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Review
. 2025 May-Jun;46(3):551-562.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001606. Epub 2024 Dec 10.

How Do Enriched Speech Acoustics Support Language Acquisition in Children With Hearing Loss? A Narrative Review

Laura E Hahn  1 , Anke Hirschfelder  1 , Dirk Mürbe  1 , Claudia Männel  1   2
Affiliations
Review

How Do Enriched Speech Acoustics Support Language Acquisition in Children With Hearing Loss? A Narrative Review

Laura E Hahn et al. Ear Hear. 2025 May-Jun.

Abstract

Language outcomes of children with hearing loss remain heterogeneous despite recent advances in treatment and intervention. Consonants with high frequency, in particular, continue to pose challenges to affected children's speech perception and production. In this review, the authors evaluate findings of how enriched child-directed speech and song might function as a form of early family-centered intervention to remedy the effects of hearing loss on consonant acquisition already during infancy. First, they review the developmental trajectory of consonant acquisition and how it is impeded by permanent pediatric hearing loss. Second, they assess how phonetic-prosodic and lexico-structural features of caregiver speech and song could facilitate acquisition of consonants in the high-frequency range. Last, recommendations for clinical routines and further research are expressed.

Keywords: Child-directed speech; Consonant; Frequency; Hearing loss; Song.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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