Research Question and Foundation Questions:

"How can Chronic Otitis Media cause a child to have a language delay?"

1. What is Chronic Otitis Media?

2. What causes Chronic Otitis Media?

3. When do children usually outgrow Chronic Otitis Media?

4. How can Otitis Media cause a hearing loss?

5. How can this hearing loss cause a language delay?

Tentative Point: Normal language development can be delayed as a result of the effects of chronic otitis media.

Genres:

1. Powerpoint: Clinician
This will be an opportunity for the clinician to present this information at a PTA meeting to educate parents and teachers about how chronic otitis media can affect language development.

2. Referral Letter: Audiologist
This will be in the form of a referral letter from the audiologist to the SLP for a speech-language evaluation. This will be sent as a result of the hearing tests and the parent's concern about the child's language skills. This will include the client’s history of chronic otitis media.

3. Letter to parent: Clinician
In this letter, I want to explain the the results of the speech and language evaluation.

4. “I am” poem: Client
This will be an opportunity to hear the client’s voice. I want to describe the experience of the child that had chronic otitis media while going through the language developmental period. In other words, I want to convey what the client heard, saw, and felt during that time and what the client understands, worries about, and hopes for now.

5. Webliography: Clinician
The webliography will provide additional sources of information about the topic, as well as professional information.

6. Journal Entries: Parent
I would like to include journal entries written by the parent. They will be used to reflect on what the parent has learned from the clinician, the audiologist, and her child.

Integration:
The journal entries written by the parent will be used to integrate the genres. Links to each of the genres will be inserted into the journal entries.

Listing of Tentative Resources

Mason, E. (1998, February). A structural model on factors affecting language and cognitive achievement in children with otitis media with effusion. [On-line]. Dessertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 58, 46-50. File: PsycINFO Item: 0419-4217

Swick, K., Palefsky, E. (1982, September-October). Severe Hearing Losses in Infancy: Is Language Development Impaired? [On-line]. Elementary and Childhood Education, 59, 46-50. File: ERIC Item: EJ273071

Roberts, J., Zeisel, S. (2000, July). Ear Infections and Language Development. [On-line]. Elementary and Childhood Education. File: ERIC Item: ED443571

(1985, June) Middle Ear Infection. [On-line]. New England Journal of Medicine, 312, 1529-1535. File: Academic Search Elite Item: 0028-4793

Vernon-Feagans, L., Manlove, E. (1996, August). Otitis Media and the social behavior of day-care attending children. [On-line]. Child Development, 67, 1528-1539. File: Academic Search Elite Item: 0009-3920