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Reading Comprehension of Dutch Deaf Children

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Abstract

In this study, the reading comprehension of deaf children and adolescents in the Netherlands is examined along with their word identification. The reading comprehension of 464 deaf students and the word identification of 504 deaf students between 6 and 20 years of age was examined. The results show the reading comprehension scores of deaf children to be far below the scores of hearing children. On average, the deaf subjects scored at a level equivalent to a hearing child in the first grade. The word identification scores of the deaf children, however, were almost equivalent to the scores of hearing children. Although reading comprehension and word identification appear to be related, this relation does not completely explain the comprehension difficulties encountered by deaf children. Additional factors are required to explain deaf children’s difficulties with reading comprehension.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Special Education and Philosophy and History of Education , University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500, HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Loes N. Wauters

  2. Department of Special Education, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Wim H. J. Van Bon

  3. Department of Philosophy and History of Education, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Agnes E. J. M. Tellings

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  1. Loes N. Wauters
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  2. Wim H. J. Van Bon
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  3. Agnes E. J. M. Tellings
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Correspondence to Loes N. Wauters.

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Wauters, L.N., Van Bon, W.H.J. & Tellings, A.E.J.M. Reading Comprehension of Dutch Deaf Children. Read Writ 19, 49–76 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-004-5894-0

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