Journal of deaf studies and deaf education
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J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ · Oct 2014
Foundations for literacy: An early literacy intervention for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.
The present study evaluated the efficacy of a new preschool early literacy intervention created specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children with functional hearing. Teachers implemented Foundations for Literacy with 25 DHH children in 2 schools (intervention group). One school used only spoken language, and the other used sign with and without spoken language. ⋯ From fall to spring, intervention children made significantly greater gains on tests of phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and expressive vocabulary than did comparison children. In addition, intervention children showed significant increases in standard scores (based on hearing norms) on phonological awareness and vocabulary tests. This quasi-experimental study suggests that the intervention shows promise for improving early literacy skills of DHH children with functional hearing.