Explicitly teaching English through the air to students who are deaf or hard of hearing

Am Ann Deaf. 2014 Spring;159(1):45-58. doi: 10.1353/aad.2014.0010.

Abstract

The effects of the Language for Learning curriculum (Engelmann & Osborne, 1999) on through-the-air (i.e., signed and/or spoken) English skills for students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) were examined by means of a single-subject, concurrent-multiple-probes-across-participants design. Four 11-year-old participants varied in auditory access, IQ, and age at amplification and/or cochlear implantation. All students showed increased accuracy of through-the-air English skills after the intervention (i.e., 15-20 lessons) and maintained these skills when assessed 1 week and 1 month later. The findings yielded some promising results indicating that a Direct Instruction curriculum may be an efficacious way to teach morphology and syntax to DHH students.

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Child Behavior
  • Child Development
  • Curriculum
  • Education of Persons with Hearing Disabilities / methods*
  • Educational Measurement
  • Educational Status
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Language*
  • Male
  • Persons with Hearing Disabilities / psychology*
  • Sign Language*
  • Task Performance and Analysis
  • Teaching / methods*
  • Time Factors