Reading in adolescents with hearing loss: Slower responses despite neural sensitivity to morphosyntax

Adolescents with hearing loss (HL) often display difficulties in written language processing, yet the contribution of morphosyntax remains uncertain. We examined written German morphosyntax in adolescents with HL, most of whom used cochlear implants, relative to monolingual and multilingual hearing controls....

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No immediate change to clinical practice is warranted, but the dissociation between intact neural grammar sensitivity and slower reading speed suggests reading difficulties in adolescents with hearing loss are not solely explained by linguistic unawareness and should prompt targeted reading assessments beyond grammar tests.

Identifying that slower reading in hearing-impaired adolescents persists despite intact neural morphosyntactic sensitivity challenges simple deficit models and may redirect educational and rehabilitation strategies toward processing speed rather than grammar knowledge alone.

1. 01Adolescents with hearing loss showed slower reading response times compared to normal-hearing peers for German morphosyntax.
2. 02Neural sensitivity to morphosyntactic (grammar-related) cues was preserved in the hearing-loss group despite the reading speed gap.
3. 03Neuroimaging methodology links brain-level language processing to behavioral reading outcomes.
4. 04Published in Brain & Language (2026), focusing on written rather than spoken language processing.
5. 05Findings may have implications for literacy interventions and educational planning for hearing-impaired youth.

PMID

42691918

DOI

10.1016/j.bandl.2026.105831.

Journal

Brain & Language

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

4

Population

Adolescents with hearing loss compared to normal-hearing adolescents, reading written German

Intervention

Neuroimaging assessment of written German morphosyntax processing

Comparator

Normal-hearing adolescents