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Abstract Most deaf and hard‐of‐hearing (DHH) children are born to hearing parents and steered toward spoken rather than signed language, introducing a delay in language access. This study investigated the effects of this delay on number acquisition. DHH children (N = 44, meanage = 58 months, 21F, >50% White) and typically‐hearing (TH) children (N = 79, meanage = 49 months, 51F, >50% White) were assessed on number and language in 2011–13. DHH children showed similar trajectories to TH children but delayed timing; a binary logistic regression showed that the odds of being a cardinal‐principle (CP) knower were 17 times higher for TH children than DHH children, controlling for age (d = .69). Language fully mediated the association between deaf/hearing group and number knowledge, suggesting that language access sets the pace for number acquisition.
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Language experience matters for the emergence of early numerical concepts
Abstract Research has shown a link between the acquisition of numerical concepts and language, but exactly how linguistic input matters for numerical development remains unclear. Here, we examine both symbolic (number word knowledge) and non-symbolic (numerical discrimination) numerical abilities in a population in which access to language is limited early in development—oral deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) preschoolers born to hearing parents who do not know a sign language. The oral DHH children demonstrated lower numerical discrimination skills, verbal number knowledge, conceptual understanding of the word “more”, and vocabulary relative to their hearing peers. Importantly, however, analyses revealed that group differences in the numerical tasks, but not vocabulary, disappeared when differences in the amount of time children had had auditory access to spoken language input via hearing technology were taken into account. Results offer insights regarding the role language plays in emerging number concepts.
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- PAR ID:
- 10478701
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- npj Science of Learning
- Volume:
- 8
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2056-7936
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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