Language Development Svirsky, Mario A.,

Language Development Svirsky, Mario a., Robbins, Amy M., Kirk, Iller Kirk, Karen, Pisoni, David B., & Miyamoto, Richard T. (2000). Language Development in profoundly deaf children with cochlear implants. American Psychological Society. 11(2), 153-159. For years researchers have found that when deafness occurs before the age of three in a child, language proves more difficult to acquire than "normal-hearing" children, (Svirsky, 2000). Many individuals who suffered in their language abilites were left to deal with the issue by themselves.

However, around the 1980's the cochlear implant made a huge impact in dealing with hearing impairment. Studies focusing on the implant's in children also noticed that the implant actually helped promote language development, both oral and written. Information for Literature Review: Several previous studies show how cochlear implants help promote language development within children. Although the devices do not restore hearing, in any sense that a non-deaf person might understand, they still make a difference in the developing minds of young children.

Hypothesis: Researchers wanted to prove that cochlear implants do in fact improve language development in hearing impaired infants; and that change is most effective when the implant is utilized earlier in age. Independent Variables: The Independent variables in this study was the cochlear implants which were implanted into deaf infants, aged four months. This study hoped to prove that these implants were in fact, beneficial for the development of language in young hearing impaired babies.

Dependent Variables: The Dependent variables consisted of the actual four-month-old infants who were being implanted with the device. The infants were then assessed for their language development periodically after their implantation. They were tested at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 32 months of age. Measures/Scales used: With the framework that language development occurs as the child gets older, the researchers formulated a model which gave predicted scores according to test analysis. These scores were then compared to.