Object: The aim of this study was investigate whether participation in a novel 12-week intervention program based on the syllabic approach (‘Simo-Syl’) leads to improvements in the language abilities that support literacy acquisition (or early literacy skills) in children with cochlear implant (CI) and normal hearing (NH). Methods: Three groups of children participated in the study: one group with CIs (n=10, mean age=62 months; SD=4.85 ) who participated in the intervention; all the children had profound congenital sensorineural hearing loss, the mean age at CI activation was 22.7 months (SD +/- 3.8; range 14-30); five children used bilateral CI, three children used monolateral CI, two children used bimodal stimulation. One group with NH (n=13, mean age=66.5 months; SD=3.50) who also participated in the intervention, and one control group of children with NH who did not took part in the intervention (n=17, mean age=61.70 months; SD=3.62). Children’s early literacy skills were tested in four tasks (syllable recognition, vowel recognition, syllable reading, word reading) using an ad-hoc computer-based assessment in two sessions, before and after the intervention for the CI and NH intervention groups and at corresponding time points for the control group. Results: Preliminary analyses showed that at T0 the syllable and vowel recognition abilities of the children with CIs did not differ between males and females, children with different modality stimulation, and did not correlate with maternal or paternal years of education completed (ps > .05). Their syllable and word reading skills were very weak (range = 0-1). A series of Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) on each of the four tasks showed significant Group x Session interactions for syllable reading (F(2,22)=3.57, p=.045) and word reading (F(2,22)=13.45, p<.001). Post-hoc tests with the Tukey correction showed significant improvements in syllable reading for all groups (CI: t(22)=-3.290, p=.003; NH: t(22)=-9.046, p<.001, Control: t(22)=-4.061, p<.001) and significant improvements in word reading between sessions only for the CI and NH intervention groups (CI: t(22)=-3.838, p<.001; NH: t(22)=-10.140, p<.001). At T1, the word reading skills of the NH intervention group were significantly better than those of the control group (t(34.4)=3.539, p=.003); those of the CI group were somewhat in between. Conclusions: These results show that participating in the Syllabic approach intervention benefits the syllable and word reading skills of children with CIs as well as those of children with NH, with potential positive consequences for their literacy acquisition process and school performance.
The syllabic approach intervention supports early literacy skills in children with cochlear implants.
Majorano M.;Persici V.;
2022-01-01
Abstract
Object: The aim of this study was investigate whether participation in a novel 12-week intervention program based on the syllabic approach (‘Simo-Syl’) leads to improvements in the language abilities that support literacy acquisition (or early literacy skills) in children with cochlear implant (CI) and normal hearing (NH). Methods: Three groups of children participated in the study: one group with CIs (n=10, mean age=62 months; SD=4.85 ) who participated in the intervention; all the children had profound congenital sensorineural hearing loss, the mean age at CI activation was 22.7 months (SD +/- 3.8; range 14-30); five children used bilateral CI, three children used monolateral CI, two children used bimodal stimulation. One group with NH (n=13, mean age=66.5 months; SD=3.50) who also participated in the intervention, and one control group of children with NH who did not took part in the intervention (n=17, mean age=61.70 months; SD=3.62). Children’s early literacy skills were tested in four tasks (syllable recognition, vowel recognition, syllable reading, word reading) using an ad-hoc computer-based assessment in two sessions, before and after the intervention for the CI and NH intervention groups and at corresponding time points for the control group. Results: Preliminary analyses showed that at T0 the syllable and vowel recognition abilities of the children with CIs did not differ between males and females, children with different modality stimulation, and did not correlate with maternal or paternal years of education completed (ps > .05). Their syllable and word reading skills were very weak (range = 0-1). A series of Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) on each of the four tasks showed significant Group x Session interactions for syllable reading (F(2,22)=3.57, p=.045) and word reading (F(2,22)=13.45, p<.001). Post-hoc tests with the Tukey correction showed significant improvements in syllable reading for all groups (CI: t(22)=-3.290, p=.003; NH: t(22)=-9.046, p<.001, Control: t(22)=-4.061, p<.001) and significant improvements in word reading between sessions only for the CI and NH intervention groups (CI: t(22)=-3.838, p<.001; NH: t(22)=-10.140, p<.001). At T1, the word reading skills of the NH intervention group were significantly better than those of the control group (t(34.4)=3.539, p=.003); those of the CI group were somewhat in between. Conclusions: These results show that participating in the Syllabic approach intervention benefits the syllable and word reading skills of children with CIs as well as those of children with NH, with potential positive consequences for their literacy acquisition process and school performance.
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