WELCOME TO KENTERPRO:
EFFECTS OF TOTAL COMMUNICATION ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF CHILDREN WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT IN SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL IN PANKSHIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the Study

            Hearing loss is the amount of hearing disables which individual has lost, there are many types of hearing loss and degrees, ranging from mild to profound, individual with mild or moderate hearing loss can benefit from hearing aids instrument but it generally belief that severe and profound hearing loss cannot benefit from hearing loss because the degree of hearing loss in either of them is high between 60 and above, there are different types of hearing loss such as conduction hearing loss, mixed hearing loss, sensineural hearing loss, symmetric hearing loss, asymmetric hearing loss, Aiyeleso, (2015). Learners with hearing impairment are learners who have auditory sensory problem; the problem prevented them using the ear organ for what is mean for. They are learners who se sign language in communication, as a result of their lack of auditory feedback they requires special teaching in order to benefit from teaching and learning as their hearing counterparts. Learners with hearing interact and participate meaningfully in school activities the adjustment requires here by learners with hearing impairment does not mean to given advantages over their hearing counterparts, to change course or out coming or to guarantee success, rather it means any action taking to help improve their interaction and also success in their academic activities, therefore learners with hearing impairment must adjust in order to participate in learning process irrespective of peer’s discrimination, they must adjust to adaptive (hearing impairment) they have, trust that they can live and perform well alongside their hearing peers, social adjustment among learners with hearing impairment means acceptance of whatever condition of disability or quilt about it.

            Learners who are hearing impaired or hard of hearing often struggle to develop or improve crucial literacy skills.  One of the most difficult skills for them to master is reading comprehension.  According to Staden (2013), “The reading skills of many hearing impaired children lag several years behind those of hearing children, and there is a need for identifying reading difficulties and implementing effective reading support strategies in this population” (p. 305). The population of learners who are hearing impaired or hard of hearing typically struggle with acquiring crucial literacy skills and/or obtaining reading abilities. “Reading comprehension is an ongoing concern for learners who are hearing impaired or hard of hearing” (Benedict, Rivera, & Antia, 2015, p. 1) making the topic of reading comprehension extremely important. Sullivan and Oakhill (2015) mention that “there has been relatively little progress in improving reading comprehension in hearing impaired readers despite decades of research” (p. 134), proving a need for further research into this topic.

            The lack of literacy skills in learners who are hearing impaired or hard of hearing leads to their struggle in the secondary schools as well as throughout their tertiary institution, unlike their hearing peers.  Hoffman and Wang (2010) note that:

Research in to the academic achievement of learners who are hearing impaired or hard of hearing often finds that the performance of many children in this population falls significantly below that of their typical hearing peers on many measures and across many domains.   (p. 131)  

In order for these learners to perform well academically and graduate with the skills necessary to further their education, teachers of the hearing impaired need to be made aware of any methods or strategies they can be used to successfully support the development of reading comprehension skills in their learners.  Unfortunately, “One of the major challenging tasks of educators of hearing impaired learners is to enhance the reading comprehension performance of their learners” (Nikolaraizi, Vekiri, & Easterbrooks, 2013, p. 485).  Part of this challenge is that learners who are hearing impaired or hard of hearing often fail to grasp that the point of reading is to understand what they are reading, not just read the words.  

            Learners who are hearing impaired develop language and literacy skills in somewhat of a different way than learners who are hearing.  One example of this is incidental learning.  Learners who are hearing acquire some of their language from parents, siblings, TV, and radio.  Learners who are hearing impaired are less exposed to language during their early years, especially if their parents are hearing and do not learn sign language.  As Friedmann and Szterman (2010) note, “Many children whose hearing is impaired receive limited language input during the sensitive period for language acquisition” (p. 212).  In addition to limited language input, many of the strategies used to help hearing learners improve their literacy skills often need to be modified for learners who are hearing impaired.

Total communication techniques such as sign language, Speech, writing, lip reading and miming) are the independent variable which when applied rightly under a supportive environment and together with positive intervening variables that include teachers’ attitude and level of hearing loss enhances teaching and learning process for improved performance of learners with HI. Improved performance positively influences transition of learners with HI to the next level resulting to high graduation rates of class three learners. Total Communication is variable that allows the learner to enjoy communication approach that is most suitable for him/her (Kaplan, 2016).

McFadden (2019) advocates for inclusion of modes of total communication because they are successful fashion which include listening, speech reading, facial expression and sign language. According to Evans (2016) Total Communication is a philosophy that incorporates the appropriate aural, manual, and oral modes of communication in order to ensure the effectiveness of transmission of information among persons with hearing impairment. It advocates on any or all modes of communication approaches suited to the individual child.

Given the existing situation, TC which supports a combination of many approaches has high probability of improving performance of the learners (Reed, 2009). It is on the basis of this background that there is need of critical review of total communication to determine its contribution towards the academic performance of learners with hearing impairment.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Despite the government placing emphasis on inclusive education, it recognizes the role of special schools as suitable environments for the teaching and learning of learners with visual, hearing, intellectual impairments, and serious mobility challenges (Onah, 2009). Low performance rates of learners with HI in Nigeria over the years have been noted with many challenges. Considering the communication handicap of deafness, it is obvious that the individuals with hearing impairment are less advantaged because of communication approaches used during lessons. This therefore calls for a study whose focus is to understand what effect a communication approach has on performance of learners with HI. Learners with HI in Pankshin Special School have been known for poor academic performance compared with those learners who are not similarly challenged. The performance rates in the special school offering education to learners with HI have always been above average but not satisfactory for many years and as a researcher, this has always been of concern. It is in the light of the above that this study seeks to examine the effects of Total Communication on academic performance of children with hearing impairment in Special Education School in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State.

1.3. Purpose of the Study

            The main purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Total Communication on academic performance of children with hearing impairment in Special Education School in Pankshin Local Government Area. Other specific objectives of the study are to:

1. Determine the performance of children with hearing impairment who were exposed to total communication approach.
2. Determine the performance of children with hearing impairment who were not exposed to total communication approach.
3. Examine the differences in the performance of children with hearing impairment who were exposed to total communication approach and those who were not exposed to the approach.

1.4. Research Questions

            The following research questions guided the study:

1. What is the performance of children with hearing impairment who were exposed to total communication approach?
2. What is the performance of children with hearing impairment who were not exposed to total communication approach?
3. What is the differences in the performance of children with hearing impairment who were exposed to total communication approach and those who were not exposed to the approach?

1.5 Hypothesis

The following hypotheses was guided the study:

H_o: There is no significant difference in the mean score of pupils taught with total communication and those taught with traditional method of signing (alternative hypothesis).

H_a: There is a significant difference in the mean score of pupils taught with total communication and those taught with traditional method of signing (null hypothesis).

1.6. Significance of the Study

The significance of this study cannot be underemphasized, especially now that education is a paramount tool for all citizens including those with special needs. The study will be of benefit to the Ministry of Education, the wider community, special education teachers, learners with hearing impairment and future researchers.

The Ministry of Education will be able to plan on how to improve the quality of Special Needs Education. There is need for the wider community to learn the language of the hearing impaired persons so that they can interact easily. The Ministry can organize seminars and workshops for them and involve the special education teachers in the training.

If this wider community is trained on the use of Total Communication, the learners with hearing impairments will benefit a lot because the parents and care givers will be knowledgeable on the communication issue. This will also help the society in changing their attitudes towards the learners with hearing impairment.

To all categories of hearing impaired learners, it will be easy to understand what they learn by using a combination of other methods of communication.

The government will also see the need and importance of training teachers of Special Needs Learners in using Total Communication.

Finally, when this study is concluded, it will add to the already existing body of literature on effects of total communication on academic performance of children with hearing impairment. This is because there are scarce literature on this particular topic – hence the significance of this study.

1.7. Scope and Delimitation of the Study

            The researcher is aware of other problem areas in special school in Pankshin Local Government Area. however, for the purpose of this study, this study shall examine the effects of Total Communication on academic performance of children with hearing impairment in Special Education School in Pankshin Local Government Area. However, despite the fact that the study is restricted to the selected school and local government, its findings can be generalized to other parts of the state and country as a whole.

1.8. Operational Definition of Terms

Total Communication: Total Communication is a philosophy that incorporates the appropriate aural, manual, and oral modes of communication in order to ensure the effectiveness of transmission of information among persons with hearing impairment. It advocates on any or all modes of communication approaches suited to the individual child.

Hearing Impairment: It is a generic term that describes hearing loss ranging from mild to profound. It includes both deaf and hard of hearing. Therefore, it is inability or deviation from normal hearing regardless of its severity due to diseases and other causes.

Hard of Hearing: These are individuals who have mild or moderate hearing loss and can use hearing aids to make use of the residual hearing.

Deafness: It is a hearing impairment that is so severe that the person cannot maintain auditive contact with the surrounding. The degree of hearing loss is 90dcB.

Hearing Impaired: it is a term used to refer to individuals who have difficulties in processing auditory information with or without hearing aids.

Finger Spelling: Finger spelling is the manual representation of the letters of the alphabet by twenty six different hand positions. It is an integral part of sign language.

Sign Language: It is the language of the deaf community. It is expressed through signing using the hands, body and facial expressions.

Oral/Aural: It as the use of amplication and speech reading without manual cues. This approach is also called oralism because of the orientation towards speech and hearing.

Cued Speech: This is manual aid to spoken language. The hand shapes are formed at the same time with speech. It is a system of hand shapes used together with speech for speech reading.