Comparison of the phnologic awareness skills of early childhood, hearing-impaired children and normal hearing children

The presence of hearing loss negatively affects many developmental areas in children. Phonological awareness is the ability to understand that words are made up of different sound units (phonemes). Deficiencies regarding this skill are observed in children with hearing loss. The study was conducted in order to compare the phonological awareness skills of hearing-impaired children and children with normal hearing in early childhood period. Within the scope of the study, it was aimed to determine whether there are significant differences between the phonological awareness skills of hearing-impaired children and children with normal hearing. The study group consisted of 20 hearing-impaired children and 20 children with normal hearing between the ages of 60-72 months. The study data were collected by using "Yangin Erdogan and Erdogan Phonological Awareness Scale." The results were evaluated in line with the responses of the individuals to the questions on the phonological awareness scale applied to hearing-impaired children and children with normal hearing. The phonological awareness skills of the hearing-impaired children and children with normal hearing were compared. As a result of the data obtained, a significant difference was determined in the comparison of the phonological awareness scale total scores of the hearing-impaired children and children with normal hearing. The mean score of the hearing-impaired children was determined to be lower in comparison to the mean score of the children with normal hearing. The results obtained in the study showed that hearing disability negatively affected phonological awareness skills in children. Providing education support that will improve phonological awareness skills for children with hearing loss in early period will help them adapt to their peers in their social and academic lives.