· the effects of hearing impairment on language

· THE EFFECTS OF HEARING IMPAIRMENT ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT OF A LEARNER: A CASE STUDY OF

LEARNERS OF ST MARYS' PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF

BY

ATIENO HELLEN OKWACH BED/107 58/61/D F

A Research Report Submitted to the Faculty of Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree

in Special Needs Education of Kampala International University

NOVEMBER, 2009

DECLARATION

I Atieno Hellen Okwach, declare that this Research project presented to faculty of Education is

my original work and has not been submitted to any other institution of higher learning for

academic credit. Information from all other sources has been duly acknowledged as required.

Signature ... ~'. .................. Date.~ ./.'J../ .½ .<?.1, .... ... .

ATIENO HELLEN OKW ACH

RESEARCHER

APPROVAL

This Research work has been done under my supervision and submitted with my approval as a

university supervisor.

Signature: ~ ...

Mr. W AIRINDI DANIEL

SUPERVISOR

................... Date.&~~\.~·1\~ ..

11

DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my caring parents, brother and sisters who taught me the value

of Education and hard work, and to my husband Justus, my children Staicy, Vianney and Cyril

who missed my motherly love at the time I was under going my studies.

Lots of appreciation also to my staff mates especially Maritim Nundu, Victor Ochieng' and Dan

Abayo who assisted me in getting relevant books for the research.

ll1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The researcher highly appreciated the contribution and support which various groups and

individuals provided for the successful completion of this project.

I feel greatly indebted to my supervisor Mr. Wairindi Daniel for his patience and timely advice.

His ideas and untiming guidance were invaluable to me through out the research. His

constrnctive criticism was a constant challenge that motivated me through all stages of study and

shaped the project into this presentable format.

I would also like to thank my school staff mates for their moral and material supp01i.

I particularly wish to thank Mr. Dan Abayo, Maritim Nundu. Victor Ochieng' Sr. Beatr·ice Jane

for their relevant books that helped me through the literature review. Special thanks to all those

authors whom I heavily relied on in my research their dedication to the well being of the less

fortunate children made who literature review very stimulating.

For Mr. Ochieng B. Mulama, many thanks to his skilled labour in spite of his commitments, he

afforded some time to type this project.

I cannot afford to forget to appreciate and acknowledge the contribution of all my respondents,

the head teacher, teachers and pupils of St. Marys' primary school for the Deaf, for their great

cooperation. To them I owe a great deaf of what gone into this project. And to all you friends and

wells wishers whose assistance played a significant role in bringing a bout this realization, I say

"Thank you for always being there."

lV

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................ i APPROVAL .................................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... viii DEFINITION OF TERMS .......................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.0. Background to the Study .......................................................................................................... 1 I.I Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................................. 3 1.3 .Research Questions were; ......................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Significance of the Study .......................................................................................................... 3 1.5. Scope of the Study ................................................................................................................... .4 1.6 Limitations and Delimitations .................................................................................................. 4 1.7 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................... 6 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................. 6 2.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 General History of Special Needs Education ........................................................................... 6 2.2 Causes and Effects of Hearing Impairment .............................................................................. 9 2.3. Speech Development, Language and Communication ........................................................... 12 2.4. Education and Teaching of the Hearing Impaired .................................................................. 14 2.5 Language Acquisition and Associated Problems to the Hearing Impaired Learners ............. 17 2.6 Pre-lingual and Post-lingual Hearing Impairment.. ................................................................ 18 2.7 Effects of Hearing Impaired parents and Hearing Parents on Language Development ofa Hearing Impaired Learners ............................................................................................................ 20 2.8 Curriculum Content and its Relevance to Hearing Impaired Learners .................................... 21 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................... 22 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 22 3.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 22 3.1 Research Design ...................................................................................................................... 22 3.2 Area and Population of Study .................................................................................................. 22 3.3 Sampling Procedures ............................................................................................................... 23 3.4 Data Collection Methods ......................................................................................................... 23 3.5 Data Quality Control ................................................................................................................ 23 3.6 DataAnalysis ........................................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 24 PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA ................................ 24 4.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 24

V

4.1 Bio-data of the Teachers by Gender ........................................................................................ 24 4.2 Professional Qualifications of Teachers .................................................................................. 25 4.2 (b) Special Education Qualifications of Teachers ..................................................................... .i 4.2 (c) Teacher's Teaching Experience ......................................................................................... 27 4.3. Learners in School .................................................................................................................. 28 4.4. Effects of Hearing Impairment on Language Development.. ................................................. 29 4.5: Categories of Hearing Impairments and their Effects on Language Development.. .............. 30 4.6 Categories Experiencing Difficulties in Language and Communication Most.. ..................... 31 4.7 Difficulties Experienced by Pre-linguals ................................................................................. 32 4.8: Hearing impaired learners born to hearing impaired parents Versus Learners born of hearing parents ............................................................................................................................................ 33 4.9: Language problems among hearing impaired learners born to hearing parents ..................... 35 4.10: Discussion and Interpretation of Data ................................................................................. .40 CHAPTER FIVE ........ .......................................................................................................... ... 43 SUMMARY, CONCLUTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................... 43 5.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 43 5.1 Summary ................................................................................................................................. .43 5 .2 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 44 5.3 Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 45 5 .4 Suggestions for Further Research ........................................................................................... .46 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 48 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................... 51 QUESTIONAIRRE FOR TEACHERS OF THE HEARING IMP AIRED LEARNERS .... 51 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................... 54 INTERVIEW CHECK LIST TO BE USED FOR LEARNERS ............................................. 54 ST MARY'S PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF ............................................................ 54 APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................... 57 SIGN LANGUAGE ALPHABETS ............................................................................................ 57 APPENDIX D ............................................................................................................................... 58 LETTER OF INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 58 APPENDIX E ............................................................................................................................... 59 LETTER OF AUTHORITY ....................................................................................................... 59 APPENDIX F ............................................................................................................................... 60 NYANZA PROVINCE MAP ...................................................................................................... 60

VI

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Showing Bio-data of the Teachers by Gender. .................................................... 24

Table 2: Showing Professional Qualifications for Teachers ............................................. 25

Table 3: Showing Special Education Qualification of the Teachers ................................. 26

Table 4: Showing Teaching Experience ............................................................................ 27

Table 5: Number of Learners in the School.. ..................................................................... 28

Table 6: Showing the Effects of Hearing Impairment on Language Development ........... 29

Table 7: Showing Categories ofHeaTing Impaired Learners by Class ............................. 30

Table 8: Showing Categories Experiencing Difficulties in Language and

Communication ..................................................................................... .31

Table 9: Showing Difficulties Experienced by Pre- Lingual.. .......................................... .32

Table 10: Showing the Number of Learners Born to Hearing Impaired Parents and Hearing

Parents ............................................................................................................................... .34

Table 11: Showing that Hearing Impaired Learners have more Language Problems ....... 35

Table 12: Showing the Reasons Why Impaired Learners born to Hearing Parents have more

Language Problems .......................................................................................................... .36

Table 13: Showing Curriculum for Learners with Hearing Impairement ........................ .37

Table 14: Showing the most Suitable Curriculum for the Impaired Learners .................. .38

Table 15: Showing the Reasons for the Suitability of the Curriculum ............................. .39

Vil

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Showing of the Percentage of Teachers by Gender ........................................... 25

Figure 2: Showing Professional Qualification of Teachers .............................................. .26

Figure 3: Showing Special Education Qualifications for Teachers ................................... 27

Figure 4: Showing Teachers' Teaching Experience ......................................................... 30

Figure 5: Showing the Number of Learners in the School ................................................ 29

Figure 6: Showing the Effects of Hearing Impairement on Language Development ....... 32

Figure 7: Showing Categories of Hearing Impaired Learners .......................................... .31

Figure 8: Showing the Categories Experiencing Difficulties in Language and

communication ................................................................................................................. .32

Figure 9: Showing Difficulties Experienced by Pre-linguals ........................................... .33

Figure 10: Showing Number of Learners born to Hearing Impaired Parents and Learners

Born to hearing parents ...................................................................................................... 34

Figure 11: Showing that Hearing Impaired Learners have more Language Problems ..... .35

Figure 12: Showing the Reasons Why Hearing Impaired Learners born to Hearing

Parents have more learning problems ............................................................................... .36

Figure 13: Showing Current Curriculum for Learners with Hearing Impairement.. ......... 37

Figure 14: Showing the most Suitable CmTiculum for Hearing Impaired Learners ........ .38

Figure 15: Reasons for Suitability of the CmTiculum ...................................................... .39

viii

Hearing impaired:

DEFINITION OF TERMS

The word "hearing impaired" replaced the word "deaf', while the term

"hard of hearing" has been introduced to replace the phrase "partially

deaf'. Hearing impaired are children who have slight to severe hearing

loss.

Hearing impairment: A genetic term indicating a hearing disability which may range in severity

from mild to profound. It includes the subject of deaf and hard-of-hearing.

Language:

Postlingual deafness:

The communication of ideas through and arbitrary system of the symbols

used according to rules that determine meaning.

Deafness and individual acquired after having acquired spoken

language of the catchments area.

Prelingual deafness: Deafness presents at birth or occupying early in life at an early age prior the

development of language.

Primaiy Education: Is the provision of first level instruction to children usually in the six to

foU1ieen age groups. In Kenya it takes eight years.

Sign language: Is means of communication used by the hearing impaired.

Special Education: Is an individually designed instrumental services meeting the unique

educational needs of the handicapped persons. It appropriate form of

education for children where physical or mental conditions makes normal

teaching methods unsuitable for them. (Farrant 1964 pg 29)

IX

ABSTRACT

Globally, language been classified as one of the intelligence that man can posses. Gardner,

(1989) the capacity to use words effectively, whether orally for example as a storyteller, orator

and politician or in writing. For example as a poet, play whiter, editor or journalist is something

that must be learned in every day life. Hearing impairment has had its effect on language

development that is the spoken and written languages. The study was catTied out in St. Marys'

primary school for the Deaf in Bondo District, Nyangora Division, Nango zone, it investigated

and evaluated factors affecting language development in a heat·ing impaired learners. The

researcher used a case study design. It involved sample learner and teachers at in St. Maiys'

primary school for the Deaf. The basic instrument used was questionnaires. Questionnaires

involved open ended and closed ended questions. Data collected were analyzed by descriptive

statistics and content analysis after which the results were presented using tables and bar graphs.

Finding from the study included the problems of language development of a Pre-lingual and

post-lingual heai-ing impaired learner, level of language development of a hearing impaired

learner born to hearing impaired pat·ents Vs that born that born to a hearing parents and the effect

of cuniculum the teaching of language to the hearing impaired learners. The researcher

concluded that there are many factors in a hearing impaired learner that affect their language

development. The research finding reveals that the prelingual learner had more problems in

language as compared to postlinguals. Fatiher findings should that hearing impaired learners

born to hearing impaired parents.

X

Last but not least, the current curriculum ( adapted) being used in hearing impaired schools does

not provide adequate content to teach language to learner. However, teachers handling them

work round the clock to help the learners face the challenges in life in terms of language

XI

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background to the Study

Globally language has been classified as one of the intelligences that man posses, (Gardner 1989

P. IOI). The capacity to use words effectively, whether orally (for example, as a storyteller,

orator and politician) or in writing (for example as poet, playwright, editor or journalist) is

something that must be learned in everyday life. Hearing impairment has had its effect on

language development, that is, spoken and written languages. A learner cannot pronounce what

she/he has not heard and understood consequently. One cannot write what she/he does not know

(Jensema 1978 P. 58).

In African continent with many languages, acquisition of both spoken and written languages

have been a problem, in that, a hearing impaired child is presented with a scenario where she/he

has to master three or more languages at the same time and be able to sign and fingerspell inoder

to communicate with others. It has been known that the hearing impaired children in a

community where written and spoken languages are used more, develop the ability to manipulate

the syntax or structure of the language, the phonology of language, the meaning and practical

uses of language unlike the hearing impaired child brought up with the Deaf community alone

who will only learn how to sign and fingerspell in order to communicate everyday conversation

(Karchmer et al 1979 PP. 67-68)

Nango zone in Bondo District is a region with a relatively high number of hearing impaired

children, some of whom have been assessed and placed in various institutions such as St. Mary's

primary school for the Deaf and Father Ouderaa Secondary school for the Hearing Impaired.

Hearing impairment has had its effect on language development in this region because there is

only a few researchers competent in assessing the child linguistic efficiency by observing the

child's use of sign language. Furthe1more, sign language has a grammatical structure of its own

which does not follow spoken or written English. As a result, when the hearing uses sign

language as compared to spoken language, he/she is penalized because of differences in grammar

in the order of presentation. (Karchmer et al 1979 pp. 81-83).

I

Result of the written language of hearing impaired children shows that in the whole, they lag

behind significantly compared to hearing children and are therefore punished for not being

competent enough. The patterns have been documented in Kenya by Ndurumo (1986 pp 43-45)

after analyzing written compositions of the hearing impaired children eurolled at St. Joseph

Technical School for the Deaf, Nyangoma.

Hearing impairment also varies among different learners and because the ability of child to

understand the speech correlates with the degree of hearing loss, effective communication has

become a problem because some teachers prefer speech as the primary mode of communication,

others prefer a combination of both speech and signs. Learners therefore fail to grasp important

concept in class because communication is not effective.

1.1 Statement of the Problem The issues of language and hearing impairment had been a grossly neglected area, even by

those how had specialized in working with the hearing impaired. Quite simply, other much more

.contentious issues had occupied the center stage, such as whether to teach child sign language or

speech.

There had been a bitter three dimensional debate among those who how advocate for the use of

natural signs and those who propose language which approximates to English grammar and those

who wanted the hearing impaired to speak. However, among the hearing impaired learners, none

of these methods appear to guarantee the child sufficient language development to support high

academic achievement (Ndurumo 1989 pp. 62-64). Learners with hearing impairment in Kenya

according to National Examination had not been doing very well in Kenya Certificate of Primary

Education (K.C.P.E). Competence in a language, being the basis of lmowledge acquisition, the

researcher wanted to find out if hearing impairment is the major barrier to language development

among such learners.

According to records, poor performance has been noted among learners with hearing impairment

in Nango Zone.

2

1.2 Objectives of the Study

1.2.1 General Objectives

The purpose of this study was to find out the effects of hearing impairment on language

development of a hearing impaired learner.

1.2.2 Specific Objectives of the Reseai·ch were

1. To investigate the problem that hinders the hearing impaired learner from acquiring

language.

11. To find out the problem of language development of a pre-lingual learner.

m. To investigate differences in language development levels of a learner born of impaired

parents and that born of hearing parents.

iv. To find out the effect curriculum on the teaching of language to the hearing impaired

learners.

1.3 .Research Questions were;

1. What problems hinder the hearing impaired learner from acquiring the language?

ii. How is language development affected by the pre-lingual and post-lingual hearing

impairments?

iii. What effect do hearing parents and hearing impaired parents have on language

development of the hearing impaired learners?

1v. How does the cuniculum affect the teaching of the language on the hearing impaired

learners?

1.4 Significance of the Study

The findings of the study were hoped to benefit the Education policy makers in the Ministiy of

Education in ensuring that mother-tongue or language of the catchments area is used to the

media of instmction in pre-school or lower primary classes 1-3 to enable learners to acquire pre

requisite skill for language development.

The findings of the study is hoped that would help the cun'iculum developers to design a

specialized CUTI'iculum for the hearing impaired learners so that the may develop their in a clear

and systematic manner.

3

The information gathered from research findings was meant to assist future researchers to do

further investigation on possible ways of assisting hearing impaired learners on language

development.

1.5 Scope of the Study The research exercise was can·ied out in St. Mary's primary school for the Deaf in Bondo

District, Nango Zone.

The above named school is the only one for the learners with hearing impairment within Bondo

District; however, most of these learners come from other district within the country Kenya,

thereby giving the researchers a chance to base his/her research finding on a wider geographical

area. The information was obtained from the samples learners through observation and interview

in different areas of language development and also from their teachers through the use of

questionnaires.

1.6 Limitations and Delimitations 1.6.1 Limitations

The following were the conditions that would hinder the researcher from carrymg out the

proposed study effectively.

• The study limited itself to only one zone, and one school. It could be better if the whole

district would have been studied but due to financial constraints, it will be impossible for

the researcher to carry out the study in the whole district.

• The researcher overcomes this limitation by the fact that learners at St. Mary's primary

school for the Deaf were coming for several districts all over Kenya; therefore, the

research findings were based over a wider geographical area.

1.6.2 Delimitations

The study only deals with learners with hearing impairment. The research was conducted in local

areas that the learner is familiar with. This gave the researcher easy time in collection of data

since most of the interviewers were familiar with her hence they could volunteer information

with a lot of confidence.

4

1.7 Conceptual Framework

Hearing impairment a state whereby an individual auditory functional ability is a greatly

reduced, has a great effect on language development, however, severity of this effect will depend

on whether the individual is a pre-lingual or post-lingual and also on the degree of hearing loss,

that is mild, moderate severe or profound hearing loss.

To some extend, language development level of a child may also be affect by the auditory status

of the parent, that is, either the parents are hearing impaired or not

•

• Hearing Impairment •

•

•

•

Pre-lingual

Post-lingual Language development

Mild-hearing loss

Moderate hearing loss

Severe hearing loss

Profound hearing loss

Parents; either they are impaired in hearing or not

5

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter presents reviews of related literature to the factors leading to low level of language

development of the hearing impaired. References have been made to journalists, encyclopedias,

educational book, UNESCO magazines and project reports on related topics.

This has been done to serve as the basis of obtaining a comprehensive survey. This review is

divided into five parts which are further sub-divided. They include: General history special

needs education, causes and effects of hearing impai1ment, speech development, language and

communication, education and teaching of the hearing impaired.

2.1 General History of Special Needs Education

It has been estimated that I 0-15% of all children worldwide have physical handicap and may

have difficult maximizing their potential and learning in educational programs and systems

established for the non-handicapped (United Nation Children's fund 1980 p. 23)

As a discipline, special education is relatively young, most programs having evolved during the

twentieth century. Many cunent practices in the field have been developed since early I 960's a

period marked by dramatic shifts in believes about appropriate treatment of disable persons and

by rapid increase in quality and quantity in education services (Agola 1986 pp. 101-102)

Special education continues in a state of transition. Issues concerning financial commitment,

adequacy and appropriate practices have been raised but remain unresolved. While innovative

approaches to teach the handicapped have been proposed, their efficacies have not yet been fully

established. (United Nation Children's Fund, 1980 p. 25). Vishie, Lienif and Pukstad (1988 pp

81-93), studied special education in Norway-A case study using questionnaires, with a view to

update information on the cunent situation of special education and provide a data base from

which future programs could grow. The study covers special education policy, legislation,

administration, special education provision, finances, research and development without making

any recommendation.

6

Bogonko and Otiende (1988 pp. 209-121) in contemporary issues in East Africa, examined

principles of special education considering its provision. Their finding revealed that educational

services for this group of people in our societies are far from adequate. They recommend taking

a census for disable children and assessing of possible number of respective facilities to be

provided. Since then, significant steps have been taken to improve the situation in some

countries.

2.1.1 Special Education in Italy

The education of children with special needs has a number of characteristics: Nearly all children

with mental disability are integrated in ordinary classes: there is moreover, a clear distinction

between the situation of children with severe disabilities and that of children with less severe

learning disabilities. Although there is high percentage of support teachers, ordinary teachers are

directly involved in special education. The number of children per class is 25 in other words,

with 26 pupils; two classes of 13 are established. If disable pupil is integrated, and it is not

permitted to integrate more than one per class, the maximum number of other pupils becomes 19.

Nearly a quarter of the classes have disabled pupils integrated and so have not more than 20

pupils. In such cases therefore, the pupils benefit from a full-time teacher and a support teacher

for a number of hours depending on the severity of the disability. Experiences and research about

school integration in Italy suggested that integration in normal classes is productive only if

certain conditions are met. These are:

" Only one disabled pupil per class

• No more than 20 pupils in total per class

• The help of support teacher for at least 6-8 hours per week.

• The collaboration of all the staff of the school. Research by (Vianello I 988, 1989, I 990

pp. 20-42)

The following have proved very useful, if not essential:

• The presence of an educational psychologist in school.

• The favorable attitude or at least not a hostile attitude of parent and other pupils.

• The practice comparing notes systematically among teachers.

7

• The involvement of regular teachers in planning and applying the learning program for

disable pupils.

A university degree is required in order to teach in any kind of school. The curriculum of studies

must include courses especially concerned with pedagogic, psychological and didactic subjects.

Teachers must be specialized in all kinds of disabilities (Vienello 1988, 1989, 1990)

2.1.2 Special Education in Hungary

The network of school is divided into the following different types according to the area of

handicap; mild mentally handicapped moderate mentally handicapped, deaf, partially hearing,

blind, partially sighted, physically handicapped, children with speech problem, and the different

types of multi-handicaps. Each school type has its own officially prescribed cuniculum.

Acceptance of a child is assessed by a team (medical, psychological, special educationists) of

transfening committee.

The time of schooling takes one or two more years than in regular school, the final certificate

having the same values as that which ordinary pupils attain after leaving the primary school.

Most of the special schools are residential, children going home every weekend. The qualified

special teachers work with one group of children at a time, one in the morning and one in the

afternoon.

The mentally retarded together with sensory or physical handicap are in a special or classes

attached to a special school. Children with more severe handicaps stay at home and receive

individual suppmi of six hours a week.

Multi-handicapped adolescents have certain oppmiunities to continue with their studies m

special vocational classes or schools (Yvonne Csanyi 1995 pp. 65-99).

2.1.3 Special Education in Kenya

Nkinyangi and Mbindyo (1982 Pp. 27-33) carried out a National Survey of condition of disable

persons in Kenya. The used questionnaires for disable persons, institutions and found out that

forms of discriminations should be tackled head on if meaningful assistance is to be provided

with the disabled. Access to school for example, should be encouraged actively through the

8

removal of school fees and taking away the stigma that surrounds this form of social investment

on disable persons.

Although many changes have taken in provision cuniculum content and manpower development,

there has not been a great success in the attempt to achieve literacy for the hearing impaired. The

graduates from the School of Hearing impaired proves themselves academically "sub average".

Source of educational needs and problems of hearing impaired children reveal that their

problems vary according to individual differences which include severity of hearing loss, age of

onset of the impairment, age of diagnosis and age of intervention.

This calls for the need to: let the impaired child work at his/her pace according to his/her own

capacity, and appreciation for putting into consideration the education of the hearing impaired

and advocate for more emphasis on advance academic opportunities.(Agola 1986 pp. 55-78).

2.2 Causes and Effects of Hearing Impairment 2.2.1 Causes of hearing impairment

Evidence from different countries indicates that incidences of disability are highly conelated

with the unequal distribution of resources both among the countries and among different social

classes in the society. At the individual level, the disability is highly c01Telated with pove1iy and

the social disadvantages with the unequal distribution of society's wealth and available

resources.

Hence a lot of disability seems to be the results of victims and interactive circles of poverty,

ignorance and diseases.

Malnutrition, an unhealthy environment, absences of clean drinking water, presence, of

pandemics, low hygienic standards, are all factors which account for many impainnent in

developing countries. (Nkangi and Mbindyo, 1982: pp. 38-48).

2.2.2 Effects of Hearing Impairment

Researchers have found it difficult to make comparative studies between "normal" and hearing

impaired children. Almost all means of measurement intelligence, personality adjustment and

educational achievements depend upon a child's verbal and language ability. Hearing impaired

9

children are much more limited in verbal and language usage; therefore, their accomplishments

cannot be weighed equally with those of normal hearing children. Children with hearing

handicaps score an average Intelligence Quotient (I.Q) of 90 on intelligence tests, in comparison

to the average I.Q scores of 100 for normal hearing children (Anker, pp. 50-52)

Some educator's attributes the lower I. Q to the fact that test is specifically not created for hearing

impaired children. However, many people surmise that the lower average I.Q stems from the

negative effect the early hearing loss has on language and speech development. On

computational and motor skills, hearing impaired children's perfmmance is closer to that of

no1mal hearing. It is in the verbal area that the largest difference occurs between the groups.

The difficulty hearing impaired children have with speech and verbalization also affects their

educational achievement. In general, children with hearing problems have found to be three to

five years academically behind nonnal hearing children their age (Anker, 1978: pp. 54-57).

Blair, Peterson, and Vietiweg (1985: pp. 66-70) in their study of the effects of mild hearing loss

on academic performance of young school age children-Volta Review, used a group of children

whose better ear hearing loses were 40 DB HL or less and a control group of matched normal

hearing peers in reading and math. They found out that students with mild hearing impairment

perform significantly below their matched peers, with the discrepancy increasing over the 4

years. They described these children as underachieving relative to their potential.

Unilateral hearing loss in children: an update for the 1990s survey study by A.S.L.H.A (1986 pp.

103-110) described how children with unilateral hearing loss were being given change in

educational practices. They found out that in 1980s children with unilateral hearing losses wee

10 times more likely to repeat a grade compared to the general school age population.

Their reports of 406 children indicated that 54% receives individualized special education

services, in addition to some level of audio logic support, and that 245 were functioning below

average relative to their peers. The survey indicates that the propmiions of children with

unilateral hearing loss who are functioning below average in overall academic performance have

not change in IO years.

In a study of children with unilateral hearing loss in 1986 by American Speech and Hearing

Association, that used evaluation of tests scores of mainstream, it found out that 35% failed one

10

or more grades, with 13% requiring suppott services. When teachers were asked to rate these

students as above average, average or below average academically, 39% of the students who fell

in below average category were hem-ing impaired whereas only 5% of the students with normal

hearing were put in this group. Conversely, only 22% Of the students with hearing impairment

were rated above average, as compared to 42% of normal hearing classmates. The ratings reflect

the margin language competency of students with unilateral hearing impairment.

Y oshinaga, & Syder (1989 pg 209-215) studied the development of narrative skills in hearing

impaired population. They found out that children who are deaf continue to develop in semantic

aspect with written language between the ages of 12 to 18 years, although by the age of 18 vast

majorities have still not mastered syntactic skills that are present in normally hearing 12 yem·s

old children.

Deaf children have been fount to lag behind hem·ing children in academic achievement. This is

due to the fact that they lack linguistic tools. For instance under the subsection of language, it

was noted that a hem-ing impaired child ten years old comprehends 24%of the 2,000 common

words while a hem-ing child understand 84 %. Furthermore, at 14 years a deaf child understands

30% of 20,000 printed words compared to 71 % for hearing child. In 1964 a research

commissioned by United States Depmtment of Health, education, and welfm·e reviewed the

academic achievement of hem-ing impaired children in United States.

The findings of the report, commonly known as "Babbidge Report", concluded that the average

hearing impaired child completing high school reads at fomth grade and has an educational

achievement of an eighth grade, similm· findings has been documented in Kenya, although with

the children who had completed primary school in Kenya and were in vocational school for the

deaf.(Ndmumo 1990 pp. 93-116)

Karchmer (I 999 p. 40) studied 12 to 20 years old children who were deaf to find out educational

outcomes and achievement levels (presentation at the National Association of State Directors of

Special Education of the Deaf in the U.S ). They find out that an average student makes only one

year's growth in semantic language (vocabulary development and reading comprehension) as

measured by standardized assessments.

Edwards, Fourakis, Beckhmn and Fox (1999 pp. 86, 90-109) studied chm·acterizing knowledge

deficits in phonological disorders in order to aid the development of finer-grained measures of

11

phonological competence phonology. Two aspects of non- symbolic phonological knowledge

(knowledge of the acoustic/perceptual space and of the articulation space) were examines in 6

pre-school age children with phonological disorders and 6 typically developing age peers. To

evaluate the perceptual knowledge, gating and noise center tasks were used. Children with

phonological disorders recognized significant fewer words then age peers on both tasks. The

differences were interpreted as indicated that the children with phonological disorders were less

able to maneuver jaw and tongues body separately or that they used less controlled gestures fro

m lingual consonants to vowels than their peers.

The results suggests that the phonological knowledge is multifaceted, and that seemingly

categorical and deficit at one level can be linked to less robust to representations at other levels.

Children with phonological disorders as a group clearly differ from their age peers in all three of

these of phonological competence: perception, production, and the inverse mapping between

perception and production. The patterns suggest that at least paii of the knowledge deficit that

constitutes "phonological disorders" for some children is a weak cognitive representation of

redundant perceptual cues for speech sounds.

2.3 Speech Development, Language and Communication

The deaf can only learn speech well by being in totally oral environment. She/he learns by

constant observation of she/he teachers speech movements. The observation is combined with

other sensory methods.

The deaf child is taught to touch the face and throat of the teacher to feel vibration and tension of

his speech. She the tries to imitates or produce the same sounds. The students receives the cues

from his/her teacher and also practices by looking at the mirror. Deaf children eventually can

learn to improve their voice quality, breathing control, accent and syllabation of words and

aiiiculation of sounds.

The development of language skills is one of the most difficult areas in the curriculum to teach

and learn. Language is complex and abstract. A child may understand the word "gone" but

grammatical phrase "would have gone" entails amore difficult explanation.

12

Oetting arJ,d Horohov (1997 pp. 82-85) studies past-tense marking by children with and without

specific language impairment. Their aim was to examine the productivity and presentation of

past tense marking in children with and without specific language impairment. They sampled II

six years old SIL and age- matched control. They found that the accmacy of the impaired group

was less than that of either control group. They provided these children's morphological

strengths and phonological characteristics of the lexicon. Weaknesses include: limited

productivity of regular past-tense marking and grater sensitivity to frequency manipulations as

compared to normal developing children.

Wood & word (1997) in their study "communication" with children who are Deaf' investigated

conversation and narratives involving teachers of children who are deaf and their students. They

found that some teachers employed signed English in which the intentions was produce a sign

for each morphine of normal speech. Others used an oral approach to education; a third group

used sign support for English in which only major parts of speech are signed. They also found

that communication in classroom with children who are deaf is too adult-controlled; it is

linguistically simple, concrete unit's intent. The language also exhibit it fewer complex

grammatical featme. They analyzed teacher's communication in terms of 4 dimensions: power,

repair, pace and linguistic complexity. These features of teacher discourse are associated in that

teachers who exert the most power, for example, who asks frequent questions, also spend more

time repairing students' communication and exhibit a relatively raid turn rate in discourse.

Students in communication with these teachers produce shorter utterances, ask fewer questions,

offer less frequent contribution, communicate less often with peers and show more signs of

confusion and misunderstanding than they do with teachers who exert less power.

They recommend that adults can change the way in which they manage conversations with

children who are deaf in order to bring about more productive interactions.

Sammeth, Darman &Stearns (1999) carried out a study on the role of consonant-vowels Aptitude

Ratio in recognition of voiceless slap consonants by listeners with hearing impaired. Testing was

conducted with broad band noise. Six adults with sensor neural hearing impairment and two

adult with normal hearing served as listeners. They found out that consonants-to-vowel ration

(CVR) enhancement did not improve identification perf01mance when consonant audibility was

13

held constant, except at the higher noise level for one listener with hearing impairment. The

addition of vowel energy to the isolated consonants did, however, produce large and significant

improvement in phoneme identification. They recommend need to account for audibility when

evaluating effects of speech cue manipulation on speech cue manipulation on speech recognition

2.4 Education and Teaching of the Hearing Impaired

2.4.1 Personality Traits of Teachers

Who can teach the hearing impaired? Personality traits are tremendously important for working

successfully with hearing impaired children. Teacher need to encourage and aspire their students

to overcome the road- blocks to social communication. Deaf children should be approached by a

teacher who is warm and enthusiastic and who has almost unlimited patience. Tolerance is

needed .some deaf children become ashamed, and when confused simply withdraw from the

lesson. Teachers should complete program of college study including knowledge of child

development, general psychology, learning theory, functions of institutions and instructional

procedures in general and special education.

2.4.2 Methodology of Teaching

In research carried by Anker ( 1978), pp. 62-83) , he found out that hearing impaired children

were taught by multisensory senses- vision, touch, taste, smell . Although a show, painstaking

process, hearing impaired children can be taught to communicate by well trained, competent

teachers. Speech reading primarily utilized the visual sense.

Deaf children in more moderate range had a slight use of sounds with a hearing aid. The hearing

aid also helped those children who could only hear sounds of a certain pitch or intensity. "Cued

Speech reading is impo1iant as a tool for learning the rest of the school curriculum. Once learned,

it is used in school all day for gym, mathematics and science as well as speech and language.

Those children who could benefit from hearing aids were given auditory training Teachers of the

deaf learned all possible ways to maximize the use of a child's residual hearing. It is said that

view hearing aids are so powerful many profoundly deaf children can probably benefit from

14

using them. The teacher speaks into a central microphone and students receive the sound thought

headphones and amplifier norm on the chest.

Classrooms for the deaf were recognized so that students sat and face each other and the teacher

to gather the most visual information.

Gwinn et al (1993 p. 4 7) in the document analysis that covered Spain, Europe, England, France,

Germany and U.S.A found out the historical background, diagnosis patterns and patterns of

instructional adaptation. They recommended integration of the deviant child with average

children.

Massaro and Cohen (1997 pp. 22-29) studied speech perception in perceivers with hearing loss.

Their aim was to find out what information differences and information processing differences

exist among the individuals with normal hearing and those worth hearing impainnent. They

found out although information obviously exists across different population, their infonnation

processing involved in pattern recognition appears to be the same. The findings encourage the

use of multimodal environments for person with hearing loss. There is some evidence that video

feedback from their own speed production improved adults with profound hearing loss.

2.4.3 Environmental Factors

No country has loss her social conscience to afford overlooking its disabled person. However,

apart from platitudes of concerns and official perorations, the reality in most countries of the

world is that the lot of disabled persons continues live at the periphery of society-neglected,

shunted aside and discriminated against in many ways. Hence, what is in the beginning only a

physical impairment becomes transformed into a handicap in the social sense as well?

Nkinyangi and Mbindyo (1982 p. 87) showed that a lot remained to be done in the vocational

training institution and in special schools, catering for the handicapped as well as placing such

person in gainful employment.

Geers (1997 pp. 61-67) studied performance aspect of mainstreaming. He analyzed the subjects'

performance profiles of 100 orally trained 16 and 17 years old, according to age and time of

mainstream placement. He found out that the early mainstream group had better access to speech

15

signal through amplification than the groups that were not mainstreamed until elementary school,

junior high or high school, even though the hearing losses were similar.

They also performed at higher level of cognitive, communicative and academic measure. Even

these early mainstreamed students who had intensive parent involvement and early identification

evidenced delays in vocabulary development of approximately 3 years, as well as simplified

expressive and receptive syntax relative to normal hearing peers.

Mainstreamed students, regardless of the degree of hearing impairment, continue to evidence the

difficulty in accessing the speech of the teacher and peers throughout their school careers.

Factors such as the listening environment, visibility of the speaker and condition of amplification

system impact on how much of the speech signals is useful to the child. The lack of input can

only result in speech and language deficits that require consistence intervention.

White (1988 pp. I 07-110) in a case study of special schools found out that the children disabled

from the birth developed more slower than other children not because they are less bright but

because they are denied some of the stimulation which nudges other children to discover more

and more about the world. Deaf children clearly have problems in developing language. They

recommended that special school can compensate for this slower development by: employing

teachers trained in the skills which help children with specific disabilities, special material and

equipment appropriate to that group of children. This may include library. In special school

scarce and expensive equipments can be used by many children on one site. This is impossible

where children are dotted about in ones and twos all over the area in the case of mainstreaming.

In another case study for mainstreaming schools (Peter I 988 pp. 32-39) found out that supporters

of sending disable children to mainstream schools say that there is no justification for

segregating one group of children into what amount to a special school "ghetto". Education is

more than just cramming knowledge. It is learning to live in the society as it is. It also argued

that academic opportunities can be better in mainstreamed schools.

Mainstream school tend to be bigger, offer more subjects, and wide range of range of school

activities which is something disabled children to deal with disabled children's problems.

16

Children can be over -protected by well-intentioned friends at mainstream school at a time when

they should be getting every encouragement to do things for themselves.

He recommended taking the best from both systems and putting the together. One way to do this

is to form special units for disabled children on sites of mainstream schools.

This allows trained teachers and special equipment to be collected in one place still give the

children every opp01iunity to mix freely with able-bodied children.

Most disabled people hoped that it will become the normal thing to see disabled people in every

school from hoped that it will become the normal thing to see disabled people in every school

from an early age. However, people fear that education authorities will see integration as cheap

option and will fail to recognize that placing disabled children in local schools requires huge

sums of money. If children are placed in neighborhood schools without adequate resources,

many fail by the wayside before Promised Land of full integration is reached.

2.5 Language Acquisition and Associated Problems to the Hearing Impaired Learners.

Deafness is not simply the deprivation of sound but the deprivation of language. The problem of

hearing impairment is simply when a child cannot hear the difference between phonemes,

morphemes, words and larger syntactic pattern she/he cannot learn to recognize these patterns

and to associate them with meaning.

Mild hearing loss from early an age is likely to show marked delay in mastery of speech sound.

These children may have problems in discriminating between sounds and blending sounds

together. They also have poorer vocabularies and a more limited range and flexibility of usage of

words. They may have restricted understanding of what words mean.

Learners with hearing impairment have problems with understanding and grammar. They may

be unable to understand what is said to them, interpret question wrongly and unable to put their

thoughts adequately in sentence forms. They are unable to think about the complexities of their

language system (Webster 1986 p. 15).

Learners begin to treat language as a "problem-space" in its own right. They reflect upon the

complexity of linguistic form for its own sake (Smith 1978 p. 20). From this we can deduce that

17

there are more innate problems in the language development of the hearing impaired especially

those concerned with what has to hear in order to learn, coupled with this is the varied

grammatical structures of many languages. The hearing impaired learners will thus have to

complete with many challenges to acquire a good language for communication resulting in

delayed language acquisition.

The hearing impaired face many challenges in trying to acquire language and family too pose as

a threat because a significant effect on acquisition of language depends on the family, (Meadow

1980 pp. 22-24), for instance observed that 90% of the hearing impaired learners are born to

hearing parents. As a result, the home environment is predominantly oriented towards the

restoration of hearing in order to make the hearing impaired child wmthy of integrating into the

hearing society.

The hidden motive behind this goal is that the hearing impaired child is not accepted as long as

he/she is impaired and thus cannot acquire fundamental basics of language he/she exposed to.

Education occupation and other difficulties occur as a result of society's inability to adequately

help the hearing impaired children develop and use appropriate language. The problem of

hearing impaired child can be created by enviromnent or those who are charged with care rather

than the child.

2.6 Pre-lingual and Post-lingual Hearing Impairment

Pre-lingual hearing impairment exist when the impairments is congenital or otherwise acquired

before the individual has acquired speech and language, thus rendering it more difficult to treat

because the child is unable to access audible/spoken communication from the outside (Wikipedia

the free encyclopedia).

It is important to note that most children in Nyangoma primary school for the Deaf, who are pre

lingual and born to signing families, have no delay to sign language development and

communication, their problem only develops in writing and spoken languages because they

cannot process information that they cannot hear.

18

It can be noted that this type of hearing loss leads to social isolation making the child not being

able to pick -up auditory social cues. A child experiencing delayed social development that is in

large part tied to delayed language acquisition will develop problems in spoken and written

language.

A child who uses sign language, or identifies with deaf culture does not generally experience

this kind of isolation, particularly if she/he attends a school of the Deaf, but may conversely

experience isolation from his hearing parents, if they do not know or make an effort to learn sign

language. If this were to happen then the child's only mode of communication with the parents is

negatively affected rendering communication impossible.

Post-lingual hearing impairment, is that where hearing loss is adventitious after the acquisition of

speech and language usually after the age of six. It may develop due to diseases trauma or a side

effect of medicine. Typically, hearing loss is gradually and often noticed by family members and

friends of the person so affected long before the patient himself will acknowledge the disability

(Kinaga 1987) pp. 221-228)

It's because of denial that loneliness and depression can rise as a result of isolation, from the

inability to communicate with friends and loves, and difficulty in accepting their disability that

language development becomes a problem.

It has been noted that many children who have post-lingual hearing impairment consider spoken

language their primary language and consider themselves "hard of hearing". How they classify

themselves relative to hearing loss or deafness is very personal decision and reflects much more

than just their ability to hear.

The post-lingual hearing impaired children, usmg both spoken and sign language, may be

rejected by hearing impaired peers because of understandable hesitation in abandoning the use of

existent verbal and speech -reading skill. Some in Deaf community can view this as rejection of

their own culture and therefore will reject the individual (post-lingual) preemptive.

19

2. 7 Effects of Hearing Impaired parents and Hearing Parents on Language Development of a Hearing Impaired Learners.

The most common belief of language development is that speech and speech reading skills

facilitates the development of socially acceptable language necessary for successful integration

into the society. Thus when a hearing impaired child born to a hearing impaired parents is not

exposed to this, then the child is most likely to develop an appropriate language as observed by

Moore (1978: p. 47).

Weckler (1972: p. 71) lamented that hearing parents in wanting their children to look normal, put

the burden in the child to conform to nonnality by insisting on speech and lip reading. This

effectively ends up locking out the child to other areas necessary for language development. The

researcher observed that hearing parent will always try to make their children to look 'normal' if

they themselves are to be regarded as normal family. This as given the hearing impaired child to

learn some language, the parent must accept that the child is heating impaired.

Moores (1978 p. 50) observes that lack of acceptance hinders parents from dealing with the

reality of the existences of a hearing loss. This discomfort is in turn communicated to the child

and much energy and time is spent in trying to change the child.

Studies also show that language develops more rapidly with the use of signing. In addition, once

oral te1ms are learned and generalized, sign disappear spontaneously, Caxalo et al (1987: p. 27).

Signing as also been shown to have significant influence on the development of language in

children who are already verbal but who because of development delay, have difficult with

specific areas of language development, Pollowag et al (1987 p. 67). The researchers observed

language skills develop through the hierarchical sequence of listening, comprehending, spealdng,

reading and writing.

The hearing impaired will cause a problem of language deficiency. This can influence the

hearing impaired child's personality and social development on communication process,

Dembo(l994). The greatest setback faced by hearing impaired children is the failure by other

people to understand and learn their natural way of communication. They irritated and impatient

to repeat themselves or to talk aloud. We need patience and understanding when we are

addressing or handling the hearing impaired learners and this has to start from the parents.

20

2.8 Curriculum Content and its Relevance to Hearing Impaired Learners

Kinaga's (1987) review of the curriculum content for schools reveals, research on academic

achievement shows that hearing impaired learners lag behind hearing learners academically.

However, the extent to which they lag behind based on severity of hearing loss does not yield a

clear-cut correlation. It is thus observable from his research that the role which the curriculum

plays in academic achievement and language development of the hearing impaired has been

taken into account. For instance, (Kinaga (1987 p. 54) states that, "Education occupation and

other differences occur as a result of society's inability to adequately modify the ctmiculum to

suit the needs of hearing impaired learners."

Curriculum should be modified in such a way that oral method, hearing aids, speech reading and

auditory training and emphasized to give the hearing impaired child and opportunity to acquire

language naturally through sign language, as a result, their academic perfo1mance where written

language plays a significant role, will be improved.

The needs of the hearing impaired learner are complex and several aspects are different from

those of the majority of children. The differences must be accommodated in the curriculum but at

the same time basic curriculum aims designed to meet the broad needs of children and the

society must not be lost. This is what special education is about. The needs must be defined

upon the basis of objective, understanding and refined to match skills of which the professional

sees himself possessed. The child can be made to fit the definition by being exposed to a range of

experiences which can limit or enhance his development solely upon the basis of preconceptions

upon which they are based, (Fraser 1984 pp. 76-80) Form the researcher; it's much easier to

understand broadly each child by carefully examining them by trained teachers thus proving a

staiiing point for curriculum planning. The teacher under the guidance of head teacher and with

support and advice of the inspectorate will develop a curriculum and associated teaching

methods which are realistically related to their learners and which take account for individual

potentials and disabilities. It's therefore imperative that curriculum planning to meet the special

needs of hearing impaired learners must staii with knowledge of those learners. Rigid application

of a centrally determined curriculum which is not child centered and does not overtly recognize

special needs and unlikely to benefit to hearing impaired child or society of which he / she will

eventually become a member.

21

3.0 Introduction

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

This chapter exposes research methodology that was used in the study. It describes the research

design that was applied, sampling procedures and interpretation of primary and secondary data

and instrument to be used for data collection and analysis characteristics.

3.1 Research Design

The researcher used case study design. Case study design involves taking one sample population;

study the population by obtaining raw data, analyzing that data to get the results of the research,

and then base the findings to the other population of the same characteristics.

In this research, the researcher had chosen St. Mary's school for the deaf, in Bondo district, all

the data was collected from this school, analyzed, then the finding was based on all deaf schools

in Kenya.

A case study seemed to be more convenient in this research for several reasons. For one, it gave

the researcher more time to study the situation more deeply on school, than moving from school

to school, which involves wasting time and money, secondly language development problem on

a hearing impaired child may mostly have the same causes from one child to another whether

they are in different schools.

3.2 Area and Population of Study

The researcher targeted learners in school for the hearing impaired in Kenya, however, choose

St. Maiy's primary school for the Deaf as the population of study. The data was obtained from

sample leainer in this school that is from nursery to class eight. Their teachers will a11swer

questions from the questionnaires, basing the facts from the learners they have in their different

classes. The Ieainers were interviewed.

22

3.3 Sampling Procedures

There are several schools for the hearing impaired learners all over Kenya, however, the

researcher chose one school in Nyanza Province, Bonda District as a case study. The finding

from this research applies to all school for the hearing impaired in Kenya.

3.4 Data Collection Methods

The researcher used questionnaires and interviewing as the methods of the collecting data. The

questionnaire filled by teachers handling the hearing impaired learners in St. Maiy' s primary

school for the deaf.

The researcher visited the school personally interact and gave the questionnaires.

3.5 Data Quality Control

To ensure. validity of the reseai·ch questionnaire and interview check-list, the researcher gave

these research tools to the teachers handling learners with hearing impairment only. To ensure

reliability, the researcher used pre-testing technique whereby, a few questionnaires were given to

teachers handling hearing impaired learners from different classes, later collected back the

questionnaires and Analyzed the Data to check whether they answered research questions.

3.6 Data Analysis

The researcher organized the research data in tables using frequencies and percentages. The

findings were further interpreted into bar -graphs, and pie-charts which can easily be interpreted

and understood by the readers.

23

CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

4.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the findings of the study. The order of the presentation of the data is based

on the research objectives. The responses to the research questions are presented in patterns

derived from quantitative data and tables using frequencies and percentages to simplify their

interpretation and understanding. Graphs are also used to present data. This is followed by

discussion, which looks critically at the results of the responses to the research questions.

Analysis of the data involved description of the statistics and statements. Quantitative analysis

was also used to interpret data that involved the numerical values. Simple quantitative analysis

methods such as average and percentages were used. The analysis made will help in making

interpretations and conclusions concerning the research study. The information may express the

researcher's feelings and expectations.

Data Presentation

The data collected was analyzed as follows:

4.1 Bio-data of the Teachers by Gender

Eleven teachers (55%) handling the hearing impaired learners are male while 9 teachers (45%)

are female. Generally, males are not associated with linguistics; therefore they may find it

difficult to handle the hearing impaired with difficulties in language acquisition.

The data is represented in the Table!;

Table 1: Showing Bio-data of the Teachers by Gender

Gender Frequency Percentage %

Male 11 55

Female 9 45

TOTAL 20 100%

Source: Primary Data

24

The information is expressed in figure 1.

Figure I: Showing of the Percentage of Teachers by Gender

Gender


4.2 Professional Qualifications of Teachers

Total of 18 teachers (98%) are professionally trained teachers ranging from the grade of Pl to

Degree. This shows that the human resource is duly competent enough to teacher. The data is

represented in Table 2;

Table 2: Showing Professional Qualifications for Teachers

Level of Education Frequency Percentage %

Pl 8 40%

Diploma 6 30%

Degree 4 20%

Untrained Teachers 2 10%

TOTAL 20 100%


25

The information above is expressed in Figure2.

Figure 2: Showing Professional Qualification of Teachers

40 35

30

25

20 15

10

5

0 P1


Diploma Degree

4.2 (b) Special Education Qualifications of Teachers

Untrained

A total of 16 teachers (80%) are specially trained to handle learners with hearing impaitment,

that is 5 teachers ( 25%) have undergone in- service course/seminars, 2 teachers ( 10%) have

certificate training, 5 teachers ( 25%) have Diploma training and 4 teachers ( 20%) have degree

Training in special needs education. The qualification shows that they are competent to help

learners with hearing impairments to improve on language fluency. This data is shown in Table

3· ,

Table 3: Showing Special Education Qualification of the Teachers

Training Frequency Percentage %

ln -service course/ semmars 5 25

Certificate 2 10

Diploma 5 25

Degree 4 20

Student in special Education 2 10

No qualification 2 10

TOTAL 20 100%

26

Source: Primary Data Figure 3: Showing Special Education Qualifications for Teachers

20

0 in service student in

course/s, Certificate Degree Special No Qualification


4.2 (c) Teacher's Teaching Experience

Majority of teachers at St Mary's primary school for the Deaf have taught for over 6 years and

above, 4 teachers (20%) 6-10 years, 2 teachers (10%) 11-15 years, 4 teachers (20%) 16-20 years

and 4 teachers 20 years and above. This indicates that most of the teachers have long teaching

experience for effective delivery on language lessons. This data is represented in Table 4;

Table 4: Showing Teaching Experience

Years Frequency Percentage %

0-5 6 30

6-10 4 20

11-15 2 10

16-20 4 20

21 and above 4 20

TOTAL 20 100%

Source: Primary Data.

27

Figure 4: Showing Teachers' Teaching Experience

30

25

"' 20

Q.)

l 15 Q.)

~ 10 i:,...

o to 5 Years of teachers experience 16 to 20 21 and above


4.3. Learners in School Majority of the learners at St. Mary's primary for the Deaf, that is, 104 (56%) are boys while

only 82( 44%) are girls. Boys are not linguistics. This might contribute to poor language

development. This data is shown in table 5.

Table 5: Number of Learners in the School

Pupils Frequency Percentage%

Boys 104 56

Girls 82 44

TOTAL 186 100%


28

Figure 5: Showiug the Number of Learners in the School

Boys Girls Learners in School


4.4. Effects of Hearing Impairment on Language Development

Twelve teachers ( 60%) said that hearing impairment retards language development, 5 teachers

(25%) said that hearing impai1ment increases the acquisition of sign language and 3 teachers

(15%) said that it slows the acquisition of second language such as English or Kiswahili and it

can be whether written or spoken. This primary is reflected in Table 6.

Table 6: Showing the Effects of Hearing Impairment on Language Development

Response Frequency Pe1·centage %

Retard language development 12 60

Increase acquisition of sign

language 5 25

Slower acquisition 2nd

language 3 15

TOTAL 20 100%


29

Figure 6: Showing the Effects of Hearing Impairment on Language Development

60

50

30

20

10

0 Retards

language dev.


Increases Slower acquisition of acquisition of sign language 2nd Language

Cateimries

4.5: Categories of Hearing Impairments and their Effects on Language Development The number of prelingual learners in St. Mary's primary school for the Deaf is higher than

Post lingual learners. These contribute to low level of language development because the pre

linguals are generally known to have more difficulties in language development than post

lingual. This primary data is reflected in the table below.

Table 7: Showing Categories of Hearing Impaired Learners by Class

Class Prelingual Percentage % Post lingual Percentage %

Nursery 06 4.5 7 13.5

Infant 09 6.7 I 1.9

I 22 16.4 1 1.9

11 20 14.9 2 3.9

111 20 14.9 1 1.9

JV 4 3.0 6 11.5

V 22 16.4 2 3.9

VI 13 9.7 2 3.9

VII 12 9.0 9 17.3

VIII 06 4.5 21 40.3

TOTAL 134 100% 52 100%


30

Figure 7: Showing Categories of Hearing Impaired Learners

45 40 35

., 30 " bJl 25 ~ -= " " .. " ~

20 15 10 5 0

Nursary Infant Class I Class II Class Ill Class IV ClassV Class VI Class VII ClassVIII

Classes - Pre-lingual Post-limrnal


4.6 Categories Experiencing Difficulties iu Language and Communication Most

The table below shows that 14 learners (70%) are pre-linguals who experience language

difficulties most.

Table 8: Showing Categories Experiencing Difficulties in Language and Communication

Category Frequency Percentage %

Pre lingual 14 70

Postlingual 4 20

Both 2 10

Total 20 100%


31

Figure 8: Showing the Categories Experiencing Difficulties in Language and Communication

70

60

50 "' "' 40 l>ll

"' 30 ~ = "' 20 " .. "' /),;

10

0 Prelingual Poslingual both

Experiencing difficulties in language and communication Source: Primary uara

4.7 Difficulties Experienced by Pre-linguals

EEi Frequency

II Percentage

In response to the question of which categories experience difficulties in language and

development and nature of difficulties, the findings revealed that the pre-lingual experiences

several difficulties in language. Six teachers (30%) stated that pre-linguals have no experience

with language of the environment and have problems in word pronunciation. This primary data is

represented in the table below.

Table 9: Showing Difficulties Experienced by Pre- Lingual

Response Frequency Percentage

No speech and sound acquisition 4 20

Do not identify rhyming words 1 5

No experience with language of the 6 30

environment

Difficulty in getting meaning of words 1 5

Problems in word pronunciation 6 30

Spelling Difficulties 2 10

Total 20 100%


32

Figure 9: Showing Difficulties Experienced by Pre-linguals

35 "' .. l>JJ 30 ,. -= .. <J .. ..

ll-<

25

20 15

10 5 0

No Speech and sound

acquisition

Do not identify rhyming words

Source: Primary data

no experience difficulty in with language of getting meaning the environment of words

Difficulties

problem in word pronunciation

Spelling difficulties

4.8: Hearing impaired learners born to hearing impaired parents Versus Learners born of hearing parents

In response to question of the number of pre-lingual and post-lingual learners in the school, the

findings reveals that 174 hearing impaired learners are born to hearing parents and only 12 are

born to hearing impaired parents. This primary data is shown in tablelO.

33

., .. b~ .. .... = .. '-' .. .. ~

Table 10: Showing the Number of Learners Born to Hearing Impaired Parents and Hearing Parents

Class Hearing Impaired Percentage % Hearing Parents Percentage % Parents

Nursery 1 8.3 12 6.9 Infant - - 10 5.7

I - - 23 13.2

II 1 8.3 21 12.1

III 2 16.7 19 10.9 IV 1 8.3 9 5.2 V 3 25.1 21 12.1 VI 2 16.7 13 7.5

VII 1 8.3 20 11.5

VIII 1 8.3 26 14.9

TOTAL 12 100% 174 100%


Figure 10: Showing Number of Learners born to Hearing Impaired Parents and Learners born to Hearing Parents

30

25

20

15

10

5

0 Nursary Infant Class I Class II Class Ill Class IV Class V Class vi Class Class

■ Hearing Impaired Parents

Classes Source: Primary Data

VII VIII

■ Hearing parents

34

4.9: Language problems among hearing impaired learners born to hearing parents In response to question inquiring which category experience language difficulties most, the

findings reveal that 18 teacher (90%) support that hearing impaired learners born to hearing

parents have more language problems than hearing impaired learners born to hearing impaired

parents. This primary data is represented in Table 11.

Table 11: Showing that Hearing Impaired Learners have more Language Problems

Response Frequency Percentage %

Yes 18 90

No 2 10

TOTAL 20 100%

Figure 11: Showing that Hearing Impaired Learners have more Language Problems

90 80 70

"' 60

bl 50 "' .... 40 = "' 30 " .. "' 20 ~

10 0

Yes No Response


4.9.1 Reasons Why Hearing Impaired born in Hearing Parents have more Language

Problems

The problem of communication breakdown between the child and the parents takes the lead with

10 respondents (50%). Lack of sign language skills on the parents' side takes 6 respondents

35

4.9.2 Curriculum Used for Teaching Learners with Hearing Impairment

Twelve respondents (60%) of the respondent confirmed that Adopted curriculum is currently

being used to teach the hearing impaired learners. Seven respondents (3 5%) said that adapted

curriculum is being used while 1 respondent ( 5%) said that there is a special cuniculum for the

hearing impaired learners. This primary data is reflected in the table below.

Table 13: Showing Curriculum for Learners with Hearing Impairment

Response- Frequency Percentage %

Adapted 12 60

Adapted 7 35

Any other I 5

TOTAL 20 100%


Figure 13: Showing Current Curriculum for Learners with Hearing Impairment

"' °' bJ)

" .... = °' " ... °' i::...

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 Adopted Adapted

Responses

Any other

4.9.3 Most Suitable Curriculum for the Hearing Impaired Learners

Eleven respondents (55%) of the respondent's supports adapted cmTiculum as the most suitable

for teaching learners with hearing impainnent. 8 respondents ( 40%) of the respondent said that

the hearing impaired learners should be taught using specialized cuniculum while 1 respondent

( 5%) of the respondent said that adapted curriculum can be used.

This primary data is represented in Table 14;

37

Table 14: Showing the Most Suitable Curriculum for the Impaired Learners

Response Frequency Percentage %

Adapted 1 5

Adapted 11 55

Specialized 8 40

TOTAL 20 100%

Figure 14: Showing the Most Suitable Cu1Ticulum for Hearing Impaired Learners

40% Specialized 5%Adopted


4.9.4 Reasons for Suitability of the Curriculum

lll!Adopted

Ill Adapted

□ Specialised

□ 4th Qtr

In response to question on suitability of the cu1Ticulum used for teaching hearing impaired

learners, the finding revealed that 15 respondents (45.4 %) said that Adapted curriculum caters

for learners disability, 2 respondents (18.2%) said that the curriculum emphasizes on the use of

total communication. Other suggestions such as; the curriculum makes learning meaningful, its

brief and explicit, it requires minimum changes such as time teaching and it eliminates in-elevant

topics such as sound were supported by I respondent (9.1 %) respectively. This primary data is

represented in table 15.

38

"' " ~~ " ..... = " c; ... " .i.

Table 15: Showing the Reasons for the Suitability of the Curriculum

Adapted curriculum Frequency

Caters for learners disability 5

Makes learning meaningful 1

Brief and explicit 1

Requires mm1mum changes 1

e.g. time for teaching

Eliminates irrelevant topics 1

e.g. sound

Emphasizes the use of total 2

communication.

TOTAL 20


Figure 15: Reasons for Suitability of the Curriculum

50

40

30

20

10

0 Caters for Makes Learners learning disability meaningful


Brief and explicit

Requires minimum changes

Eliminates irrelevant

topics

Adapted Curriculum

Percentage

45.4

9.1

9.1

9.1

9.1

18.2

100%

Emphasizes use of total communication

39

4.10: Discussion and Interpretation of Data From the head teacher, teachers and learners, the desire to improve the language development

level of the hearing impaired learners was noticed. However, there were factors that hinder any

productive and successful learning of the hearing impaired learners.

Contributing factors reflected in the data analyzed.

1. The hearing impaired lack adequate experience with language of the environment.

2. They have problems in word punctuation.

3. The problems in speech and sound acquisition.

4. Most parents of the hearing impaired children advocate for speech instead of sign

language.

5. There is communication break down between the hearing parents and the hearing

children.

6. The hearing impaired children have limited socialization in the hearing society.

7. The hearing impaired learners have difficulty in getting the word meaning.

8. They have difficulty in identifying rhyming words.

9. The hearing impaired learners have spelling difficulties.

I 0. Most hearing parents of the hearing impaired lack sign language skills therefore have

difficulties in guiding their children is a riddle which needs serious reflection in order to

get any meaningful solution.

4.10.1. Problems that Hinder the Hearing Impaired Learners from Acquiring Language

The researcher found out that there are several factors that hinder the hearing impaired learners

from acquiring language. One major factor is that the hearing impaired learners lack adequate

experience with the language of the environment. This information was supported by 80% of the

respondents. This finding is related to that of (Webster 1986, P. 15) who said that, Deafness is

not simply the desperation of the sound but the desperation of language. The problem of hearing

impaired is simply when a child can not hear the difference between phonemes, morphemes,

words and larger syntactic patterns; she/he cannot learn to recognize these patterns and to

associate them with meaning.

40

4.10.1. Problems of Language Development of a Pre-lingual and Post lingual Hearing

Impaired Learners.

From the primary data collected, the researcher found out that both the pre-lingual and post

lingual hearing learners experience problems in language development, however, the pre-linguals

have more problems compared to the post-linguals H I. (white 1988) in a case study of special

schools found at the children disabled from birth developed more slowly than others not because

they are less bright but because they are denied some of the stimulation which nudges other

children to discover more and more about the world. Deaf children clearly have problems in

developing language. This research recommends that special schools can compensate for this

slower development by employing teachers trained in the skills which help children with specific

disabilities skills which should improve with experience. They can gather together under one

roof special materials and equipment appropriate to that group of children.

4.10.2 Difference in Language Development Levels of a Learner Born of Hearing Impaired

Parents and that Born Hearing Parents

The hearing impaired has sign language as their (mother tongue) that is the first language. The

researcher found out that this first language is much developed in a hearing impaired learner

born to hearing impaired parents. Formal and informal communication takes place in sign

language, this further gives advantage to those learners who are born to HI parents and are fluent

in sign language to learn and develop better in second language (English or Kiswahili) then those

born to hearing parents.

Wechsler (1972) commented that hearing parents in wanting their children to look normal and

the burden in the child to conform to normality by insisting on speech and lip reaching interfered

with the development of the sign language in a hearing impaired child. The researcher observed

that hearing parents will always try to make their children look 'normal' if they themselves are to

be regarded as a normal family.

This in tum has given hearing impaired children problems especially when it comes to language

development. It's only prudent that if a Deaf child is to learn some language, the parents must

accept that the child is hearing impaired.

41

4.10.3. Effect of the Curriculum on the Teaching of Language to the Hearing Impaired

Learners

In the teaching of language to the hearing impaired learners, the analysis reveals that many

teachers pointed out that the adopted curriculum is the one being used to teach in Deaf schools in

Kenya, and to them it was suitable for teaching hearing impaired learners. Yet language fluency

is still a nightmare to the hearing impaired learners.

The researcher observed that, to some extent, the role which the cuniculum plays in academic

achievement and language development of hearing impaired has been taken into account.

However, just as Kimaga (1987 P. 54) states, "Education occupation and other differences occur

as a result of society's inability to adequately modify the curriculum to suit the needs of hearing

impaired.

Cun-iculum should be modified in such a way that oral method, hearing aids, speech reading and

auditory training are emphasized to give the hearing impaired child an opportunity to acquire

language naturally through sign language.

42

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

The study explored and analyzed the factors underlying language development in hearing

impaired learners and has further given probable recommendations that can be adopted to

improve the level of language development for the hearing impaired. Besides the research also

identified areas that might be relevant for further and future research.

5.1 Summary

The study set out to identify effects of hearing impairment on language development of a learner.

The study was carried out in Kenya. This research was carried out in a primary school for the

deaf, Nango zone- Bondo District, Nyanza province. It investigated and evaluated the factors

affecting language development of hearing impaired learners from acquiring language, language

development of a pre-lingual and post lingual learners, language development of a hearing

impaired learners born to hearing impaired parents and those born to hearing parents and the

effect of curriculum content on the teaching oflanguage to the hearing impaired learners.

The data was the basis of the findings collected and analyzed questions. In order to acquire

information from the respondents, questiounaire as well as interview methods were used. The

researcher used both closed ended and open ended questions. Results were analyzed by

descriptive statistics, content analysis and frequencies, later presented using tables and bar

graphs.

It was found that all respondents were aware of the effect of hearing impairment on language

development in school. However, very little has been done to improve the situation, even though

there was good will.

This research found out that there are several factors that hinder language acquisition of the

hearing impaired learners, such as; these kind of learners lack adequate experience with language

of the environment; some of their parents, especially the hearing advocate for speech instead of

sign language, not !mowing that they can not work miracles on their hearing impaired children to

make them listen to speech; the hearing impaired children isolated their hearing peers, therefore

43

lacking socialization that could boost language acquisition; part of their brain charged with

encoding and decoding of message is not very active because they do not hear therefore, the

hearing impaired process the information at slower rate as compared to the hearing peer, and

many other reasons.

The researcher further found out that the pre-lingual hearing impaired children/learners have

more problems in languages compared to their post lingual learners, this was justified by the fact

that, the post lingual are those impaired after acquiring speech. For the case of hearing impaired

learners born to hearing impaired parents, the respondents were of the view that, this was due to

communication breakdown between the hearing impaired learners with their hearing parents.

For the teaching of languages to the hearing impaired learners, there was no specialized

cuniculum designed for them teachers handling these special learners used adopted cUITiculum

which does not even state how teach language to hearing impaired learner. The

Kenya education policy makers have recommended and confomed that sign language should be

taught and examined in schools for the hearing impaired, however, they have not provided text

books, neither have they in- service teachers to handle the subject.

Suggestion on how to improve language development in a hearing impaired learner include: -

training of more teachers on special education, designing a special curriculum for the hearing

impaired and sensitizing the hearing parents of hearing impaired children on the impmiance of

sign language as a mode of communication for their children.

5.2 Conclusion Language development to the hearing impaired child in a riddle which need serious reflection in

order to get any meaningful solution. It is a complex problem. It is not easy to drastically change

the situation, though it can be done gradually. As S.N Bogonko points out; "If a situation is

wrong, we should keep trying till we all breathe freedom and enjoy the full dignity that each one

is born with".

The aim of education of the hearing impaired is to overcome the handicap through specialized

education, social, cultural and vocational training so that the handicapped child may take his/ her

44

place in our society as a useful member, able to be self sufficient individual, contributing to the

development of the nations, however, for one to be a useful member in the society, he/she has to

have appropriate language for him to communicate with other members in his society, therefore,

we all support that language is very vital in a social, but how can this useful language be

developed in a hearing impaired child?

In hearing impaired institutions, meaningful language can only be taught in places where all the

necessary tools are available, first of all, the hearing impaired learners should be made aware of

their disability in language hence guided to accept the situation, teachers handling these learners

should be skilled in the area and the education policy makers should design the suitable

curriculum and avail appropriate text books for teaching and learning of language. The ministry

of education should ensure that Audio logical facilities are available in all schools for the hearing

impaired.

It is therefore, the responsibility of the society at large to take up 'arms and fight' for better

improvement in language of the hearing impaired learners. It should not be left to the ministry of

Education, teacher's religions organizations and other non-governmental organizations alone,

nobody should be a spectator in this act.

5.3 Recommendations Sources of educational needs and problems of the hearing impaired children reveal that their

problems in language vary according to individual differences with calls for the need to let the

impaired child learn at his/her own pace and according to his/her own capacity.

The difficulty hearing impaired learners have with speech and verbalization affect their

educational achievement as well as lower average intelligence Quotient.

Regarding English language, however, it is unfortunate that hearing impaired learners are at a

distinct disadvantage; this is trne in terms of language comprehension, language production, and

speech, with regard to speech, for example, a nationwide survey

(Jensema, Karchimer, and Trnbus, 1978 PP. 53-56) of the teachers of hearing -impaired

students, found that they rated the speech of their students in the following ways: very

45

intelligible 15%, intelligible 29.4%; bare intelligible 21.9%; not intelligible 20.5%; would not

speak 12.8%. On studying these figures, they point out that for the majority of hearing-impaired

people to have some speech, the old term "deaf- mute" reflecting the attitude that deafness

automatically meant an inability to speak, should be eradicated. The current view is that although

hearing impaitment is a great barrier to normal speech development, very few deaf individuals

can not be taught some speech, one of the reasons for this change is the growing evidence that

almost no children are born with absolutely no hearing sensation.

Regardless of the successes that can be cited, the fact remains that without extensive training

( and many would claim even with extensive training) the hearing- impaired child will not

develop normal English language comprehension and production, (Carhaii (I 970) notes that the

child who is totally deaf will grow up mute unless given special training.

Hearing impaired children have been found to lag behind hearing children in academic

achievement due to the fact that they lack linguistic tools. At the age of 10 years, the hearing

impaired comprehends only 24% of the 2,000 common words, and the age of 14 years, only 30%

of 20,000 printed words (Carhaii 1970, P. 65)

It is recommended that the hearing impaired only study one language; however, the development

of language skills is one of the most difficult areas in the curriculum to teach and learn because

language is complex and abstract. When it comes to the hearing impaired, language has to be

made simple to get signs that are easily understood by the leainers; a child may understand the

word "gone" but the grammatical phrase "would have gone" entails a more difficult explanation.

It is recommendable that exaJ11ination may be translated into sign language, the language of

hearing impaired, and sign language be improved to S.E.E ( Sign Exact English), this may aid

the hearing impaired learners to master the grammar of English language. Teachers for the

hearing impaired should get frequent in service courses from time to time in order to update them

on the most current and appropriate methodologies to use in the teaching of language.

5.4 Suggestions for Further Research The research found out that the following ai·eas were very crucial and therefore they need serious

attention and follow up. The researcher showed that a lot remained to be done in the hearing

46

impaired schools as regards the teaching and learning of language. During research analysis,

many teachers pointed out that adapted curriculum is the one being used to teach in Deaf schools

in Kenya, and to them it was suitable for teaching the hearing impaired learners, yet language

fluency is still a "nightmare" to the hearing impaired learners. A point of concern is, "is there a

more suitable curriculum to teach and learn language to the hearing impaired other than the

adapted curriculum currently is being used?"

The researcher further found out that there are several problems that hinder the hearing impaired

learners from acquiring language, the major reason being; the hearing impaired lack experience

with language of the environment. There is need to investigate the relationship between

experience with environmental language and language development level of an individual.

47

REFERENCES

Agola, B.T. 1986 History of Education of the Hearing Impaired in Kenya. Nairobi Kenya

Institute of special Education.

American Speech Language Hearing Association. 1990. A survey Study of Unilateral Hearing

Loss in Children. ASLHA Press.

Aslha. 1986. Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Children in Language Speech, and

Hearing Services in Schools. Vol. 28 No. 4

October 1997. ASLHA Press.

Blair, J.C.Paterson, M.D., and Viehweg, S.H. 1985. 'The effect of mild hearing Loss on

Academic performance of Young School Age Children. Volta Review.' In Language Speech and

Hearing Services in schools.

Vol. 28 No.4. October 1997.

Bogonko, S.N. and Otiende, J.K. 1988 Contemporary Issues in Education in East Africa.

Nairobi: Nairobi University Press.

Cornol, A.et. al. 1999 'The Role of Consonants- Vowel Amplitude Ratio in the Recognition of

Voiceless stop Consonants by Listeners with Hearing Impaired.' In American Speech Language

Hearing Research. Vol. 42. American Language Hearing Association.

Edwards, J.et AL, 1999. Characterized Knowledge Deficit in phonological Disorders C.A Press

Gwinn, P.R. et. Al (ED) 1993. Historical Background, Diagnostic patterns of Instructional

adaptation in Speech Education. In The New Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopedia Britannica,

Inc.

Geers, A. 1991. 'Performance Aspects of Mainstreaming.' In Hearing Impaired Children in the

Mainstream. Baltimore, MD: York Press.

Jerker, R. et. al.1999. 'a Speech Reading Expert: The Case of MM.' In American speech

Language Hearing Research. Vol. 42. No. 1 America Soeech Language Hearing Association.

48

Karchner, M. 1991.M. 1991. Educational Outcomes and Achievement Levels. Status of

Education of the Deaf in U.S. In language Speech and Hearing in schools. Vol. 28 No. 4

October, 1997.

Kettler, A.J. et. 1997. Succeding with difficult students: Case Study C.A Press.

Lant, K.R. et. Al. 1997. 'Multisensory Speech perception of young children with profound

hearing loss'. In journal of speech, Language, Hearing Research. Vol. 40. No.2 October 1997.

Lise, V. et al., 1988. A case study on special education in Norway. The Institute of Educational

Research, OSLO.

Malia P.1995. On human rights. Nairobi, Kenya: St. Paul Publication Africa.

Massaro, D.W., Cohen, M.M. 1997. 'Speech perception in Perceivers with Hearing Loss:

Synergy of Multiple Modalities'.

In Journal of speech, Language, Hearing Research. Vol. 40. No. 2. October 1997.

Moira, P. 1999. 'Down's Syndrome Programme in Australia'

In special Education Bulletin.

Nkinyangi, J.A., and Mbindyo, J.A., 1982. The condition of Disabled Persons in Kenya:

Results of a National Survey. Institute of Development Studies University of Nairobi.

Detting, J.B., and Horohor, J.E. 1997. 'Past Tense marking by children with and without

Specific Language Impairment: Comparative Study'

Injournal of speech, Language and Hearing research. Vol. 40 No. 1. 1997. Ame1ica speech

Language Hearing Association.

Okello, G.A. 1986. Special Education in Kenya: A case Study of St. Catherine's Special School

for the Mentally Handicapped., Butula. Nairobi: Kenyatta University Press.

United National Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 1971. A study of the

present situation of Special Education. UNESCO

49

White, P. 1988. 'Case study of Special schools' in Disabled People. New York: Gloucester

Press.

Ibid. 1988. 'The case for mainstream schools' in Disabled People. New York: Gloucester Press.

Wood, D., and Wood, H. 1997. Communication with Children who are Deaf: Pitfalls and

Possibilities. In American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Journal. Vol. 28. No. 4 1997.

50

APPENDIX A

QUESTIONAIRRE FOR TEACHERS OF THE HEARING IMPAIRED LEARNERS

Please tick or fill in the spaces provided with the right information: Your suggestions will be

treated with confidentiality.

A. Introduction

Gender: Male () Female ()

Name of the school _________________ _

State your professional qualification

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION RESPONSE (tick)

Pl

DIPLOMA

DEGREE

I d" n 1cate your eve o I I f . 1 d trammg m specia e ucat10n TRAINING RESPONSE(tick)

In-service course/seminars

Certificate

Diploma

Degree

Any other (Specify)

Teaching experience:

1-5 years () 11-15 years ()

51

6-10 years () 16-20 years () 21 years ()

B. Answer the following question.

I. How many learners are there in your school?

Boys () Girls () Total ()

II. (a) State the categories of the Hearing Impaired in your class?

1. Pre-lingual [ ]

11. Post-lingual [ ]

111. Total

(b) Which of the categories above experience difficulties in language and

cormnunication? -------------------·

( c) State the nature the difficulties?-

III. (a) Do you think there are any effects of Hearing Impaired on language development of

learners?

Yes D No

(b )If yes what are these effects?

IV. In your class, how many learners are born to?

Hearing impaired

Hearing parents

D

52

V. (a) Hearing impaired learners born to hearing parents have more language

problem than those born of Hearing Impaired parent

Yes

No

[ l

[ l

(b) Give reasons for your answer

VI.(a)State the curriculum currently being used in teaching learners with Hearing Impaired?

Adopted [ ]

Adapted [ ]

Any other (specify) _____________ _

(b) Which of the above stated curriculum is most suitable for hearing impaired learners?

53

APPENDIXB

INTERVIEW CHECK LIST TO BE USED FOR LEARNERS

ST MARY'S PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF

This will be filled by the researcher

I. General information about the learner

1. Name: .................................................................... .

11. Age ...................................................................... .

111. Gender. ................................................................ .

1v. Class .................................................................... .

2. Specific Information

Home setting

1. Where is your Home?

• Province ........................................................................ .

• District. ................................... •••••••••••••··························

• Location ......................................................................... .

ii How many Children are you In your family?

• Boys

• Gi~ls

iii Were you deaf From Birth?

• Yes

• No

iv If yes, At what age did you become deaf?

54

······································································································

v Do you Have deaf parents?

• Yes

• No

CJ CJ

vi If No How do you communicate to your Hearing parents at home?

• Orally

• Pointing

• Sign Language

CJ CJ CJ

• Any other (Specify) ............................................... .

School setting

i.In your Class How many Subjects are you taught

·······································································································

······································································································"••·····

·····························································································

ii.Of the subjects Which one is your best? Why?, Give your Reasons!

···············································································································

iii.Which subject do you find difficulty in learning?

············································································································

Why? .................................................................................................................................... .

iv.How do you find the learning oflanguages such as Kishwahiri, English and sign Language

• Easy to understand

• Difficult to understand

55

v. If difficult to understand, why do you say so?

• Poor teaching

• No learning Materials

• Communication Problems

" Any other (specify) .................................................................... .

56

APPENDIXC

SIGN LANGUAGE ALPHABETS

Sign Language Alphabet

Gg

Hh Ii Jj Kk LI Mm Nn •n ~0•"_, ' ' /, ,.

.,-\ <,{~'. ✓.>-•, .-:·• . .) ', "I ··~ ,,., \ ' ...

"\~\ ,:·\1.i_,.,_\{ \'•,p. 1',./hr, -, • .•• {) i'

~:;} ! 1 "•, ;

' ':\ . ii, \ "\ /

' ·- '.e~ ~,,, ,-'."_

' ..... >, Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt

,._ r;., C1 ' \ ~•;'! r:1 I\ -•• \\\'f' ' ' ' "\ ', \· ✓-··· .- v_'"·I \'\,•·'<• / '~ '(,•·,;}Y '! ' ' ,, ,, 1 ; 7[···· ~ '

I ' ' ' \ ;' ' . I

r,-:-:-} \ I t<S' J-~ ~nl- c,.sl04• ;t:;;'1:1:~J

Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz ---·-·-··--- ......

APPENDIXD

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION

Kampala International University Institute of Open and Distance Learning

P O Box 20000 Kansanga, Kampala, Uganda 256 41 373 498/ 256 41 373 889 (Ug) 254 20246275 (Ke)

e-mail: [email protected] Tel: 0753142725

Office ef the Director

TO WHOM IT :MAY CONCERN:

Dear Sir/Madam,

RE: INTRODUCTION LETTER FOR !V.(~MRS/MR./2.t•.i;:J-;l.Q. .. .i-Ji;\-A·~l~l .... 19.JtilY/l(."'.,H

. l 1 • i " 0--:. b 1 o -,9" I I·• l b · REG. # .•.•..• Y.,.~.-.•.... ........ r, •... ,1 •••• .-. •••• l.. .. F. ............. .

The above named is our student in the Institute of Open and Distance Learning (IODL). pursuing a Diploma/Bachelors degree in Education.

1-Ie/she wishes to carry out a research in your Organization on:

.,

The resem-ch is a requirement for the Award of a Diplom<i/Bachelors degree in Education.

Any assistance accorded lo him/her regarding research will be highly appreciated.

Y~.,~ Fa~ft:11~,

. ~· ....c---

MUI-IWEZI JOSEPH HEAD, IN-SERVICE

58

APPENDIXE

LETTER OF AUTHORITY

ST. MARY'S PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF NYANG'OMA

TAKl'N OUT Tel: 0735 · 264232 1Em SILENT WORLD. E ~ mail: [email protected]

P.O. Box255 BONDO KENYA

+ ................................................. .

ATIENO HELLEN Ngala School for the Deaf P.O.Box 10002 NAKURU.

Dear Hellen,

Date ..... ,

9-3-2009

RE: AUTHORITY TO CARRY OUT A RESEARCH IN THE SCHOOL

This is to acknowledge the receipt of your letter on the above issue. I hereby confirm that you have been authorized to carry ont the stated research in the school compound.

I wish yon success.

Yours sincerely

~ SR. BERNADETTE AGOLA

{HEADTEACHER)

HEADTE,..CHER ST. S".Hi' ; <>RIMARY SCHOOL l"O.t THE ,·,•,.\F • NYANG"OMA ?. o. ;;ox 7.55, sm-mo.

59

0-

os

APPENDIXF

NYANZAPROVINCEMAP

' '

' ' \

RIFT

NAM K ·----..

N ! A '--......_

\

60

· the effects of hearing impairment on language

Documents