title: Comprehension of abstract words among hearing impaired children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examines the ability and development in the comprehension of abstract words with hearing impaired children. The ability to understand abstract words is quite important for their academic learning and adaptation in their school life. Here, we qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the development of abstract vocabulary in hearing impaired children using The Standardized Comprehension Test for Abstract Words (SCTAW).
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 75 hearing impaired children (hearing aid users, 61; cochlear implant users, 14; 1st to 10th grade) and 188 children with normal hearing (1st to 6th grade) using the Picture Vocabulary Test (PVT) and SCTAW.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PVT and SCTAW results closely correlated (r=0.87). The SCTAW scores of the hearing impaired group were lower than those of their peers with normal hearing, but the scores improved as their school grade advanced. In particular, their abstract ability began to catch up from the fifth grade. The error trends of abstract vocabulary in the two groups did not significantly differ.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SCTAW was useful as an abstract lexical evaluation of hearing impaired children. The development of an abstract vocabulary did not qualitatively differ between children with or without a hearing impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Science, 2-5-1 Shikata Cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kunisue
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.forename: Yukihide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagayasu
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kariya
authors.forename: Yasuyo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukutomi
authors.forename: Haruhisa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takami
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishizaki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003071:Cognition; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D012660:Semantics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012813:Sign Language; D013067:Speech Perception; D014825:Vocabulary