SubjectFull: Children
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      – SubjectFull: Secondary analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research funding
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      – SubjectFull: Deafness
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      – SubjectFull: Mean length of utterance
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      – SubjectFull: South Carolina
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Is Knowing Words Enough? Assessing Vocabulary in Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.
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            NameFull: Evans, Leo
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            NameFull: Lund, Emily A.
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              Text: Apr2025
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