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Communication and language in severely deaf adolescents *
Author(s) -
Grove C.,
O'Sullivan F. D.,
Rodda M.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1979.tb01728.x
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , linguistic competence , competence (human resources) , communication skills , communicative competence , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , reading (process) , linguistics , social psychology , pedagogy , neuroscience , medicine , philosophy , medical education
One of the most important psychological effects of early severe or profound deafness is an impairment in natural language‐processing ability, with a consequent reduction in communicative skill secondary to the sensory deficit. Prelingual damage blocks the development of certain sequential/syntactical skills necessary for the acquisition of normal linguistic competence. Educators of the deaf in the UK have typically attempted to improve linguistic ability using amplification and intensive training in lip‐reading, but evidence from several psychological studies suggests that communication systems based upon manual signing are more productive of both linguistic and basic cognitive skills. This paper reports an experimental study of the communicative characteristics of both oral and total communication systems as a function of language structure. For almost all types of structure investigated, the total system was found to be the more effective method of communication.