title: Predictors of reading development in deaf children: a 3-year longitudinal study.
abstract: The development of reading ability in a group of deaf children was followed over a 3-year period. A total of 29 deaf children (7-8 years of age at the first assessment) participated in the study, and every 12 months they were given a battery of literacy, cognitive, and language tasks. Earlier vocabulary and speechreading skills predicted longitudinal growth in reading achievement. The relations between reading and the predictor variables showed developmental change. Earlier reading ability was related to later phonological awareness skills, suggesting that deaf children might develop their phonological awareness through reading. Deaf children who had the most age-appropriate reading skills tended to have less severe hearing losses and earlier diagnoses and also preferred to communicate through speech. The theoretical implications of the role for speechreading, vocabulary and phonological awareness in deaf children's literacy are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Deafness, Cognition, and Language Research Centre, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. fek22@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Fiona E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Kyle
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D060345:Education of Persons with Hearing Disabilities; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011932:Reading; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014825:Vocabulary