DEAF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS’ COMPREHENSION OF RELATIONAL LANGUAGE IN ARITHMETIC COMPARE PROBLEMS

Abstract

This study examined the performance of deaf and hard of hearing middle school students on arithmetic compare word problems with relational statements. Thirteen prelingual, severe-to-profound deaf students were selected to participate. The results showed that the students were more likely to misunderstand a relational statement and make a reversal error when the required arithmetic operation was inconsistent with the statement’s relational term (e.g., choosing the operation of addition when the relational term was less than). There were no statistical differences in the number of reversal errors and on lexical markedness (i.e., marked vs. unmarked items). Finally, fraction-of-a-number relational terms exerted more influence on students’ abilities to solve word problems than did the lexical markedness. Findings are interpreted in light of the consistency effect hypothesis. Directions for future research and implications for instruction are also provided.