Meta-analytic Findings on Early Vocabulary Acquisition Differences between Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary in Toddlers with Cochlear Implants

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in early vocabulary acquisition between toddlers with cochlear implants (CI) and toddlers with normal hearing (NH) , and to identify the differences in early vocabulary acquisition according to CI activation period (< 12 months vs. ≥ 12 months) within CI group. In areas in which the difference between groups was significant, we attempted to determine whether the ‘age at implantation’ of the CI group played a role as a moderator.Methods: Nine papers were selected by applying inclusion and exclusion criteria among papers published for about 15 years (2007-2022) and found through searching three databases (Academic Search Complete, PubMed, Google Scholar).Results: There was no significant difference in receptive vocabulary measured by the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MB-CDI) in CI and NH children, but there was a significant difference in expressive vocabulary. In addition, within the CI group, there was a significant difference in expressive vocabulary according to CI activation period (< 12 months vs. ≥ 12 months).Conclusion: This study confirmed that the expressive vocabulary measured by the MB-CDI may be limited in very young children with CI when compared to their NH peers. In addition, children with CI showed significant changes in expressive vocabulary acquisition despite a relatively short CI activation period of about a year.