INVESTIGATING COGNITIVE AND READING COMPREHENSION CHALLENGES IN DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING CHILDREN: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES
Keywords:
Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) children, Reading comprehension, Cognitive functions, Vocabulary knowledge, Bimodal bilingualism, Executive functions, Instructional strategies, Language modality, Multisensory learning, Metacognitive strategies.Abstract
This research focuses on the cognitive and reading comprehension problems of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children and specifically investigates the impact of cognitive abilities, language proficiency, and instructional strategies. By employing a mixed-methods design, the research explores the association between cognitive functions (working memory, executive functions) and reading comprehension in a group of 100 DHH children using different communication modalities. The results reveal that cognitive factors, especially working memory and vocabulary depth, are major determinants of reading comprehension. Moreover, children exposed to bimodal language (sign and spoken language) had better comprehension scores than those who were oral-only. The use of teacher strategies like visual supports and explicit vocabulary instruction was instrumental in leading to student success. This research underscores the importance of tailored literacies that are not only cognitive but also linguistic in nature and that integrate these dimensions for the literacy development of DHH students. The paper ends with a discussion on the implications of teaching practice and the direction of research.
