Learning to Read for Spanish-Speaking Deaf Children With and Without Cochlear Implants: The Role of Phonological and Orthographic Representation

The authors examined the relationship between cochlear implants (CIs) and reading acquisition and attempted to determine the part played by phonological and orthographic resources in this task. Four groups of Spanish-speaking deaf children were examined: children with either early- or late-implanted CIs, and children without CIs who had either moderate or profound hearing loss. A hearing group was included to control for age and reading level. Reading, spelling, and three metaphonological abilities were evaluated. The results showed that the reading levels achieved by deaf children strongly depend on phonological ability. Age at implantation and, for deaf children without CIs, degree of hearing loss, play important roles in this ability. The results further suggest that both deaf and hearing children develop phonological representations of words, a skill that contributes to reading and spelling acquisition. Reciprocally, reading itself contributes to the elaboration of phonological and orthographic representations.