Comprehension of abstract words among hearing impaired children

Introduction: This study examines the ability and development in the comprehension of abstract words with hearing impaired children. The ability to understand abstract words is quite important for their academic learning and adaptation in their school life. Here, we qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the development of abstract vocabulary in hearing impaired children using The Standardized Comprehension Test for Abstract Words (SCTAW). Subjects and methods: We examined 75 hearing impaired children (hearing aid users, 61; cochlear implant users, 14; 1st to 10th grade) and 188 children with normal hearing (1st to 6th grade) using the Picture Vocabulary Test (PVT) and SCTAW. Results: The PVT and SCTAW results closely correlated (r = 0.87). The SCTAW scores of the hearing impaired group were lower than those of their peers with normal hearing, but the scores improved as their school grade advanced. In particular, their abstract ability began to catch up from the fifth grade. The error trends of abstract vocabulary in the two groups did not significantly differ. Conclusions: The SCTAW was useful as an abstract lexical evaluation of hearing impaired children. The development of an abstract vocabulary did not qualitatively differ between children with or without a hearing impairment.