Introduction
The hypotheses identified for purposes of this assignment is “Sustained middle ear infections among children from birth to 5 years will have a detrimental effect on language development.” The hypotheses states that middle ear infections have a significant impact on the ability of the infant to acquire the necessary information to inform the development of language. That has the effect of leading to language disorders that may spill into adulthood. The assay will discuss various articles that seek to approve or disapprove the above-stated hypotheses. The articles seek to identify the full impact that middle ear infections has on the language development of a child through research and a sharp analysis of the available data. The articles go ahead to propose the solutions that are available to children who may be facing lifelong language disorders as a result of middle ear infection during childhood
Hogan, A., Phillips, R. L., Howard, D., &Yiengprugsawan, V. (2014).“Psychosocial Outcomes of Children With Ear Infections And Hearing Problems: A Longitudinal Study.”BMC Pediatrics
The article is based on present literature that indicates that children who have had ear infections during their childhood are likely to acquire lifelong problems with their psychological well-being. The article seeks to research and identify the truth behind these claims and also contribute to the wealth of knowledge on the relationship between ear infections in children and language development. The paper is based on a six-year study; the paper studied different groups of children who were reported as having middle ear infections and hearing problems. One group of children was children aged between zero and one years and the second group was children aged between one and five years.
The paper found out that children who suffered from middle ear infections that may have led to hearing problems had several kinds of psychological disorders during their development and their later life. The article concluded that one form of a mental disorder that was exhibited was the poor development of language in such children. The paper investigated the full effects that ear infects has on the psychological health of a child.
The paper found that the lack of sufficient auditory stimulation during the early years cannot just be wished away, auditory stimulation is crucial to a child as he or she develops as it has a bearing on the social function of the child. The social functioning of a child includes communication to other people, paying attention to other people, conduct and their relationships with those around them. The performance of children with ear infections and consistent hearing problems in these social functions was compared to the performance of children who had experienced no ear infections. The study found that children with ear infections performed up to four times worse that children who were healthy.
The study also found that these poor results on the core social functions had a huge significant on the quality of life of the children and their emotional and their behavioral development. The study emphasizes the importance of language development in the psychological health of a child. According to the article, the insufficient auditory stimulation leads to weak or delayed language development. The lack of proper language development effectively means that the child is unable to relate to the environment and the society. The frustrations build in the children and at some point, something has got to give. The study found that the frustrations can be traced to the emotional and behavioral patterns of the child.
In an interesting twist, the journal found that ear infection among children within the zero to one age bracket had less adverse impacts on their psychological health as opposed to children within the one to four age brackets. The rationale behind this is that children below one year have a chance of learning the language in their later years. In most cases, the ear infections may be treated or disappear as they grow older giving way to language development and by extension improved psychological health.
Markman, T. M., Quittner, A. L., Eisenberg, L. S., Tobey, E. A., Thal, D., Niparko, J. K., “The CDaCI Investigative Team. (2011). Language Development after Cochlear Implantation: An Epigenetic Model.”Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
The article is based on a study to investigate the effects of hearing restoration during a period where language acquisition is critical. It follows a situation where a child who was cognitively deaf undergoes treatment to restore the ability to hear and understand correctly. The paper investigates the factors that would promote auditory learning to such a child especially during parent-child interactions.
The article found that ear infections especially those that caused hearing problems had a direct impact on the language development of a child during his or her early years. Auditory stimulation and learning are paramount it facilitating language development, a child can gain access to the spoken language and, therefore, acquire the knowledge of how to develop his or her spoken language. A child must be exposed to the components and sound of speech, to master and understand them so that he or she can develop them independently. The study found that ear infections cut off the child to these exposures, therefore, limited the ability of the child to develop independently the components and sound of speech. Children between the age of zero and five are at a sensitive period of language development; this period is mostly dominated by the critical parent-child interaction. Infections of the middle ear at this time may result in hearing problems that will interfere with language acquisition and consequently language development.
Language learning can be said to be an experience-based process language acquisition. For previously hearing impaired children, the experience cannot be had because of the ear infections. The cochlear implantation remedies all that. It allows the child have a direct contact with the streams of language and understand the rules of spoken language. The article found that cochlear implantation substantially improved language development in children. The level of language development however varied with the time the cochlear implantation was done. The greatest improvement was recorded when it was done very early in life and the least improvement when it was done later in life.
Lang-Roth, R. (2014). “Hearing Impairment and Language Delay in Infants: Diagnostics and Genetics.”GMS Current Topics in Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery
The article investigates the relationship between hearing problems and language delays. An understanding of the two would go a long way in informing diagnosis and treatment approaches. The article further discusses the importance of the first three years of life to language development. The report accepts that ear infections that lead to hearing disorders have an impact on language development in a child. The first zero to five years of a child’s life are characterized by a sensitive brain that is open to learning and development. It is, therefore, paramount that the child is exposed to all the elements that would enhance language development. The study found the ear infections prevented this from happening as the child is unable to access auditory stimuli or learning.
The article proposes five different levels that may be used in the assessment of language development of a child during the first five years of life. These five various levels are Phonetics and phonology, possible prosody, lexicon, semantics, and syntax. Baby talk or in other words infant directed speech is the primary basis for language and speech development for a child across many cultures in the world. The article found that language development disorders may be caused by hearing impairments that have been caused by middle ear infections. The consequences for language development disorders are massive for the child, the include difficulty in social interactions and social integration, difficulty in reading and writing, weak intelligence development and emotional disorders among children.
In the perspective of the adult life, it is likely to lead to low incomes; low social, economic status and psychological disorders that would require therapy to address. The article proposes the prevention and treatment of children who are suffering from language developments disorders to avert these long-term consequences. The first step taken would be the treatment of middle ear infections that may cause hearing problems as they act as inhibitors to proper language development in children during their early years.
Appendix
Question 1
In the analysis of the hypotheses “Sustained middle ear infections among children from birth to 5 years will have a detrimental effect on language development.” We searched several databases that held medical and social articles and journals. The search in many databases revealed many materials and books that contained similar or related information. We had to go through each item to find out if it suited our hypotheses. The search was rewarding s we were able to find all our articles in one place. We found all the three items used in the hypotheses from the United Stated National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health also known as NCBI.
Question 2
We used a search strategy that from our view would reveal a wide base of articles that we would choose from. The primary words we used in the search were “middle ear infection” and “language development”. We also discovered another strategy that we had no prior information on, one we found an article that best suited our hypotheses, we would click on the related article button to reveal other articles in the database that are related to the one that we have chosen. That helped us out as it only required us to identify one article from the database, and that article led us to the other two articles,
Question 3
All the three articles used in the assignment are secondary sources. The articles are based on specific studies and investigations that were aimed at arriving at an informing conclusion or finding. The articles are providing an analysis and evaluation of these studies. The articles present the findings of these studies and the reasoning behind their conclusions.
References
Hogan, A., Phillips, R. L., Howard, D., &Yiengprugsawan, V. (2014).“Psychosocial Outcomes of Children with Ear Infections and Hearing Problems: A Longitudinal Study.”BMC Pediatrics
Lang-Roth, R. (2014). “Hearing Impairment and Language Delay in Infants: Diagnostics and Genetics.”GMS Current Topics in Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery
Markman, T. M., Quittner, A. L., Eisenberg, L. S., Tobey, E. A., Thal, D., Niparko, J. K., The CDaCI Investigative Team. (2011). “Language Development after Cochlear Implantation: An Epigenetic Model.”Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
