It seems common sense to talk slowly and loudly to the deaf. Why isn it?
Speech spoken at a normal speed is full of rhythm and intonation. We now know that it is the rhythm and intonation that children find easiest to hear and learn. So, groups of words, e.g. ‘look at that’, are easier to hear than single words, e.g. ‘look’, and long words e.g. ‘elephant’ are easier to hear than short words, e.g. ‘cat’.
