A description of mothers' questions to their young deaf children during storybook reading

The frequency and types of questions that four hearing mothers used with their 3- and 4-year-old deaf daughters was examined. Relationships between frequency and type of question and child mean length of utterance (MLU) measurements were also explored. Results indicated that the mothers used fewer questions than hearing mothers of hearing children but that the types of questions used were similar. Three mothers used text-related indirect commands, a question type not examined frequently in previous research. Child MLU measurements appeared to influence the amount and types of questions mothers used, although MLU, as measured in this study, may not have been a valid descriptor of the children's expressive language. Implications for the quality of language during joint book reading with young deaf children are discussed.