The current situation and characteristics of the language abil-ity of hearing-impaired children in China

Abstract

The primary school stage is an important period to cultivate language development and basic language ability. Although there are many studies on the reading and writing skills of hearing children, very little research has been conducted on these skills of hearing-impaired children. This study focuses on analysing the current situation and the development characteristics of hearing-impaired children in China. With a sample of 114 hearing-impaired children and a total of 640 hearing children, who were enrolled in the elementary school attached to Hebei Normal University, this study conducted a survey, test and interview. The collected data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and content analysis. The study concluded that the language skills of hearing-impaired children remained at a low level and may not even improve with the rise in grades. Regarding the academic skills of hearing-impaired children, individual differences between hearing-impaired children are large and the academic skills of hearing-impaired children tend to be delayed compared to hearing children. Keywords: Hearing, hearing ability, language;