The development of pragmatic skills in children who are severely and profoundly deaf

The present study investigated the conversational skills of a group of 18 children (aged 6 to 16 years) with severe and profound hearing loss. Participants included both hearing aid users and cochlear implant users. All the children relied upon spoken English and were included in regular classroom settings for at least part of each school day. They were videotaped in conversation with their supporting teacher of the deaf. Results indicated that very few conversational breakdowns occurred in these dyads. Older students were more likely to evenly share the conversational talk time and to initiate conversational turns with their teachers. The youngest participants relied heavily upon simple responses to teacher questions while all participants asked few questions in conversation with their teachers.