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Open research questions in Hearing Impairment and Communication

476 gap statements mined from Hearing Impairment and Communication papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 4,125 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

Choosing where to publish on Hearing Impairment and Communication? See the ranked Psychology journals.

What the literature leaves open

  • The challenge of developing a system that can accurately capture and recognize sign language gestures. The challenge of balancing the need for graded feedback with the need for an enjoyable gaming experience.

    Reducing hearing-side communication barriers: an entertainment-first role-playing game for Indonesian sign language · 2026 · DOI

  • Limitations of the present study include its retrospective design and recall bias, as the study parameters requested covered the entire athletic career of the athletes.

    Sports-Related Injuries in Deaf Competitive Squad Athletes—Results of a Retrospective Self-Assessment · 2025 · DOI

  • Few studies have examined metalinguistic discourse in sign languages, let alone emerging sign languages (Green 2014, 2017, 2022; Haviland 2013b, 2016; Hoffmann-Dilloway 2011, 2016; Pfister 2020; Kusters 2014, 2020). At the same time, Terry also indicates where David’s linguistic capabilities are lacking by parodying his sign in the same way that the adult signers parody one another.

    Metalinguistic Discourse in an Emerging Sign Language · 2024 · DOI

  • This gap is particularly pronounced in rural areas, where educational resources are scarce, and teachers are often ill-equipped to handle the needs of learners with complex disabilities.

    Barriers and Facilitators to Inclusive Education for Learners Who Are Deafblind: A Scoping Review · 2024 · DOI

  • In this respect, we need to take into account the effects of (two-centuryold) methods of teaching written language to the deaf, which are mostly limited to the (mechanical) learning of word lists (see, among others, Abbou 2017).

    Deaf Signers’ Processing of the Sentence: An Indicator of Their Specific Pathway to the Written Word? · 2024 · DOI

  • Only one study focused on HCPs’ communication experiences and none on CSPs, leaving major gaps in understanding their perspectives and educational needs.

    Communication barriers for d/Deaf people with cancer: a scoping review · 2026 · DOI

  • This research on compound formation in ZSL provides valuable insights into the linguistic structure of this understudied sign language.

    Morphological description of compounds in Zimbabwean Sign Language · 2026 · DOI

  • Understanding hidden emotions involves both affective ToM—grasping the distinction between felt and expressed emotions—and cognitive ToM, or inferring how an observer may misinterpret those emotions based on limited knowledge.

    Language and Hidden Emotion Understanding in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children: The Role of Mentalistic Verbs · 2025 · DOI

  • Despite limited data, this review highlights the wide range of barriers d/Deaf cancer patients can encounter when accessing cancer services.

    Communication barriers for d/Deaf people with cancer: a scoping review · 2026 · DOI

  • This interpretation remains tentative and should be examined in larger samples using more detailed measures of language experience.

    Visual–Semantic Processing and Reading Comprehension in Chinese Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students: Roles of Updating, Semantic Radical Awareness, and Daily Sign Language Use · 2026 · DOI

  • While backchannels have been extensively studied in spoken languages, their documentation across signed languages remains sparse in comparison.

    Insights into interaction management through backchannels · 2026 · DOI

  • While quantification has been extensively studied in spoken languages, its expression in signed languages—utilizing space, classifiers, and nonmanual features such as facial expressions and mouth gestures (Nendauni, 2021), remains underexplored.

    "Quantifying" in a Young Sign Language · 2026 · DOI

  • Furthermore, the longstanding lack of standardized expectations for educational interpreters has left many of them making unguided guesses regarding how to best support the students whom they serve, often in domains for which they have little-to-no formal preparation or training.

    Roles and responsibilities of educational interpreters: moving from decades of documentation to transformative change · 2026 · DOI

  • Higher-level sign language courses are scarce, and most materials focus on vocabulary rather than sentence formation, leaving parents at a basic level while their children progress rapidly.

    Hearing parents learning sign language: a call for systemic changes · 2026 · DOI

  • There is mounting evidence that maternal sensitivity contributes to optimal child development, but little is known about dyads including deaf mothers and their hearing infants.

    Dyadic synchrony in deaf mothers and hearing infants · 2026 · DOI

  • In New Zealand, approximately 25% of hearing parents learn New Zealand sign language (NZSL) for their deaf children but little is known about the impact of this choice on hearing parents' identities and their goals for their children's socialization.

    Experiences of learning New Zealand sign language: hearing parents’ identities and socialization goals for their deaf children · 2026 · DOI

  • These results can inform graduate curricula and continuing education experiences for generalist SLPs as they work to close gaps in knowledge and strive to provide high-quality client-centered care for DHH children who use signed language.

    Speech-language pathologists’ perceptions of common myths related to deaf and hard of hearing children who use signed language · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on mainstreaming Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) within SBE to promote accessible, quality inclusive and lifelong education for deaf people to meaningfully participate in sustainable development.

    Prospects for transforming deaf education to sign bilingual education for sustainable development in Zimbabwe · 2026 · DOI

  • However, how habitual language mode shapes self-stigma-related processing remains unclear.

    How Habitual Language Mode Shapes Self-Stigma Perception Process in Deaf Individuals: Evidence from an Event-Related Potentials Study · 2026 · DOI

  • However, few studies have examined the impact of hearing impairment on inhibitory control, and the mechanism underlying this relationship is unclear.

    Mindfulness and Inhibitory Control of Deaf Students: Evidence from China · 2025 · DOI

  • The development of accessibility across different domains in China is lagging behind. The public awareness of accessibility remains relatively limited. The study had to address the potential sampling bias.

    Towards accessible video gaming: understanding the preferences and needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing players in China · 2026 · DOI

  • The qualitative findings were examined to complement and contextualize the quantitative results by exploring teachers’ observations of students’ engagement, narrative comprehension, instructional interaction, and access to linguistic and visual supports.

    Comparing guided, dialogic, and sign language instruction in deaf and hard-of-hearing students' narrative comprehension · 2026 · DOI

  • Small sample size, - Potential sampling bias, - Limited to DHH players in China, - No comparison with non-DHH players, - Limited information on accessibility options and assistive…

    Towards accessible video gaming: understanding the preferences and needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing players in China · 2026 · DOI

  • This represents an important limitation regarding the cross-cultural applicability of the proposed guidelines.

    A Validated Design Guideline for Mobile Applications Grounded in the Participation of Deaf Users for Accessible Development · 2026 · DOI

  • These benefits are not limited to any one age group; rather, they evolve developmentally, offering age-appropriate advantages…

    Your Body as a Tool to Learn Second Language Vocabulary · 2025 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Hearing Impairment and Communication

Most recent work

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Higher-level sign language courses are scarce, and most materials focus on vocabulary rather than sentence formation, leaving parents at a basic level while their children progress rapidly (“Hearing parents learning sign language: a call for systemic changes”, 2026); (2) There is mounting evidence that maternal sensitivity contributes to optimal child development, but little is known about dyads including deaf mothers and their hearing infants (“Dyadic synchrony in deaf mothers and hearing infants”, 2026); (3) Future research should focus on mainstreaming Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) within SBE to promote accessible, quality inclusive and lifelong education for deaf people to meaningfully participate in sustainable development (“Prospects for transforming deaf education to sign bilingual education for…”, 2026); (4) How habitual language mode shapes self-stigma-related processing remains unclear (“How Habitual Language Mode Shapes Self-Stigma Perception Process in Deaf…”, 2026); (5) Few studies have examined the impact of hearing impairment on inhibitory control, and the mechanism underlying this relationship is unclear (“Mindfulness and Inhibitory Control of Deaf Students: Evidence from China”, 2025). 476 gap statements have been mined from Hearing Impairment and Communication papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 4,125 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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