Assessment of Reading Skills of Hearing and Hearing Impaired Students With Informal Reading Inventory

The purpose of this study is to assess reading skills of normal hearing and hearing impaired students with cochlear implants by using informal reading inventory. The research methodologies are causal comparative and correlation research. 48 students; attending 3-8 grades in primary education, participated to the study. 24 of this group were hearing impaired and remaining 24 were with normal hearing. Independent samples t-test was used to compare reading levels of the normal hearing and hearing impaired students. Regression analysis was used to estimate the predictors of reading levels of the students who use cochlear implants. Miscue analysis was used to assess language cueing systems. The results of this study indicate that cochlear implanted students have acquired retelling and answering questions skills in narratives and expository texts and also cloze procedures skills in narratives. Of these students 54% have acquired scores comparable to normally hearing students for retelling of narratives, but their comprehension level is behind their hearing peers. Variables which explain reading levels of the students who use cochlear implants are IQ, age at implemantation, age at starting at Education and Research Center for Hearing Impaired Children (İÇEM) and cochlear implant age. Although the findings of miscue analysis indicated that implanted students had more reading miscues than the normally hearing ones, the type of the reading miscues are same in both groups.