Vocabulary learning in children with cochlear implants in signed and spoken modalities

The lexical quality hypothesis emphasizes the importance of the quantity and the quality of lexical knowledge for reading comprehension: children need to quickly and accurately access the meanings of the written words they encounter. This chapter discusses research on the quality and quantity of lexical representations in spoken language and in signed language in children with cochlear implants (CIs). It also describes the impact of three multimodal approaches that have been used to enhance the quantity and quality of lexical representations in deaf and hard-of-hearing children, including those with CIs: Cued Speech, orthographic information, and augmentative signs. The chapter argues that these three multimodal approaches are promising tools for enhancing the quality of lexical representations in spoken language in children with CIs

Major findings of the LOCHI study on children at 3 years of age and implications for audiological management

Objective: This article describes the major findings of the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study. Design: A population-based prospective cohort study; with randomized controlled trials of hearing aid prescription and non-linear frequency compression. Sample: 451 children in New South Wales, Victoria and Southern Queensland. Results: Significant predictors of language outcomes at 3 years of age included severity of hearing loss, gender, presence of additional disabilities, maternal education, and age at cochlear implantation. Although prescription did not have a significant effect on outcomes, its influence on loudness and hearing aid safety has implications for management. After controlling for a range of predictor variables, nonlinear frequency compression did not have a significant effect on outcomes. For the same hearing sensitivity, the presence of auditory neuropathy did not have a significant effect on outcomes. Conclusions: These findings form the basis for evidence-based guidelines for management of children with hearing loss.4 page(s

Education for future-oriented citizenship: implications for the education of twenty-first century competencies

Globalization and the knowledge economy have opened up worldwide agendas for national development. Following this is the emphasis on the social dimension, otherwise known as social capital. Much of social capital includes “soft skills” and “21st century skills”, which broadly cover critical, creative and inventive thinking; information, interactive and communication skills; civic literacy, global awareness and cross-cultural skills. Proactively, the Singapore government is preparing for Curriculum 2015, a new curriculum that would develop student attributes, embedded in the “confident person”, “self-directed learner”, “active contributor”, and “concerned citizen”. Significantly, a new curricular initiative, Character and Citizenship Education, emphasizes the integrative nature of citizenship and 21st century competencies and has been implemented in all schools in Singapore from 2011. This future-oriented approach to citizenship education emphasizes the significance of individual initiatives and the intellectual capital of citizens. This paper analyses features of this particular approach to citizenship education, and its strengths and significance, which may be viewed as an integrative “total curriculum approach” with a “whole-society” perspective. In addition, the challenges of teaching 21st century skills will also be highlighted. This departs from the conventional paradigm of socialization, but to help students develop attributes for a future society to come.Accepted versio