Expressive vocabulary, morphology, syntax and narrative skills in profoundly deaf children after early cochlear implantation

•Four expressive language domains are analyzed.•Children with cochlear implants are compared with matched normal hearing peers.•Children with CIs have difficulties with morpho-syntactic and narrative skills.•Four factors are related to good oral language skills in children with CIs. Practical experience and research reveal generic spoken language benefits after cochlear implantation. However, systematic research on specific language domains and error analyses are required to probe sub-skills. Moreover, the effect of predictive factors on distinct language domains is unknown. In this study, outcomes of 70 school-aged children with cochlear implants were compared with hearing peers. Approximately half of the children with cochlear implants achieved age-adequate language levels. Results did not reveal systematic strong or weak language domains. Error analyses showed difficulties with morphological and syntactic rules and inefficient narrative skills. Children without additional disabilities who received early intervention were raised with one spoken language, and used a second cochlear implant or contralateral hearing aid were more likely to present good language skills.