Effects of Integrating Different Types of Physical Activity Into Virtual Rapid Word Learning Instruction for Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare three intervention conditions in virtual rapid word learning instruction for young children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH): traditional, general physical activity, and semantic richness physical activity. We focused on an initial step in learning a new word: mapping a word form to a referent. Fourteen children who are DHH and 14 children with typical hearing (TH) participated in a pseudoword-learning virtual session in each condition, and receptive and expressive knowledge of targeted pseudowords was assessed. Of interest was the impact of different types of physical activity on rapid learning of word-like forms. There was an interaction of group and condition for expressive production of pseudowords. Children who were DHH learned to produce more pseudowords in the general physical activity condition, whereas children with TH learned to produce more pseudowords in the semantic richness physical activity condition. There were no effects of group or condition on receptive learning of pseudowords. Children who are DHH can rapidly map word-like forms to referents via teleintervention, and physical activity may interact with word learning differently for children who are DHH and children with TH.