# Early Language and Literacy Acquisition in Children with Hearing Loss

> **NIH NIH R01** · FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME · 2022 · $132,354

## Abstract

No changes from originally awarded application
 PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The long-term objective of this programmatic line of research is to elucidate the relation of oral language,
phonological processing, and print knowledge and literacy achievement for children with hearing loss who are
developing spoken language. This translational work supports NIDCD’s mission of reducing the burden of
communication disorders such as hearing loss and will result in better methods of identifying preschool children
with hearing loss who are most at-risk for later language and literacy deficits. Children with hearing loss have
wide individual variation in literacy outcomes. The median reading outcome for 18-year-olds with hearing loss is
at only a third grade level, but some researchers report reading levels within the average range. Thus, there is
a critical need to develop methods of identifying which children with hearing loss in the preschool years are most
at-risk for later deficits so high-impact intervention can be initiated as early as possible. For children with normal
hearing, oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge develop over the course of the preschool
years and are moderate to strong predictors of later literacy achievement. Children with hearing loss exhibit
difficulties in acquisition of each of these areas, with particular difficulty in phonological awareness, conceptual
print knowledge, and complex syntax production. The contributions, however, of each preschool oral language,
phonological processing, and print knowledge skill to later literacy achievement for children with hearing loss are
unknown. The aims of this longitudinal study are to (a) determine the developmental trajectories of spoken and
written language for children with hearing loss across the elementary school years, (b) determine the unique
contributions of preschool oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge to grade 3 literacy
achievement in children with hearing loss, and (c) consider how lexical-semantic knowledge contributes to areas
of particularly delayed growth in children with hearing loss, and how those delays specifically contribute to literacy
outcomes in elementary school. This study will provide a better understanding about how spoken and written
language develop, as well as how preschool oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge
contribute to later literacy achievement in children with hearing loss. Such knowledge will have a significant long-
term impact on identification of preschool children with hearing loss who are most at-risk for later spoken
language and literacy deficits, as well as the development of high-impact early intervention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10609209
- **Project number:** 3R01DC017173-06S1
- **Recipient organization:** FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME
- **Principal Investigator:** Emily Ann Lund
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $132,354
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-07-18 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10609209

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10609209, Early Language and Literacy Acquisition in Children with Hearing Loss (3R01DC017173-06S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10609209. Licensed CC0.

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