Severe-To-Profound Hearing-Impaired Children's Comprehension of Figurative Language

This study investigated severe-to-profound hearing-impaired school-age children's comprehension of figurative language. Twelve severe-to-profound hearing-impaired children, ages 9 to 19 years, served as subjects. Twenty sentences, subdivided into four groups (similes, metaphors, idioms, proverbs) comprised the stimulus items. Subjects were instructed to read the sentences and explain them. Three judges rated the subjects' responses on a scale from one (literal interpretation) to three (nonliteral interpretation). Data generated from the hearing-impaired group were compared with the performance of a control group. A significant between-group diference was noted. Furthermore, a regression analysis indicated that the hearing-impaired subjects' performance appeared more dependent upon reading level and was variable across chronological age.