This
article describes the data regarding the calculations of language input from
the natural language environments of children with hearing loss, taken from
four full typical days in a week using a LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis)
digital recorder. Calculations were based on 14 children with hearing loss
from 24 to 60 months as they interacted with their family. Participants were
recruited from the Hearing House, the Speech Clinic at the University of
Auckland, and Early Childcare Centers (ECC) in Auckland, New Zealand. All
families were interacting with their children orally without using sign
language. Data were collected from natural language environments from May
2018 to May 2019. Language environments were examined in terms of daily
quantity of language input and styles of oral interaction children were
exposed to when interacting with their parent/primary caregiver. To determine
quantity of language input, two kinds of observations were taken from the
LENA automatic calculation of the number of adult words and number of
conversational turns. Segments of the recordings were manually transcribed
and coded onto 17 styles of oral interaction, which were further classified
into three categories (optimal, moderate, and sub-optimal).
