A comparative study of L2 language development in d/Deaf and hard of hearing and hearing secondary learners

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21506366
AutoresMyeongeun Son (0000-0003-2441-4999, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, autor de correspondencia), Jongwoo Lee (0000-0003-3724-0844, Texas Tech University)
Año2026
Volumen48
Número1
Páginas98-117
Fecha de publicación2026-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaStudies in Second Language Acquisition (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0272-2631 • E-ISSN: 1470-1545
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s027226312510140x
OpenAlexW7115170951
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas41

This study investigates whether the second language (L2) development of d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/DHH) learners in comparison to the L2 development of hearing learners, based on the processability theory (PT) developed by Pienemann (1998, 2005) in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). Thirty-eight d/DHH and 32 hearing secondary school learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) completed a series of speaking tasks designed to elicit specific morphosyntactic structures that, according to PT, align with L2 developmental stages. Implicational scaling revealed that although d/DHH learners followed a similar developmental sequence to their peers, they displayed a noticeable delay. They also appeared to require additional time and practice to fully produce the entire target structures after reaching certain developmental stages. The results provide stronger empirical evidence for d/DHH learners’ L2 development, supporting the qualitative similarity hypothesis in the field of special education, which posits that despite quantitative delays, d/DHH learners exhibit qualitatively similar L2 development to their hearing peers

First language · Foreign language · Language acquisition · Language development · Second language · Second-language acquisition · Categorization, perception, and language · Hearing Impairment and Communication · Language Development and Disorders