Defense Date

6-6-2025

Graduation Date

Summer 8-8-2025

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MS

Department

Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)

School

Rangos School of Health Sciences

Committee Chair

Abigail Delehanty

Committee Member

Lori Marra

Committee Member

Seth Tichenor

Committee Member

Susan Snyder

Keywords

deaf, hard of hearing, literacy, phonological awareness, American Sign Language, accessibility

Abstract

Minimal auditory input can impact phonological awareness skill acquisition in d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students. Teachers of the Deaf and speech-language pathologists can assess and instruct DHH students through methods tailored to their needs, but research on effective strategies is limited. This study explores the development and implementation of a linguistically and culturally inclusive set of phonological awareness tasks for DHH students at Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD). Tasks investigate phonological awareness in spoken English (i.e., rhyming, sound matching, blending, etc.) and American Sign Language (i.e., ASL parameters) for nine DHH students. Results indicate the feasibility of the tasks and provide insight into common phonological awareness errors amongst DHH students.

Language

English

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