Selection of tests of language and critical analysis of its application in children with hearing impairment

Abstract

The objective of this study has been to select the tests that allow us to study in the best possible way - from a formal point of view - the different aspects of the language of the child with hearing loss. Although there is not a consensus, we consider that in the case of a child with hearing loss, it is essential to analyze all aspects of the language. This will provide us a deep knowledge of their language development, which it is not homogenous in all areas. The language tests that we chose and analyzed were: PPVT-III Peabody. Test de Vocabulario en Imágenes; Evaluación fonológica del habla infantil (L. Bosch); Registro Fonológico Inducido (M. Monfort); Evaluación de la Discriminación Auditiva y Fonológica (EDAF); Escala Magallanes de Lectura y Escritura (EMLE-TALE-2000); Prueba de Lenguaje Oral de Navarra-Revisado (PLON-R); Batería de Lenguaje Objetiva y Criterial Screening-Revisado (BLOC S-R); Test de Comprensión de Estructuras Gramaticales (CEG), y el Subtest de Vocabulario del WISC-IV. This assessment is complemented by a questionnaire addressed to those who perform tests and the opinion of expert speech therapists in the practical field. In general terms, all the tests have been appropriate depending on their purpose. The tests that are corrected better are EDAF, PPVT-III Peabody and BLOC-SR. The test that is corrected worse is the phonological record of Laura Bosch. For us, the procedure of application of PPVT-III Peabody and PLON-R is ideal for children with hearing loss, presenting major difficulties the EDAF and BLOC-SR and being very difficult to implement, the phonological record of Laura Bosch and the EMLE-TALE-2000. We believe that the selected tests are enough to evaluate the development of the language in the child with hearing impairment, when we apply them correctly according to the age of development and take into account the specific modifications that we adopt in this population.