Cochlear Implant in the Second Year of Life: Lexical and Grammatical Outcomes
Publication: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume 55, Number 2
Pages 382-394
Abstract
Purpose
The authors studied the effect of the cochlear implant (CI) on language comprehension and production in deaf children who had received a CI in the 2nd year of life.
Method
The authors evaluated lexical and morphosyntactic skills in comprehension and production in 17 Italian children who are deaf (M = 54 months of age) with a CI and in 2 control groups of children with normal hearing (NH; 1 matched for chronological age and the other whose chronological age corresponded to the duration of CI activation). The authors also compared children with unilateral CI to children with bilateral CI.
Results
Children with CI appeared to keep pace with NH children matched for time since CI activation in terms of language acquisition, and they were similar to same-age NH children in lexical production. However, children with CI showed difficulties in lexical comprehension when a task required phonological discrimination as well as in grammar comprehension and production. Children with bilateral CI showed better comprehension than did children with unilateral CI; the 2 groups were similar for production.
Conclusions
Activation of CI in the 2nd year of life may provide children who are deaf with a good opportunity to develop language skills, although some limitations in phonological and morphological skills are still present 3 years after auditory reafferentation.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Baldassari, C. M., Schmidt, C., Schubert, C. M., Srinivasan, P., Dodson, K. M., & Sismanis, A. (2009). Receptive language outcomes in children after cochlear implantation. Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 140, 114–119.
Blake, J., Austin, W., Cannon, M., Lisus, A., & Vaughan, A. (1994). The relationship between memory span and measures of imitative and spontaneous language complexity in preschool children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 17, 91–107.
Bortolini, U., Basso, M., Genovese, E., & Arslan, E. (2007). Lo sviluppo vocale in bambini con impianto cocleare: Indici di sviluppo e implicazioni per l’intervento [Vocal development in children with cochlear implants: Developmental indexes and implications for interventions]. I Care, 3, 74–84.
Bosco, E., Mancini, P., D’Agosta, L., Ballantyne, D. B., & Filipo, R. (2005). Schooling and educational performance in children and adolescents wearing cochlear implants. Cochlear Implants International, 6, 147–156.
Caselli, M. C., Casadio, P., & Bates, E. (1999). A comparison of the transition from first words to grammar in English and Italian. Journal of Child Language, 26, 69–111.
Caselli, M. C., Leonard, L. B., Volterra, V., & Campagnoli, M. G. (1993). Toward mastery of Italian morphology: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Child Language, 20, 377–393.
Caselli, M. C., Maragna, S., & Volterra, V. (2006). Linguaggio e sordità. Gesti, segni e parole nello sviluppo e nell’educazione [Language and deafness. Gestures, signs and words in development and education]. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino.
Chilosi, A. M., Orazini, A. L., Comparini, E., Moretti, E., & Cipriani, P. (2009, August). Morphosyntactic acquisition in deaf children after early cochlear implantation. Poster presented at the Cross-Modal Plasticity in Deafness and Cochlear Implants Workshop, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
Colletti, V., Carner, M., Miorelli, V., Guida, M., Colletti, L., & Fiorini, F. G. (2005). Cochlear implantation at under 12 months: Report on 10 patients. Laryngoscope, 115, 445–449.
Connor, C. M., Craig, H. K., Raudenbush, S. W., Heavner, K., & Zwolan, T. A. (2006). The age at which young deaf children receive cochlear implants and their vocabulary and speech production growth: Is there an added value for early implantation? Ear and Hearing, 27, 628–644.
De Iaco, M. G., Guerzoni, L., & Trabacca, A. (2003). La riabilitazione del bambino ipoacusico con impianto cocleare: Descrizione di un caso [The rehabilitation of a deaf child with a cochlear implant: Case report]. Saggi—Child Development and Disabilities, 1, 47–53.
Dettman, S. J., Pinder, D., Briggs, R. J., Dowell, R. C., & Leigh, J. R. (2007). Communication development in children who receive the cochlear implant younger than 12 months: Risks versus benefits. Ear and Hearing, 28(Suppl. 2), 11S–18S.
Devescovi, A., & Caselli, M. C. (2001). Una prova di ripetizione di frasi per la valutazione del primo sviluppo grammaticale [A Sentence Repetition Task to evaluate early grammar skills]. Psicologia Clinica dello Sviluppo, 5, 341–364.
Devescovi, A., & Caselli, M. C. (2007). Sentence repetition as a measure of early grammatical development in Italian. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 42, 187–208.
Duchesne, L., Sutton, A., & Bergeron, F. (2009). Language achievement in children who received cochlear implants between 1 and 2 years of age: Group trends and individual patterns. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 14, 465–485.
Ertmer, D. J., Young, N. M., & Nathani, S. (2007). Profiles in vocal development in young cochlear implant recipients. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50, 393–407.
Fagan, M. K., Pisoni, D. B., Horn, D. L., & Dillon, C. M. (2007). Neuropsychological correlates of vocabulary, reading, and working memory in deaf children with cochlear implants. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 12, 461–471.
Galvin, K. L., Mok, M., Dowell, R. C., & Briggs, R. J. (2008). Speech detection and localization results and clinical outcomes for children receiving sequential bilateral cochlear implants before four years of age. International Journal of Audiology, 47, 636–646.
Geers, A. E. (2004). Speech, language, and reading skills after early cochlear implantation. Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 130, 634–638.
Geers, A. E., Nicholas, J. G., & Sedey, A. L. (2003). Language skills of children with early cochlear implantation. Ear and Hearing, 24(Suppl. 1), 46S–58S.
Hawker, K., Ramirez-Inscoe, J., Bishop, D. V. M., Twomey, T., O’Donoghue, G. M., & Moore, D. R. (2008). Disproportionate language impairment in children using cochlear implants. Ear and Hearing, 29, 467–471.
Holt, R. F., & Svirsky, M. A. (2008). An exploratory look at pediatric cochlear implantation: Is earliest always best? Ear and Hearing, 29, 492–511.
Hurford, J. R. (1991). The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition. Cognition, 40, 159–201.
Johnston, J. C., Durieux-Smith, A., Douglas, A., O’Connor, A., & Fitzpatrick, E. (2009). Bilateral paediatric cochlear implants: A critical review. International Journal of Audiology, 48, 601–617.
Karmiloff, K., & Karmiloff-Smith, A. (2001). Pathways to language: From fetus to adolescent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kirk, K. I., Miyamoto, R. T., Ying, E. A., Perdew, A. E., & Zuganelis, H. (2000). Cochlear implantation in young children: Effects of age at implantation and communication mode. Volta Review, 102, 127–144.
Kuczaj, S. A., & Maratsos, M. P. (1975). What children can say before they will. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 21, 89–112.
Leonard, L. B. (1998). Children with specific language impairment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Leonard, L. B. (2000). Specific language impairment across languages. In Bishop, D. V. M., & Leonard, L. B. (Eds.), Speech and language impairments in children: Causes, characteristics, intervention, and outcome (pp. 115–129). Hove, United Kingdom: Psychology Press.
Leonard, L. B. (2009). Cross-linguistic studies of child language disorders. In Schwartz, R. (Ed.), Handbook of child language disorders (pp. 308–324). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Litovsky, R. Y., Parkinson, A., Arcaroli, J., Peters, R., Lake, J., Johnstone, P., & Yu, G. (2004). Bilateral cochlear implants in adults and children. Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 130, 648–655.
Miyamoto, R. T., Houston, D. M., & Bergeson, T. (2005). Cochlear implantation in deaf infants. The Laryngoscope, 115, 1376–1380.
Moeller, M. P. (2000). Early intervention and language development in children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Pediatrics, 106, 43–51.
Murphy, J., & O’Donoghue, G. (2007). Bilateral cochlear implantation: An evidence-based medicine evaluation. The Laryngoscope, 117, 1412–1418.
Nava, E., Bottari, D., Bonfioli, F., Beltrame, M. A., & Pavani, F. (2009). Spatial hearing with a single cochlear implant in late-implanted adults. Hearing Research, 255, 91–98.
Nicholas, J. G., & Geers, A. E. (2007). Will they catch up? The role of age at cochlear implantation in the spoken language development of children with severe to profound hearing loss. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50, 1048–1062.
Pickett, J. M., & Stark, R. E. (1987). Cochlear implants and sensory aids for deaf children. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 13, 323–344.
Pisoni, D. B., & Cleary, M. (2003). Measures of working memory span and verbal rehearsal speed in deaf children after cochlear implantation. Ear and Hearing, 24(Suppl. 1), 106S–120S.
Pizzuto, E., & Caselli, M. C. (1992). The acquisition of Italian morphology: Implications for models of language development. Journal of Child Language, 19, 491–557.
Ramirez Inscoe, J., Odell, A., Archbold, S., & Nikolopoulos, T. (2009). Expressive spoken language development in deaf children with cochlear implants who are beginning formal education. Deafness and Education International, 11, 39–55.
Richter, B., Eissele, S., Laszig, R., & Löhle, E. (2002). Receptive and expressive language skills of 106 children with a minimum of 2 years' experience in hearing with a cochlear implant. International Journal of Pediatric Otolaryngology, 64, 111–125.
Rinaldi, P., & Caselli, M. C. (2009). Lexical and grammatical abilities in deaf Italian preschoolers: The role of duration of formal language experience. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 14, 63–75.
Roid, G. H., & Miller, L. J. (1997). Leiter International Performance Scale—Revised. Wood Dale, IL: Stoelting.
Ruben, R. J. (1986). Unsolved issues around critical periods with emphasis on clinical application. Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 429, 61–64.
Rustioni Metz Lancaster, D. (2007). Test di Comprensione Morfosintattica [Grammar Comprehension Test]. Florence, Italy: Giunti OS.
Slobin, D. I., & Welsh, C. A. (1973). Elicited imitation as a research tool in developmental psycholinguistics. In Ferguson, C. A., & Slobin, D. I. (Eds.), Studies of child language development (pp. 485–497). New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Spencer, A. (1991). Morphological theory. Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell.
Spencer, P. E., & Marschark, M. (Eds.), 2006). Advances in the spoken language development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Stacey, P. C., Fortnum, H. M., Barton, G. R., & Summerfield, A. Q. (2006). Hearing-impaired children in the United Kingdom: I. Auditory performance, communication skills, educational achievements, quality of life, and cochlear implantation. Ear and Hearing, 27, 161–186.
Stephens, D. (2001). Terminology and definitions: Audiological terms. In Martini, A., Mazzoli, M., Stephens, D., & Read, A. (Eds.), Definitions protocols and guidelines in genetic hearing impairments (pp. 9–14). London, United Kingdom: Whurr.
Svirsky, M. A., Teoh, S.-W., & Neuburger, H. (2004). Development of language and speech perception in congenitally, profoundly deaf children as a function of age at cochlear implantation. Audiology & Neuro-Otology, 9, 224–233.
Tait, M., Nikolopoulos, T. P., De Raeve, L., Johnson, S., Datta, G., Karltorp, E., & Frijns, J. H. (2010). Bilateral versus unilateral cochlear implantation in young children. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinololaryngology, 74, 206–211.
Tallal, P. (2000). Experimental studies of language learning impairments: From research to remediation. In Bishop, D. V. M., & Leonard, L. B. (Eds.), Speech and language impairments in children: Causes, characteristics, intervention and outcome (pp. 131–155). Hove, United Kingdom: Psychology Press.
Tomblin, J. B., Barker, B. A., & Hubbs, S. (2007). Developmental constraints on language development in children with cochlear implants. International Journal of Audiology, 46, 512–523.
Tomblin, J. B., Spencer, L., Flock, S., Tyler, R., & Gantz, B. (1999). Comparison of language achievement in children with cochlear implants and children using hearing aids. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 42, 497–511.
Uchanski, R. M., & Geers, A. E. (2003). Acoustic characteristics of the speech of young cochlear implant users: A comparison with normal-hearing age-mates. Ear and Hearing, 24(Suppl. 1), 90S–105S.
Valencia, D. M., Rimell, F. L., Friedman, B. J., Oblander, M. R., & Helmbrecht, J. (2008). Cochlear implantation in infants less than 12 months of age. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 72, 767–773.
Vicari, S., Marotta, L., & Luci, A. (2007). Test Fono Lessicale [Lexical-Phonological Test]. Trento, Italy: Erickson.
Vlastarakos, P. V., Candiloros, D., Papacharalampous, G., Tavoulari, E., Kampessis, G., Mochloulis, G., & Nikolopoulos, T. P. (2010). Diagnostic challenges and safety considerations in cochlear implantation under the age of 12 months. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 74, 127–132.
Volterra, V., Capirci, O., & Caselli, M. C. (2001). What atypical populations can reveal about language development: The contrast between deafness and Williams syndrome. Language and Cognitive Processes, 16, 219–239.
Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (2003a). Early intervention after universal neonatal hearing screening: Impact on outcomes. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 9, 252–266.
Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (2003b). From screening to early identification and intervention: Discovering predictors to successful outcomes for children with significant hearing loss. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 8, 11–30.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
History
- Received: Sep 3, 2010
- Revised: Feb 17, 2011
- Accepted: Aug 14, 2011
- Published in issue: Apr 1, 2012
Key Words
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Article Metrics
View all metricsCitations
Download article citation data for:
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.
Citing Literature
- Sophie Fagniart, Brigitte Charlier, Véronique Delvaux, Bernard Georges Harmegnies, Anne Huberlant, Myriam Piccaluga, Kathy Huet, Morphosyntactic production and processing skills in relation to age effects and lexical-phonological levels among children with cochlear implants and typically hearing peers: a focus on vowel nasality, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1528388, 19, (2025).
- Analí Rosa Taboh, Diego Edgar Shalom, Belén Alvares, Carolina Andrea Gattei, Sentence Comprehension in Spanish-Speaking Children With Hearing Loss: On the Integration of Morphosyntactic and Lexico-Semantic Cues, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-00444, 68, 2, (602-617), (2024).
- Sophie Fagniart, Brigitte Charlier, Véronique Delvaux, Anne Huberlant, Bernard Georges Harmegnies, Myriam Piccaluga, Kathy Huet, Consonant and vowel production in children with cochlear implants: acoustic measures and multiple factor analysis, Frontiers in Audiology and Otology, 10.3389/fauot.2024.1425959, 2, (2024).
- Céline Hidalgo, Christelle Zielinski, Sophie Chen, Stéphane Roman, Eric Truy, Daniele Schön, Similar gaze behaviour during dialogue perception in congenitally deaf children with cochlear Implants and normal hearing children, International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 10.1111/1460-6984.13094, 59, 6, (2441-2453), (2024).
- Cynthia Glaubitz, Rainer Beck, Tim Liebscher, Antje Aschendorff, Kerstin Kreibohm-Strauß, Dominique Kronesser, Yvonne Seebens, Barbara Streicher, Stefanie Kröger, Frühe Sprachleistungen im Fragebogen ELFRAEarly language performance in the ELFRA questionnaire, HNO, 10.1007/s00106-024-01489-w, 73, 5, (288-298), (2024).
- Valentina Persici, Michela Santangelo, Letizia Guerzoni, Domenico Cuda, Reyna L. Gordon, Marinella Majorano, Music Exposure and Maternal Musicality Predict Vocabulary Development in Children with Cochlear Implants, Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 10.1525/mp.2024.41.4.240, 41, 4, (240-261), (2024).
- Sophie Fagniart, Véronique Delvaux, Bernard Harmegnies, Anne Huberlant, Kathy Huet, Myriam Piccaluga, Isabelle Watterman, Brigitte Charlier, Nasal/Oral Vowel Perception in French-Speaking Children With Cochlear Implants and Children With Typical Hearing, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00274, 67, 4, (1243-1267), (2024).
- Bénédicte Grandon, Marcel Schlechtweg, Esther Ruigendijk, Processing of Plural Marking in Nouns by German-Speaking Children With Normal Hearing and Children With Cochlear Implants: An Eye-Tracking Study, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00145, 67, 3, (853-869), (2024).
- Elena Perazzato, Francesca Volpato, La valutazione delle competenze narrative e linguistiche, in italiano scritto e in LIS, Valutazione linguistica in italiano e nella LIS e strategie di intervento, 10.30687/978-88-6969-737-1/004, (2023).
- Kimberly Ofori-Sanzo, Leah Geer, Kinya Embry, Syntax intervention in American Sign Language: an exploratory case study, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 10.1093/deafed/enad048, (2023).
- See more
View Options
Sign In Options
ASHA member? If so, log in with your ASHA website credentials for full access.
Member Login