There have been mixed reports regarding the benefits of supporting two languages for bilingual children using cochlear implants. With an ever-increasing number of children with hearing loss undergoing cochlear implantation, this study provides timely clinical evidence. The authors studied the effects of supporting the home language (Spanish, in most of their patient population) and English on language outcomes in bilingual children with CI and HAs. They compared the outcomes to those among their bilingual peers who received only English language support. They found statistically significant levels of out-performance by bilingual children with dual language support over their peers with English language support only. This result was found on total language and expressive communication as raw and language age scores. However, the authors did not find a statistically significant difference in auditory comprehension scores. The authors conclude that supporting home language is beneficial for language development in the majority of children compared to the results observed with English language support alone. It is worthwhile for all cochlear implant programs to support English and a home language in bilingual children using cochlear implants. – GM
Supporting second language in bilingual children with cochlear implants
Reviewed by Gauri Mankekar
Dual language versus English-only support for bilingual children with hearing loss who use cochlear implants and hearing aids.
CONTRIBUTOR
Gauri Mankekar
Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
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