Features of Spoken Language Development in Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Kazakhstan

This study evaluates the impact of a comprehensive remedial program within the "Literary Reading" curriculum on the spoken language development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in grades 2-4, aligned with Kazakhstan's communicative paradigm of primary education. A total of 150 students aged 7-10 participated. The six-month intervention included interdisciplinary integration, auditory training, and spoken language reading strategies. The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (adapted into Russian) was used for assessment. Linear mixed-effects models revealed significant Group × Time interactions across all CELF-5 indices, indicating substantially greater pre-to-post language gains in the experimental group compared to the control group. Significant effects were observed for the Core Language Score (β = -6.30, SE = 0.43, z = -14.72, p < 0.001), Receptive Language Index (β = -5.17, SE = 0.36, z = -14.53, p < 0.001), Expressive Language Index (β = -5.42, SE = 0.41, z = -13.22, p < 0.001), Language Content Index (β = -5.03, SE = 0.40, z = -12.58, p < 0.001), and Language Memory Index (β = -4.79, SE = 0.42, z = -11.41, p < 0.001). While the control group showed only minimal developmental changes, the experimental group demonstrated pronounced improvements across all language domains. The findings support the effectiveness of the program in improving spoken language skills among children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Its success in Kazakhstan suggests potential for adaptation in other Russian-speaking educational contexts focused on corrective learning for children with special needs.