Date of Award

5-1-1994

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Communication Sciences & Disorders

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between receptive language, cognition, and the sensory measures of audition and vision among primary elementary students. Thirty-two students between the ages of 6.3 and 9.9 years were placed into one of two groups. One group was identified to be language delayed through special service placement and formal test results in the area of receptive language.

The formal language test administered was the Test of Auditor/ Comprehension for Language-Revised (TACL-RV Cognitive status was assessed by administering the vocabulary portion of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised ( WISC-R). The relationship between receptive language and the visual measures of: near acuity; far acuity; accommodation; vertical saccadic eye movement; horizontal saccadic eye movement; near point of convergence; near horizontal phoria; distance horizontal phoria and stereopsis were investigated. Receptive language was evaluated in terms of its relationship to the peripheral auditory measures of pure tone sensitivity and immittance testing, as well as the central auditory measures of Time Compressed Speech: Speech-ln- Noise. and measures of the Staggered Spondaic Word Test tSSWi.

Using a one-way Analysis of Variance, it was found that a significant difference did exist between the two groups for scores on the vocabulary subtest. Additionally, a significant difference was found between the two groups on the visual measures of distance visual acuity for the right eye, near visual acuity for the right eye, near visual acuity for both eyes combined, vertical saccadic eye movement, horizontal saccadic eye movement, and distance horizontal phoria. Significant differences were also identified between the language groups on the peripheral auditory measures of middle ear pressure for the right ear and pure tone average for the right ear. Significant differences in the means of the two groups were identified for the following areas of central auditory functioning: Time Compressed Speech for both the right and the left ear; Speech-in- Noise for the left ear; and competing and non competing measures of the SSW for both ears.

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