Dynamic range and language abilities in deaf adolescents

The relationship between language abilities and dynamic range was studied in two groups of significantly deaf adolescents. One group (N = 21) attended a school for the deaf, and the other (N = 23) consisted of either students in regular schools or those attending units for the deaf within regular schools. Two measures of dynamic range were obtained, and language ability was defined by performance on a syntactic abilities test. Acoustic reflexes were also obtained and the relationship to language abilities was determined. Dynamic range was observed to be a highly significant predictor of language score within the deaf school group, but did not relate to language score within the regular school group. Presence or absence of the acoustic reflex bore no apparent relationship to language ability.