WELCOME TO KENTERPRO:
IMPACT OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY READING TO CHILDREN WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN PANKSHIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

            Education in every society is meant to eradicate inequality among its citizens; because to educate the mind is to remove it from shackle of fear. Education is no doubt, a process of human enlightens and empowerment for the achievement of better and higher quality of life. Education of children with hearing impairment is therefore aimed at developing and harnessing the potential that abound in them. Children with hearing impairment formed an important segment of Nigeria human resource base. If their potential is harnessed and appropriately channeled, they can become employees and employers, contribute to the tax base of the economy and became veritable social and economic assets. It is anticipated that education will provide them leverage to become productive members of Nigeria policy and society. The Universal Basic Education (UBE) which was launched in 1999 is a relevant tool for equipping children with disability the requisite education to help them realize their aspiration and fulfils social role. Education has long time identified as a major vehicle for political, economic and social advancement.

            Education is essential for children with learning impairment because a child who cannot read or write is prone to developing a sense of inadequacy and or inferiority, which is psychologically damaging. The philosophy of equal education for all children for the restructuring of our educational system in a way that avails every child of school going age a opportunity to success irrespective of any disabilities conditions. And this is more relevant now that the National Policy on Education (2013) prescribed “inclusion education as the most realistic form of education for children with special needs” especially that Nigerian embark on Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme. It is therefore imperative that children with hearing impairment should not be denied their right to education, given ample time with special materials and systematically plan programme these children can learn as much as their normal counterparts. This may seem a herculean task to undertake; but with supportive services and commitment by resourceful teachers most especially those that understand the psychology of children with disabilities and their educational needs, success can be assured. The education of children with hearing impairmen6t goes for beyond the ability of the teacher to teach them with merely chalk and duster. This informs why teacher of this category of children must be resourceful and dynamic (Owobi, 2016).

            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). Students with hearing impairment are students who have auditory sensory problem; the problem prevented them using the ear organ for what is mean for. They are students 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. Students with hearing interact and participate meaningfully in school activities the adjustment requires here by students 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 students 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 students with hearing impairment means acceptance of whatever condition of disability or quilt about it.

            Students 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 students 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 students 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 students 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 students 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 students 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 students.  Unfortunately, “One of the major challenging tasks of educators of hearing impaired students is to enhance the reading comprehension performance of their students” (Nikolaraizi, Vekiri, & Easterbrooks, 2013, p. 485).  Part of this challenge is that students 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.  

            Students who are hearing impaired develop language and literacy skills in somewhat of a different way than students who are hearing.  One example of this is incidental learning.  Students who are hearing acquire some of their language from parents, siblings, TV, and radio.  Students 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 students improve their literacy skills often need to be modified for students who are hearing impaired.

            Assistive technology has been defined by different educators and professionals around the world. In a common sense of the researcher of this study, Assistive Technology Devices (ATD) are equipment mean to help person with disability in many ways depends on the nature of the disability. For the deaf, assistive technology may be used to improve their hearing capabilities and for blind their assistive technology devices may include tape recorders to record lectures speech and also talking calculator when solving simple mathematical problems. The definition of assistive technology devices according to International Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) as any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially of off the shelf modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities including those with hearing impairment. This definition of ATD device by IDEA that hearing impairment aids, phone text messages, and other devices such as projectors are parts of ATD that can assist deaf to learn or get access to information easily than without those items mentioned. Assistive technology device are mostly the application of technology in human life to assist where an individual is having disabilities that will reduce its educational capabilities.

            It is not a hear-say that ATD help those with disabilities especially those with hearing impairment. Learning can be meaningful if an individual have his/her sense organs active. The sense that information can be acquired which include the ear, eye, nose and so on. Any individual whose hearing organ not functional as normal may likely not to perform satisfactory academical with the use of ATD. The realist school of thought epistemology have it that an individual can know something through seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting because by touching or hearing a sound(speech) for instance, a connection is made between object and mind (Musa, 2008). This assertion is in line with IDEA (2004) that ATD is a great equalizing forces in education and meaningful inclusion of students with disabilities both in terms of access to the general curriculum and in facilitating the ability of students to demonstrate mastery of their areas of study.

            The results of research work to improve the welfare of persons with hearing impairment by professionals of special education bring into life the application of knowledge gained from science for human consumption popularly refers to as technology. Technology encompasses instruments, machines and devices which people develop and use in their lives to improve products both quantity and quality. The use of technology to enable an individual to perform a particular task which his/her impairment cannot permit, bring into life what is referred to as assistive technology. Assistive technology is referred to as an umbrella term which deals with assistive, adoptive rehabilitative device for people with disabilities to effectively use to perform a particular task to do. There are different kind of assistive technology which are use to improve life’s condition of a person with disabilities. Hence, with the coming and applying of assistive technology in teaching children with hearing impairment enable them face life events especially academic performance, which is the focus of this research work. The researcher therefore appreciates the use of assistive technology in educating students with hearing impairment.

1.2 Statement of the Problem      

            It is a well-known fact that children with hearing impairment have problem in communication, they grow up without vocal language, the few that are lucky to have received speech and language therapy skill perform badly in terms of listening, vocal communication vocabulary, words, among others, this lead to many parents embracing the use of assistive technology to facilitate communication to their children with hearing impairment because they cannot hear of discriminate sounds.

            Assistive technology device play an important role in the education of persons with hearing impairment. The students who have hearing problems in perceiving or receiving information through their hearing organ may need hearing aids as one of the most popular ATD used worldwide by those with hearing impairment to acquire information within their environment including school. Lack of information during teaching and learning process may hinder or slow the pace of learners with hearing impairment in the classroom. Where there is no effective in the classroom between teachers and their learners means learning does not take place especially in university of Jos where there is no enough interpreters to help the hearing impaired acquire information from lecturers during classes.

            Since assistive technology device help children with hearing impairment acquire information within their environment and school. Information can be acquired through the sense organs such as ear aid (assistive technology). Student with hearing impairment learn and perform poorly in class. The role of assistive technology devices such as hearing aids which help the hearing impaired students gain access to information from their teachers in the classroom is critical in learning. This lack of assistive technology for learning for children with hearing impairment is a matter of concern to the researcher and the problem the researcher intends to investigate.

            Students who are hearing impaired often suffer setback when it comes to learning of reading comprehension. Their inability to hear what the teacher is saying often hampers their performance in reading comprehension. It is this problem that motivated the researcher to examine the impact of reading assistive technology on children with hearing impairment in learning reading comprehension in secondary schools in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

            The purpose of the study is to investigate into the impact of reading assistive technology on children with hearing impairment in learning reading comprehension in secondary schools in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State. Specifically, the objective are:

1. To determine the performance of students who were exposed to reading using assistive technology and those who were not exposed to it in answering comprehension questions.
2. To find out the difference in the performance of students who were taught reading with assistive technology and those who were taught without it in determining the message in the reading passage.
3. To determine the challenges faced by teachers in using reading assistive technology.
4. To proffer some remedial measure which can be used to mitigate the challenges.

1.4 Research Questions

            The following research questions were raised to guide the study:

1. What are the performance of students who were exposed to reading assistive technology and those who were not exposed to it in answering comprehension questions?
2. What are the difference in the performance of students who were taught with reading assistive technology and those who were taught without it in determining the message in the reading passage?
3. What are the challenges faced by teachers in using reading assistive technology?
4. What are some remedial measure which can be used to mitigate the challenges?

1.5 Significance of the Study

            The study when completed may benefit the following stakeholders: Sign language interpreters, students, parents.

Students: Students with hearing impairment who are the final consumer of reading assistive technology will benefit from the study because there will be frequent use of reading assistive devices and this will transform into more output in the academic performance of students with hearing impairment in reading comprehension.

            The research findings will enlighten school administrator and advocacy to stand for the right and demand for the provision of related services from government and other agencies.

            The study will help teachers to improve the instructional quality by integrating the use of assistive technology device in teaching children with hearing impairment.

            The work will serve as an opportunity for teachers to acquire knowledge and technical know-how of manipulating audiological equipment and other supportive services.

            This work will help researchers and educators in particular to develop more viable aspects in special education field.

1.6 Scope of the Study

            This study covers impact of reading assistive technology on the performance of students with hearing impairment in reading. The study will be restricted to Special School, Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State. Despite the fact that the study is limited to the selected secondary schools, the study will be generalized to other parts of the state and country at large.

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms

            The terms are defined according to their usage in this study.

Disability: It is the inability of the individual to function well without an interpreter because of lack of hearing.

Impairment: It is a damage done to the tissue of hearing that leads to hearing impairment which calls to use an interpreter.

Students with hearing Impairment: These are groups of students who have hearing loss that hinder them to access information through hearing which they depend on assistive technologies.

Academic performance:  It is defined as how students with hearing impairment achieve in the class with or with the aid of sign language interpreter.

Technology: Scientific knowledge used in partial ways in industry.

Assistive Technology: Tools which promote greater independence at performing one’s task.

Reading: Reading is a multifaceted process involving word recognition, comprehension, fluency, and motivation. It is also the making of meaning from a print or written materials.

Special School: is the practice of educating students in a way that provides accommodations that address their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community, which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.