ABSTRACT The lack of early identification, suboptimal language stimulation and limited remedial services in Sri Lanka for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing place them at-risk of language delay. The reality for many preschool and primary school children entering formal education in Sri Lanka is a language delay in spoken language and/or sign language compared to their age-matched hearing peers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Colourful Semantics approach as a whole-class language enrichment programme to develop the use and responses to target wh questions. Thirty primary school children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing between the ages of five-ten years were included. The programme was offered once a week for 12 weeks through the class teacher. Individual pre- and post-language measures and statistical analyses were undertaken on receptive knowledge and expressive use of the target wh questions using a picture naming task and tasks based on three local children’s story books. A statistically significant improvement was observed in the understanding of target wh questions post-intervention by all the children. There was also a positive change in the responses to the target wh questions by all the children post-intervention with many combining signs or spoken words with signs. The Colourful Semantics approach has potential as a whole-class language-teaching approach to strengthen the understanding and use of wh question forms. This study emphasizes the benefits of collaborative partnerships between speech and language therapists and teachers in delivering intervention particularly in resource-limited contexts.

中文翻译：

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使用多彩语义方法支持耳聋或听力障碍儿童语言发展的有效性

摘要 斯里兰卡缺乏对耳聋或听力障碍儿童的早期识别、次优语言刺激和有限的补救服务，使他们面临语言延迟的风险。对于许多在斯里兰卡接受正规教育的学龄前儿童和小学生来说，现实情况是，与同龄听力正常的同龄人相比，口语和/或手语的语言延迟。本研究的目的是评估多彩语义学方法作为全班语言丰富计划的有效性，以开发针对目标问题的使用和响应。包括 30 名年龄在 5-10 岁之间的耳聋或听力障碍的小学生。该计划通过班主任每周提供一次，持续 12 周。使用图片命名任务和基于三本当地儿童故事书的任务，对目标wh 问题的接受知识和表达使用进行了个别的语言前和语言后测量和统计分析。观察到所有儿童对干预后目标问题的理解有统计学意义的改善。干预后所有儿童对目标wh问题的回答也出现了积极的变化，其中包括许多组合手语或口语与手语。多彩语义学方法具有作为全班语言教学方法的潜力，可以加强对 wh 问题形式的理解和使用。