The acquisition and development of syntax in oral language for 47 congenitally hearing-impaired children between the ages of five years and 13 years, three months, was compared with that of normal children. The Northwestern Syntax Screening Test was administered and a 50-sentence spontaneous-language sample was scored and analyzed. In addition to the significant differences found in the rate of acquisition of syntax in favor of the normal children, some differences were found in the sequential order of development for particular verb constructions. The investigator hypothesized that such differences were related to the teaching order in the classroom and to the degree of visual-auditory cues inherent in the language constructions for the hearing-impaired children. Information from the case histories was used in an attempt to identify the factors contributing to the development of syntax for the hearing-impaired subjects. Of the six factors considered, only chronologic age and severity of hearing impairment were identified as contributing factors for these subjects. However, those hearing-impaired children who have achieved good oral language skills would be attending schools with hearing children and, therefore, were not represented in this study.