title: The effects of dual-language support on the language skills of bilingual children with hearing loss who use listening devices relative to their monolingual peers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study investigated the effects of supporting both English and Spanish on language outcomes in bilingual children with hearing loss (HL) who used listening devices (cochlear implants and hearing aids). The English language skills of bilingual children with HL were compared to those of their monolingual English-speaking peers' with HL. The Spanish and English language skills of the bilingual participants were also compared.
  
  
  METHODS
  The language skills of 40 children with HL (20 bilingual Spanish-English-speaking and 20 monolingual English-speaking) were examined using the Auditory Comprehension, Expressive Communication, and total language scores from the Preschool Language Scale, Fourth Edition ( Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002a, 2002b).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The English language skills of the bilingual participants were commensurate with those of their monolingual English-speaking peers on all 3 measures. The Spanish and English total language scores of the bilingual group were also comparable and highly correlated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both languages of bilingual children with HL can be supported without having adverse effects on the children's language development. Moreover, supporting both languages in bilingual children with HL may have multifarious positive ramifications.
authors.affiliation: The University of Houston, TX, USA. fbunta@uh.edu
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bunta
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Douglas
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003054:Cochlear Implants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013781:Texas
keywords: bilingual Spanish–English; cochlear implants; hearing aids; therapy