Word Retrieval and Lexical Organization in Children With Hearing Loss and Developmental Language Disorder

Abstract

Word retrieval and lexical organization were explored in 16 Danish children with slight to severe hearing loss (HL), 11 children with developmental language disorder (DLD), and 25 typically developing (TD) children in the age range of 7 to 12 years. There is a special focus on children with HL with and without language difficulties compared with children with DLD. Word retrieval and lexical organization are assessed with a Semantic Verbal Fluency Task. Background assessment of language comprehension is assessed with Test for Reception of Grammar–Version 2 (TROG-2) and nonverbal IQ is assessed with Block Design from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Main findings show that children with HL without language difficulties did not show any significant word retrieval or lexical organization difficulties compared with TD children. However, there was a resemblance between children with DLD and children with HL with language difficulties in word retrieval and lexical organization.