English Grammar Structures That Students Who Are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing Struggle to Comprehend

• In Event: 15.028 - Quantitative Research in Qualitative Spaces

Abstract

While it is known that many children who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/Dhh) struggle with language acquisition and reading comprehension, relatively little is known about which grammatical structures d/Dhh children find easy or difficult. We analyzed data from 344 d/Dhh students in K-6 grades using the Comprehension of Written Grammar test (Easterbrooks, 2010) to examine the difficulty of 26 grammatical structures. Difficulty was assessed by the percentage of children who got the item or grammatical structure correct. Difficulty levels were further categorized into ranges (e.g., 0-25% correct = Very Difficult). Study results may help teachers of d/Dhh in their instruction, assist in the development or refinement of interventions, and improve measures of grammar structure and comprehension.

Authors

• Joanna Erin Cannon, The University of British Columbia

• Anita M. Hubley, The University of British Columbia

• Julia O'Loughlin, University of British Columbia

• Ellie White

• Lauren Phelan, University of British Columbia