Article
Speech development after Cochlear Implantation in children from bilingual homes
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Published: | July 22, 2009 |
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Introduction: Children with migration background often receive a cochlear implant at the Cochlear Implant Centrum Ruhr. Aim of this study was to investigate if exposure to a second language influences the ability to develop spoken German skills. A further question was how many children underwent a bilingual education.
Methods: This study includes 97 profoundly hearing-impaired children, implanted before age of 6 years with a Nucleus 22 or 24 Cochlear Implant between 1996 and 2007 at the Cochlear Implant Center Ruhr. 56 of these children reside in bilingual, 41 in monolingual homes. Speech and language skills were assessed by standard speech perception, receptive and expressive language measures (Mainzer and Göttinger test, Schmid-Giovannini and Pollack score). Data on used primary and secondary languages were obtained by questionnaire.
Results: The mean age at time of implantation was 39,6 months (range 13 months to 5 years 10 months) for children from monolingual homes (group 1), 36,5 months (range 13 months to 5 years 6 months) for children from bilingual homes (group 2). Almost all children with bilingual parents indicated German as main language. The mean closed-set test scores 36 months post- implantation were 94.7% and 85.6% for group 1 and group 2, respectively. Schmid-Giovannini test scores were 15.1 for group 1 and 13.2 for group 2. In some cases the second language is used actively, but in most children the use is limited to single words and expressions.
Conclusion: Children with cochlear implant growing up in bilingual homes perform worse than children from monolingual homes in all performed speech tests. However some children with cochlear implants can learn a second spoken language. Other factors such as spoken German skills of the parents, integration of the family and compliance with regard to rehabilitation also play an important role.