# Home Language Activities and Language Ability Between Chinese Preschool Children with Cochlear Implants and Children with Normal Hearing

## TL;DR

The study compares how home language activities affect language skills in young Chinese children with cochlear implants versus those with normal hearing.

## Contribution

It identifies that daily communication activities are more predictive of language outcomes for children with cochlear implants compared to structured literacy activities.

## Key findings

- For children with cochlear implants, daily communication activities significantly predict language outcomes.
- Normally hearing children benefit more from structured family literacy activities like shared reading.
- Interventions for children with cochlear implants should focus on high-quality daily interactions rather than structured literacy alone.

## Abstract

This study explored the relationship between different home language activities and language ability in Chinese preschoolers with cochlear implants (CIs) (mean age = 4.50, range = 3–5), comparing them with normally hearing (NH) peers (mean age = 4.66, range = 3–5). Correlation and regression analyses revealed distinct predictive patterns between the two groups. In the CI group, although family literacy activities such as shared reading were associated with language skills, daily communication activities (e.g., conversational interactions) had a more significant predictive effect on language outcomes, even after controlling for key demographic variables. Conversely, for NH preschool children, family literacy activities showed a clearer independent association with language development. This study offers clearer insights for home-based rehabilitation practices among CI preschool children, suggesting that interventions should prioritize high-quality daily communication (e.g., open-ended questioning, extended dialog, contextualized interactions) rather than over-reliance on structured literacy activities. It also indicates that intervention models designed for NH preschool children cannot be simply applied.