Comparing the rate of usage of whole-word reading with that of phonic reading among the second- and third-grade students with hearing impairment living in Ahvaz, Iran

Many children and young people، who are born deaf or become so in the early months of life، have problems in reading and writing. So، we studied the reading skills of hearing impaired children living in Ahvaz to provide a base for encouraging better progress of reading skills in this population. In an analytical cross-sectional study، which was conducted in the first trimester of 2011-12 academic year، 35 second-graders (n = 23) and third-graders (n = 12) with sever to profound hearing impairment was recruited from two deaf schools of Ahvaz، Iran. Two subtests of the Diagnostic Test of Reading (Shirazi، Nilipur)، namely irregular word reading and nonword reading، were used for obtaining the data of interest. Data showed that the second-graders had better performance in whole-word reading skills than in phonic reading skills. In the third grade، the score of phonic reading was higher than that in the second grade. These differences، however، did not reach statistical significance. The results showed that reading skills in hearing-impaired children developed gradually as like normal children. Children in earlier stages of reading acquisition، use whole-word reading strategy more. As the age and literacy knowledge increase، children improve in phonic reading.