Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) with children with hearing loss: A clinical pilot

The provision of an enriched learning environment is widely advocated to facilitate language acquisition for children with hearing loss. In recent years the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) system was designed to collect information in a child’s environment via a child-worn recording device, to acoustically analyze the listening/linguistic environment and to analyze variables such as child vocalizations, conversational turn taking, and adults words spoken to a child. This pilot study was undertaken in a clinical program to examine the feasibility of implementing the LENA system as part of the clinical program. Two full-day language recordings using the LENA device were collected for five children with hearing loss enrolled in a listening and spoken language program in a Canadian pediatric hospital. Overall, parents felt that the device was easy to use and that it could be incorporated into the home environment. Useful information was collected about the child’s acoustic environment and about exposure to spoken language in the home. Based on the results of this pilot study, the LENA device has been implemented as a clinical tool to assist in coaching families about their child’s learning environment.