Concurrent and longitudinal predictors of reading for deaf and hearing children in primary school

Forty-one children with severe-profound prelingual hearing loss were assessed on single word reading, reading comprehension, English vocabulary, phonological awareness and speechreading at three time points, 1 year apart (T1–T3). Their progress was compared with that of a group of hearing children of similar nonverbal IQ, initially reading at the same level. Single word reading improved at each assessment point for the deaf children but there was no growth in reading comprehension from T2 to T3. There were no differences between children with cochlear implants and those with hearing aids on either reading measure but orally educated children had higher scores than children who signed in the classroom. English vocabulary and speechreading were the most consistent longitudinal predictors of reading for the deaf children.
Phonological awareness was the most consistent longitudinal predictor for the hearing group and also a concurrent predictor of reading at T3 for both groups. There were many more significant correlations among the various measures for the deaf children than the hearing at both T1 and T3, suggesting that skills underpinning reading, including phonological awareness and vocabulary, are more closely related for deaf children. Implications of these findings for of deaf children’s literacy are explored.