The Influence of Context on Deaf Readers' Understanding of Passive Sentences

In this study, fourth and second-reader level deaf students matched for age were assessed on comprehension of truncated passive sentences under two task conditions. Subjects were asked to identify the picture representing the agent and object relationship in truncated passive sentences which were presented in isolation in the first task and embedded within familiar prose passages in the second task. Contrary to prior research, neither age nor reading level were significant factors in deaf subjects' understanding of truncated passive sentences. Rather, older and younger deaf students, regardless of reading level, demonstrated significantly improved comprehension when sentences were embedded in text. The results of the study were discussed in terms of teaching the deaf complex syntax. It was suggested that increased experience with connected text may be a facilitative influence on the mastery of complex syntax among deaf students.