Use of nouns and verbs in the oral narrative of individuals with hearing impairment and normal hearing between 5 and 11 years of age

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Nouns and verbs indicate actions in oral communication. However, hearing impairment can compromise the acquisition of oral language to such an extent that appropriate use of these can be challenging. The objective of this study was to compare the use of nouns and verbs in the oral narrative of hearing-impaired and hearing children. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analytical cross-sectional study at the Department of Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences, Universidade Federal de São Paulo. METHODS: Twenty-one children with moderate to profound bilateral neurosensory hearing impairment and twenty-one with normal hearing (controls) were matched according to sex, school year and school type. A board showing pictures was presented to each child, to elicit a narrative and measure their performance in producing nouns and verbs. RESULTS: Twenty-two (52.4%) of the subjects were males. The mean age was 8 years (standard deviation, SD = 1.5). Comparing averages between the groups of boys and girls, we did not find any significant difference in their use of nouns, but among verbs, there was a significant difference regarding use of the imperative (P = 0.041): more frequent among boys (mean = 2.91). There was no significant difference in the use of nouns and verbs between deaf children and hearers, in relation to school type. Regarding use of the indicative, there was a nearly significant trend (P = 0.058). CONCLUSION: Among oralized hearing-impaired children who underwent speech therapy, their performance regarding verbs and noun use was similar to that of their hearing counterparts.研究背景与目的：名词与动词在口头交际中分别承担指称事物与表达动作的功能。然而，听力障碍（hearing impairment）会在不同程度上损害口语语言的习得，以致于恰当使用此类词汇颇具挑战。本研究旨在对比听力障碍儿童与正常听力儿童在口头叙事中对名词与动词的使用情况。 研究设计与研究场景：本研究为圣保罗联邦大学（Universidade Federal de São Paulo）言语语言与听力科学系开展的分析性横断面研究。 研究方法：本研究纳入21名中度至重度双侧感音神经性听力障碍儿童，以及21名正常听力儿童作为对照组，两组按照性别、学龄以及学校类型进行匹配。向每名儿童展示带有图片的展板，以引导其完成口头叙事，并测评其产出名词与动词的表现。 研究结果：受试对象中22名（52.4%）为男性，平均年龄为8岁（标准差SD=1.5）。对比男童与女童的词汇使用均值，未发现二者在名词使用上存在显著差异；但在动词使用方面，祈使语气（imperative）的使用存在显著差异（P=0.041）：男童的祈使动词使用频率更高（均值为2.91）。按学校类型分层分析时，听力障碍儿童与正常听力儿童在名词与动词的使用上均未出现显著差异。就陈述语气（indicative）的使用而言，存在接近显著的趋势（P=0.058）。 研究结论：在接受言语治疗的口语化听力障碍儿童中，其动词与名词的使用表现与正常听力儿童并无显著差异。