The ability to understand and convey one's thoughts and emotions through spoken language is important for successful communication. The prosody of spoken language, including the intonation, rhythm, and stress present in speech, is important for language acquisition, language comprehension, and communication (Mehler et al., 1988; Nazzi, Bertoncini, & Mehler, 1998; Pierrehumbert, 2003; Wells, Peppe, & Goulandris, 2004). In typically developing children, this process of language acquisition and development is shaped by the perceptual and cognitive abilities of the child, as well as the quality and quantity of linguistic input received in the early years of life (Kuhl, 2004; Maurer & Werker, 2014). Thus, presumably, any alteration or disruption in sensory input or the quality and quantity of input could have a negative impact on natural development of spoken language. Childhood hearing loss can limit a child's auditory access to the prosodic and phonemic features of speech that are necessary for language development. Delayed or degraded access to the speech spectrum can disrupt development of speech perception, language, and academics. In fact, children with hearing loss who have limited auditory access to the speech spectrum demonstrate deficits in speech perception and production (Davidson, Geers, Blamey, Tobey, & Brenner, 2011; Eisenberg, 2007), language development (Moeller, Tomblin, Yoshinaga-Itano, Connor, & Jerger, 2007; Spencer, Barker, & Tomblin, 2003), and social competence (Antia, 2011; Moeller, 2007; Most, Shina-August, & Meilijson, 2010). Restoring auditory access to the speech spectrum through hearing aids and cochlear implants has proven to be an effective intervention to minimize the negative impact of hearing loss and facilitate language development (e.g., Niparko et al., 2010; Svirsky, Robbins, Kirk, Pisoni, & Miyamoto, 2000; Yoshinaga-Itano, Baca, & Sedey, 2010). Given that perception of prosodic features of language is shaped by a child's auditory experience of the language (Bijeljac-Babic, Serres, Hohle, & Nazzi, 2012; Gervain & Werker, 2013), it is of interest to explore the impact of childhood hearing loss on perception of prosodic features, particularly, stress, intonation, and rhythm. It is also of interest to examine how current hearing technology, hearing aids and cochlear implants, might minimize the negative impact of childhood hearing loss and facilitate perception of prosody, so that children with hearing loss perform comparably or ''catch up'' to their hearing peers. The benefit of hearing technology and other interventions has often been examined in the context of improvement in speech perception, which is fundamental to language acquisition and comprehension. Most studies of speech perception have focused on phonemic features, and only a few have focused on prosodic features. Studies to date have demonstrated that, perception of stress and intonation in spoken language is deficient in children with hearing loss compared to children with normal hearing (Chin, Bergeson, & Phan, 2012; Lenden & Flipsen, 2007; Most & Peled, 2007; O'Halpin, 2010). It has been observed that individuals who use hearing aids might demonstrate better perception of stress and intonation than individuals who use cochlear implants (Most, Harel, Shpak, & Luntz, 2011; Most & Peled, 2007). These deficits have been attributed in part to the current limitations of access to prosodic features through cochlear implant technology (Limb & Roy, 2014; Most et al., 2011). Perception of rhythm by children with hearing impairments has been examined in the context of music, and on average is considered to be comparable to individuals with normal hearing (Drennan & Rubinstein, 2008; McDermott, 2004, Shirvani, Jafari, Matasaddi, Jalaie, Mohagheghi, & Tale, 2016). The present study focused on perception of prosody in children with hearing loss by comparing perception of stress, intonation, and speech rhythm in school-age children with hearing loss and children with normal hearing. Potential differences in perception of prosody within the children with hearing loss who used different hearing technology -- bilateral cochlear implants, or one cochlear implant and one hearing aid, hereafter referred to as ''bimodal technology'' - were also examined. In this chapter prosodic features and their role in early language acquisition and development are discussed, followed by a closer examination of perception and production of stress, intonation and rhythm in children with and without hearing loss, and the contribution of hearing technology to perception of prosody. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]