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Updated: May 22, 2026
14:05
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
Deaf and hearing children's plural noun spelling
Helen L Breadmore1, Andrew C Olson, Andrea Krott
1Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK. h.breadmore@warwick.ac.uk
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|May 29, 2012
Summary
Deaf children effectively spell regular plural nouns but struggle with irregular ones, indicating a reliance on morphology over phonology for spelling. This suggests morphology can be learned from written language, benefiting deaf learners and those with phonological challenges.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Developmental Psychology
- Special Education
Background:
- Deaf individuals often exhibit literacy impairments, potentially due to limited phonological awareness.
- Understanding spelling acquisition in deaf children is crucial for targeted educational interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate deaf and hearing children's spelling of regular, semiregular, and irregular plural nouns.
- To explore the role of phonology and morphology in spelling for deaf and hearing children.
- To determine if morphological knowledge can be acquired independently of phonological awareness.
Main Methods:
- Fifty deaf children and 50 reading-age-matched hearing children participated.
- Participants spelled regular, semiregular, irregular plural nouns, and nonword plurals.
- Spelling errors were analyzed to infer the use of phonological and morphological strategies.
Main Results:
- Deaf children matched hearing peers on rule-based plurals but were less accurate with irregular plurals.
- Evidence of morphological generalization was found in both groups, with deaf children showing greater use.
- Deaf children appeared to use morphology without phonological mediation, unlike hearing children.
Conclusions:
- Morphological knowledge in spelling can be independent of phonological awareness.
- Deaf children can acquire morphological understanding from orthography, even with limited spoken language exposure.
- Educational strategies focusing on morphology may benefit deaf learners and individuals with phonological deficits.
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