The Written Expression Performance of Students with Hearing Loss: Results from an Implementation of the Auditory-Oral Approach

ABSTRACT

Written expression skills play an important role in the development of the linguistic, academic and social skills of individuals from their school years onwards. The aim of this study was to evaluate the written expression performance of hearing-impaired students who receive auditory-oral education, and examine the student characteristics that affect performance. The study participants were 36 fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade students with hearing loss. The results of the study show that students received a mean total score of 60.59 out of 100 for written expression. Chronological age explained 26% of the variance in written expression, age at the first hearing aid fitting explained 43% and 20% was explained by the duration of preschool education. The results indicated that in addition to school education, early identification and early intervention affect the written expression performance of school-age students with hearing loss.