Using focused recasting and auditory bombardment to teach child-specific morphosyntactical skills to preschoolers who are deaf or hard of hearing

ABSTRACT Preschoolers who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) generally do not acquire grammatical forms at the same ages or rates of children who are not DHH. The purpose of this study was to investigate treatment intensity using a variation of enhanced conversational recast (Encinas & Plante [2016]. Feasibility of a recasting and auditory bombardment treatment with young cochlear implant users. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 47, 157–170 ), auditory bombardment, and attentional focus to improve the use of grammatical verb forms in preschoolers who are DHH. Three preschoolers (2 male and 1 female) between the ages of 3 and 4 years and enrolled in a public preschool which used an oral communication approach participated in this study. Results indicate that combined focused conversational recasting, auditory bombardment, and attentional focus during a 5-minute intervention session produced an effect size (Tau-U) of .70 for Child 1; .91 for Child 2; and .67 for Child 3, representing moderate to strong effects of the treatment for Child 1 and 2 and strong effects of the treatment for Child 3. The results suggest that the combination of focused conversational recasting, auditory bombardment, and attentional focus can be implemented by classroom teachers in a 1:1 setting and can yield improved grammatical skills in young children.