1. “Who, What, Where?” The Impact of Visual Support Charts on the Acquisition of WH— Questions of a Deaf Kindergartener Meghan F Seay, MS Candidate in Deaf Education Department of Theory & Practice in Teacher Education University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

2. BACKGROUND  One main strategy often used in deaf education is the use of visual learning approaches. Language Acquisition of the Deaf  Deaf children do not learn language effortlessly.  96% of deaf children have hearing parents (Karchmer & Mitchell, 2002).  Most hearing parents cannot give their child the every day, real-world experiences to learn language (Easterbrook & Baker, 2002).

3. BACKGROUND Acquisition of WH—questions  Preschoolers (12-46 months) should already understand & mastered WH—questions (Schirmer, 1994).  Children acquire WH—question words from ages 2-4, but results showed considerable variability in the order & timing of when they were attained (Luinge, Post, Wit, and Goorhuis-Brouwer, 2006).  Children should receptively understand the words who, what, & where between 3-4 years old (Bowen, 1998).

4. BACKGROUND Language Interventions and Instructions  Language learning happens when communication opportunities arise within natural contexts (Luetke-Stahlman, 1993; Marvin, 1996).  Marvin’s study (1996)  Language strategies are needed when working with children who are deaf & language delayed (Lee and Mulhern, 1975; Luetke-Stahlman, 1993; Luetke-Stahlman, Bloom & Lahey, 1978; Marvin, 1996).

5. BACKGROUND Using Visual Scaffolds with Visual Language Users  “Deaf people are primarily visual beings whose eyes are their portal to the world of information & knowledge” (World Federation of the Deaf, 2007).  Dialogic reading intervention program  Utilize visual materials (Fung, Chow, & McBride-Chang, 2005).

6. Multiple Pathways for Children with Cochlear Implants  If a child with hearing loss is learning a first language at school, educators must determine the child’s language pathway (Easterbrook & Baker, 2002). The research question guiding this study asks: Will a visual chart effectively support a severely language delayed student’s understanding of three WH—questions during daily authentic communication? BACKGROUND

7. METHODS  Single Subject Design, Multiple Baseline Design, across skills Participant & Setting:  Cole:  5 year, 5 month old male  enrolled in kindergarten at a residential school for the deaf  Adopted in China in 2009 by hearing parents.  Profound sensorineural bilateral hearing loss  Cochlear implant since December of 2009  Mode of communication: gesturing with some American Sign Language

8. METHODS Variables:  Dependent: Student’s ability to respond appropriately to WH— questions  Independent:

9. METHODS Procedures: Intervention  30 minutes of daily explicit instruction  Asked WH—questions only during authentic opportunities that arose outside the classroom or during explicit instruction.  Instruction involved:  child led play  opportune questioning  the printing of representative pictures  using visual support chart

10. DATA COLLECTION  Baseline:10 what, who, & where questions per day for five days total.  Intervention:10 questions throughout the school day during authentic opportunities only.  Student must show upward trend by 2/3 or 3/3 data points for each WH—question before moving onto the next word.  Appropriate responses were tallied and graphed.  After one week of no intervention, maintenance data were collected.

11. RESULTS  The intervention was highly effective in improving his receptive understanding of WH—question words what & who.  Maintenance data show that Cole sustained his understanding of ‘what’ over a two week time span when no intervention was present, resulting in long term retention. Results Averages & PercentagesWhatWho Baseline Average3.2 2.6 Intervention Average 7.757.6 Improvement Rate Difference 100% Computing Growth 142%192%

12. RESULTS

13. DISCUSSION  The approach of the intervention was very visually stimulating due to:  Children’s books & toys  Digital & printed pictures of the actual manipulatives being used.  One-on-one and portable visual support charts add pictures of each 3

14. DISCUSSION  All data phases were collected only during authentic communication to ensure Cole was fully engaged.  ‘Who’ showed an upward trend that occurred at a more rapid rate because daily explicit instruction involved authentic & meaningful hands on approach rather than looking at children’s books.

15. DISCUSSION  The researcher planned ahead by providing the right manipulatives & activities to help create meaningful opportunities (Lee & Mulhern, 1975; Leutke-Stahlman, 1993; Marvin, 1996)  Cole generalized the information & transferred it to other environments throughout the school day.  Cole’s socialization skills increased.

16. LIMITATIONS  Inter-rater reliability  Small sample size  Collection of data within all three phases

17. FUTURE RESEARCH  Further examine how visual scaffolds support language understanding & growth.  Increase the number of weeks to include more WH—question words like ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘which’, & the more advanced ‘why’ & ‘how’.  Use chart for concepts, other words, & vocabulary in general.  Will the intervention or the visual support chart be successful with Autistic children?

18. REFERENCES Bowen, C. (1998). Ages and Stages: Developmental Milestones. Retrieved October 31, 2010, From Caroline Bowen PhD Speech-Language Pathologist. http://www.speech-language-Therapy.com/devel2.htmhttp://www.speech-language-Therapy.com/devel2.htm Easterbrooks, S., & Baker, S. (2002). Language Learning in Children Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Boston, MA: A Pearson Education Company. Fung, P.-C., Chow, B. W.-Y., & McBride-Chang, C. (2005). The Impact of a Dialogic Reading Program on Hard-of-Hearing Kindergarten and Early Primary School-Aged Students in Hong Kong. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 10 (1), 82-95. Lee, L., Koenigsknecht, R., & Mulhern, S. (1975). Interactive language development teaching. Evanston, IL.: Northwestern University Press. Luetke-Stahlman, B. (1993). Reseach-Based Language Intervention Strategies Adapted for Deaf And Hard of Hearing Children. American Annals of the Deaf, 138 (5), 404-410. Luinge, M., Post, W., Wit, H., & Goorhuis-Brouwer, S. (2006). The Ordering of Milestones in Language Development for Children from 1 to 6 Years of Age. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49, 923-940. Marvin, C., & Kasal, K. (1996). A Semantic Analysis of Signed Communication in an Activity-Based Classroom for Preschool Children Who are Deaf. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 27, 57-67. Schirmer, B. R. (1994). Language and literacy development in children who are deaf. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. World Federation of the Deaf, Education Rights for Deaf Children. (2007). Policy of the WFD Education Rights for Deaf Children. Retrieved from http://www.wfdeaf.org/pdf/policy_child_ed.pdf