Language ability in the intermediate-scoring group of hearing-impaired children.

Objectives: Language development is a key issue in hearing-impaired children. However, interpersonal differences complicate our understanding of the situation. The bimodal or trimodal distribution of language scores in our other reports in this publication imply the presence of fundamental differences among these groups. The characteristic aspects of each group were profiled according to language data.

Methods: We divided 268 children with prelingual severe to profound hearing impairment into 3 groups according to their trimodal distribution observed on histogram-based analysis of their responses to the Test of Question-Answer Interaction Development. Test results in several language domains, including productive and comprehensive vocabulary, productive and comprehensive syntax, and academic achievement, were profiled and compared among these 3 groups.

Results: Significant differences were observed in the results of the Word Fluency Test, the Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, and the Syntax Test of Aphasia among the 3 groups. No significant difference was observed between groups who were lower-scoring and intermediate-scoring on the academic achievement tests referred to as Criterion Referenced Test-II and the Standardized Comprehension Test for Abstract Words. Only the higher-scoring group showed excellent results. The demographic factors were not significantly different among the 3 groups.

Conclusions: Relatively poor academic achievement despite fair language production was the dominant feature of the intermediate-scoring group. This profile might correlate with academic failure in school.