Cochlear implants provide children who have profound hearing loss access to sounds and improve their speech perception, speech production and language skills. Outcomes on language development are useful for counseling and in planning habilitation programs. However, such research in mainland China is scarce due to a lack of standardized language measurement materials. This study aims at developing a vocabulary measurement named the Mandarin Expressive and Receptive Vocabulary Test (MERVT) for Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants. In Phase 1, items were selected from the existing vocabulary tests, corpus, story books and TV programs that were suitable for children with normal hearing aged 1 year and 6 months to 3 years and 11 months. These items were rated for age-appropriateness by kindergarten teachers. Based on the teachers’ ratings, 200 words were selected to form the initial vocabulary test. In Phase 2, responses from 102 normal-hearing preschool children were used for item analysis and identifying items with appropriate difficulty and discriminatory ability. Finally, 161 items with difficulty from 0.15 to 0.85 and discrimination greater than 0.25 were kept and ranked in an order of ascending difficulty to form the final test. In Phase 3, 245 normal-hearing children aged 1 year and 6 months to 3 years and 11 months were recruited to establish norms and evaluate psychometric properties of the test. In the last phase, 29 children with cochlear implants were recruited in the study to evaluate the validity of the MERVT for measuring the vocabulary development of children with cochlear implants. The results of the 245 normal-hearing children show that there is good internal consistency among items in both the expressive and receptive subtests (α = .83-.97). Item selection from language materials for Mandarin-speaking preschool children, the ratings by kindergarten teachers and item analysis based on the responses of target children provided evidence of content validity. Significant relationships between the MERVT and the Gesell Developmental Scale (rs = .37-.60, all ps<.05), significant correlations between subtest scores and the total score (rs = .95-.97, all ps<.01), and the gradual increase in mean subtest scores with age provided evidence of construct validity. When the MERVT was administered on a group of children with cochlear implants, significant correlation between scores on the MERVT and the parents’ report—the Chinese version of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (CCDI)—(rs = .58-.70, all ps＜.05), provided convergent evidence of the construct validity of the MERVT. The growth of the MERVT scores with the increased duration of cochlear implant use and chronological age offered additional evidence of the construct validity. In conclusion, with good reliability and strong validity, the MERVT could be used for evaluating vocabulary development in young children. The test has also been proven to be a valid tool for measuring and monitoring the vocabulary development of children with cochlear implants. In addition, the MERVT and the CCDI can be used together in a hierarchical set of battery tests for measuring the vocabulary development of children with cochlear implants based on the age equivalents. / published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

Thesis (M.M.) Florida State University, 2007. / Advisor: Alice-Ann Darrow, Florida State University, College of Music. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed 4-1-2008). Document formatted into pages; contains 95 pages. Includes biographical sketch. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, June 30, 2007." Includes bibliographical references (p. 26-30). Also available in print.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, May 4, 2001." Also available in print.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), University of Hong Kong, April 30, 1992. Also available in print.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), University of Hong Kong, Appril 30, 1992. Also available in print.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, May 14, 1999." Also available in print.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR of EDUCATION In the Department of Educational Psychology & Special Education of the Faculty of Education at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 2005. / In recent years inclusive education has risen to prominence internationally. The issue of inclusion is essentially the relocation of learners, resources and expertise into an equally comprehensive, regular education system. However, in countries such as South Africa, the issue of inclusion entails extension and development, such that the limited educational provision already available can begin to include a wider range of leamers (Engelbrecht, Green, Naicker, & Engelbrecht, 1999: 26; Swart, Engelbrecht, Eloff & Pettipher, 2002:175). The discussion of inclusive education thus takes place within the rights discourse and has as its basis South Africa's new democratic constitution (Engelbrecht, Green, Naicker & Engelbrecht, 1999: 26). Schools are meant to be a reflection of a democratic society in which all members are accepted and diversity is celebrated. Educators will need to work in partnership with parents, leamers, other educators, resource centers and community-based organizations in order to successfully implement inclusive education (Campher, 2003:53; Corbett, 2001:118). Hearing impaired leamers constitute an integral part of the group of leamers who were labelled disabled and who were taught in separate, special schools. The South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996 which was passed in November 1996 states that •... a public school must admit learners and serve their education requirements without unfairly discriminating in any way" (RSA, 1996:6). This means that mainstream public schools may be legally obliged to provide for learners with special educational needs, and thus also hearing impaired leamers. 2 The principles and values contained in the new constitution of South Africa (1996) and in the White Paper on Education and Training (Department of Education, 1995) acknowledge that education should be accessible and all learners are to be given the opportunity to participate in a common education curriculum (Mowes, 2002:47; Oswald, Ackermann & Engelbrecht, 2000:307).

No description available.