Dumanlar Perihan, Akmese Pelin Pistav, Kirazli Gulce, Kirazli Tayfun
Department of Audiology and Speech Disorders, Ege University Institute of Health Sciences, Izmir, Türkiye.
Department of Audiology, Ege University Faculty of Health Sciences, Ege Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Suat Cemile Balcioğlu Yerleşkesi Ana Karşiyaka, Izmir, Türkiye.
J Am Acad Audiol. 2024 May;35(5-06):105-114. doi: 10.1055/s-0044-1790279. Epub 2024 Dec 12.
Children with hearing loss (HL) have difficulty in performing the complex functions of language, especially in noisy environments. Cognitive processes such as working memory and short-term memory are effective on individual differences in language skills in children with HL.
The present study aimed to evaluate the vocabulary and syntax skills in language development areas and working memory of children with HL and to compare these results with those of their peers with normal hearing (NH).
In this study, a causal-comparative research model was used to measure vocabulary and syntax skills, which are among the working memory and language development skills of children with NH and those with HL.
A total of 88 children, 44 children with HL aged 60 to 107 (months) and age- and gender-matched 44 children with NH, were included in the study.
Evaluation was made in two sessions of 20 minutes for each participant.
The language development and working memory of 44 children with HL and 44 children with NH were evaluated and the two groups were compared with each other. The Working Memory Scale (WMS) was used to evaluate the working memory of the participants and three subtests (vocabulary, sentence repetition, and sentence comprehension) of the Test of Language Development-Primary Fourth Edition: Turkish Version (TOLD-P:4) were used to evaluate language development. SPSS 23.0 program was used in the analysis of the data.
Children with HL obtained lower scores than their peers with NH in all three TOLD-P subtests. Children with HL obtained significantly lower scores in WMS verbal memory and general WMS scores compared with NH children. A positive correlation was found between WMS Verbal Memory Scores and TOLD-P sentence comprehension and sentence repetition scores. WMS Visual Memory Scores predicted the group with HL and all TOLD-P scores and Verbal Memory Scores predicted the group with NH.
Working memory skills are the predictor of language comprehension, reasoning, learning, literacy skills, and language development. Thus, including working memory skills as well as language skills in the education programs of children with HL contributes to the children's development.
听力损失（HL）儿童在执行复杂的语言功能方面存在困难，尤其是在嘈杂的环境中。工作记忆和短期记忆等认知过程对HL儿童的语言技能个体差异有影响。
本研究旨在评估HL儿童在语言发展领域的词汇和句法技能以及工作记忆，并将这些结果与其听力正常（NH）的同龄人进行比较。
在本研究中，采用因果比较研究模型来测量词汇和句法技能，这些技能属于NH儿童和HL儿童的工作记忆和语言发展技能。
共有88名儿童参与研究，其中44名HL儿童年龄在60至107个月之间，44名NH儿童在年龄和性别上与之匹配。
对每位参与者进行了两场各20分钟的评估。
对44名HL儿童和44名NH儿童的语言发展和工作记忆进行了评估，并对两组进行了相互比较。使用工作记忆量表（WMS）评估参与者的工作记忆，并使用语言发展测试-小学第四版：土耳其语版（TOLD-P:4）的三个子测试（词汇、句子重复和句子理解）来评估语言发展。数据分析使用SPSS 23.0程序。
在TOLD-P的所有三个子测试中，HL儿童的得分均低于其NH同龄人。与NH儿童相比，HL儿童在WMS言语记忆和总体WMS得分上显著更低。发现WMS言语记忆得分与TOLD-P句子理解和句子重复得分之间存在正相关。WMS视觉记忆得分可预测HL组以及所有TOLD-P得分，言语记忆得分可预测NH组。
工作记忆技能是语言理解、推理、学习、读写能力和语言发展的预测指标。因此，在HL儿童的教育计划中纳入工作记忆技能以及语言技能有助于儿童的发展。
