Antecedent and Consequent Stimuli in Teacher-Child Dyads

This longitudinal study presents the communication techniques utilized by teachers interacting with four hearing impaired preschool children. Analysis of the interactions revealed that teachers relied extensively upon three techniques: label/model, extension and correction. The infrequent use of techniques such as expansion, completion, reinforcement, repetition and simple expatiation, which provide a richer language environment, is discussed. The implications of the use of linguistically restrictive techniques upon the language of young hearing impaired children are also discussed.