title: Pragmatic language in deaf and hard of hearing students: correlation with success in general education.
abstract: Deaf and hard of hearing children have shown delays and difficulties in pragmatic behaviors due to insufficient exposure to common daily discourse and underlying impoverishment in all components of language development. In a study in a school district in a southeastern U.S. state, the researchers investigated the relationship between sociolinguistic pragmatic competence in 81 deaf and hard of hearing students and these students' degree of hearing loss, communication mode, and degree of success in general education. Two measures, one devised by the state's department of education and one developed within the local school system, were used: the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (Georgia Department of Education, 2000) and the Socio-Pragmatic Skills Checklist for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students (Cobb County School District, 1997). The researchers found that whether the students used spoken language or signed language, socio-pragmatic language had a high, positive correlation with academic outcomes.
authors: Cobb County School District, GA, USA.
authors: Elaine Kirk
authors: EK
authors: Thagard
authors: Amanda Strong
authors: AS
authors: Hilsmier
authors: Susan R
authors: SR
authors: Easterbrooks
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D012048:Correction of Hearing Impairment; D060345:Education of Persons with Hearing Disabilities; D004519:Education, Special; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004522:Educational Status; D005845:Georgia; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D007858:Learning; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012813:Sign Language