ABSTRACT
M ajor factors contributing to the course of language development in children withhearing impairment include: the age at which the hearing loss was identified,the severity of the hearing loss, in some cases etiology of the hearing loss, when and how hearing amplification devices are used, the presence of other medical conditions, and the nature of the communication environment provided. We first review the nature of these factors. Remaining sections then characterize specific aspects of spoken language acquisition, focusing primarily on hearing-impaired (HI) children with very early-acquired or congenital severe to profound hearing losses.
