The effect of a fluent signing narrator on children's behavior during technology-enhanced shared reading with children with hearing loss and their parents

Gabriela Itzel Rodriguez, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

Shared reading plays an essential role in the language and literacy development of children who are at risk of future problems in those areas. Children with hearing loss (CHL) are a group who usually experience limited and poor quality activities that foster literacy development such as shared reading (SR). Researchers examining high quality interactions have rated child behaviors, primarily attention and initiation, during shared reading and play based activities finding positive correlations between these behaviors and the overall development in typically developing children as well as in children with other impairments such as Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down syndrome (Kim & Mahoney, 2004; Mahoney & Wheeden, 1999; Mahoney, Wheeden, & Perales, 2004; Meisels, Plunkett., Roloff., Pasick & Stiefel, 1986). The present study extends the work done by Mueller and Hurtig (2009) by using their data to examine the behaviors of four CHL while interacting with their mothers with typical hearing during technology-enhanced SR. Dyads engaged in naturalistic shared reading interactions using electronic books (e-books) that varied in the presence or the absence of a signing narrator as a supportive multimedia tool. Seven behaviors were rated throughout the different phases of the study using the Child Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS) which implements a 5-point global Likert scale. These behaviors: Persistence, attention to the activity, involvement, cooperation/compliance, initiation to activity, initiation to adult and affect are part of the CBRS and are believed to be imperative for developmental learning (Mahoney, Boyce, Fewell, Spiker, & Wheeden, 1998). The results demonstrated large effect sizes in some of the behaviors in favor of either one of the two conditions (signing and non-signing). Mother’s attitude towards shared reading as evidenced by their comments were positively linked to the child’s behaviors and vocabulary acquisition.

Subject Area

Audiology|Social research|Speech therapy|Literacy|Reading instruction|Individual & family studies|Educational technology

Recommended Citation

Rodriguez, Gabriela Itzel, "The effect of a fluent signing narrator on children's behavior during technology-enhanced shared reading with children with hearing loss and their parents" (2016). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI10133858.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI10133858

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