In this hearing-oriented world, the ability to hear is a vital part of human communication. Successful language acquisition requires developed hearing, developed cognitive abilities, and developed speech organs. The deaf and hard-of-hearing persons are the part of the population that does not fulfil the first part of the criteria. The aim of this thesis is to research how hard-of-hearing and functionally hard-of-hearing persons that primarily communicate through spoken language acquire their mother tongue – Slovene. The first, theoretical part of the thesis discusses the medical aspect of hearing loss, the acquisition of language from birth through childhood, speech and language education for those that cannot acquire language optimally due to being hard-of-hearing, and the education of hard-of-hearing children today. The second, empirical part of the thesis focuses on the state of speech and language in three hard-of-hearing examinees. I wonder if a proper hearing aid and speech and language therapy being administered at an earlier point in time positively affect the speech and language ability of the examinees; how important the influence of reading habits in the critical period for language acquisition is for the speech and language ability of the examinees; lastly I establish whether the speech and language deficit, which is a consequence of hearing loss, appears still despite the rehabilitation. I checked how the current state of speech and language of the examinees fits into theory. Early treatment is the key for good speech and language development along with other requirements to develop the language ability, such as reading often, for example. A person with hearing loss may achieve great success, however the hearing deficit still exists. The deaf and hard-of hearing population is extremely heterogenous; the speech and language ability of a hard-of-hearing individual is far from being dependent only on the bare medical facts.
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