Figure 1.

Schematic of our emergent literacy model for prereaders who use cochlear implants. We hypothesize that development on phonological sensitivity, vocabulary, and morphosyntax are correlated but that development on each construct does not influence growth on another. Rather, development on all three constructs is influenced primarily by children’s auditory access, particularly their ability to segment speech. Additionally, alphabetic knowledge is an area of strength for children who use cochlear implants, and we suspect that children’s phonological sensitivity may also build on their alphabetic knowledge. The unidirectional relationships described here are in contrast to bi-directional relationships between alphabetic knowledge and phonological sensitivity, vocabulary and morphosyntax, and vocabulary and phonological sensitivity that have been hypothesized for children with normal hearing.