THE EFFECT OF TOTAL COMMUNICATION ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PUPILS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT
ABSTRACT
The study was designed to find out the effect of Total communication (T.C) on the academic achievement of pupils with hearing impairment. It is a non- equivalent pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental design with treatment and control group. The population of the study consists of 33 pupils from the two primary schools for the deaf in Enugu State. A researcher made test known as Achievement Test on English Language (ATEL) was used to generate data for the study. Three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data collected from the study while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that pupils with hearing impairment exposed to T.C performed better than the control group. Children exposed to total communication had a mean pre-test achievement score of 31.33 and mean post test score of 64 as against children in the control group that had mean pre-test achievement score of 25.83 and posttest achievement score of 48.33. As for gender, the males exposed to T.C had a pre-test mean achievement score of 20.0 and posttest mean achievement scores of 56.88 as against male in control group that had a pretest mean achievement scores of 30.90 but a posttest achievement score of 49.09. Similarly, the female in the treatment group had a mean pretest achievement scores of 45.0 and posttest mean achievement score of 72.14 as against female in control group that had a pre -test achievement score of 18.57 and posttest achievement score of 47.14. The, result of interaction effect of gender and T.C showed that male had a mean achievement sore of 7.79 while female had a mean achievement scores of 25,which implies that female interacts more than males using T.C. Test of hypotheses showed no significant difference between the mean achievement score of the treatment and control group. Similarly, gender has no significant influence on the academic achievement of pupils with hearing impairment. The study also found no significant interaction effect of gender on the use of total communication.
These findings have implications drawn for the teachers of children with hearing impairment, curriculum planners, parent of children with hearing impairment and policy makers on the importance of using T.C in teaching children with hearing impairment. Based on these implications the following recommendations among others were made: training institution for teachers should try to incorporate T.C as a unit of study in their curriculum if teachers are to be equipped with the skills of using this T.C in teaching. There should also be an in-service training for teachers who are already in the field to enable them update their knowledge in the use of T.C, the children with hearing impairment should be exposed to the use of T.C whether male or female.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page - - - - - - - ii
Certification - - - - - - - iii
Approval Page - - - - - - - vi
Dedication` - - - - - - - v
Acknowledgements - - - - - - - vi
Abstract - - - - - - - vii
Table of contents - - - - - - - viii
List of Tables - - - - - - - xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the study - - - - - - - 1
Statement of the problem - - - - - - 10
Purpose of the study - - - - - - - 11
Significance of the study - - - - - - 11
Scope of the study - - - - - - - 14
Research questions - - - - - - - 14
Hypotheses - - - - - - - 15
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Conceptual Framework - - - - 16
Concept of Hearing impairment - - - - - 17
Concept of Total communication - - - - - 27
Concept of Academic Achievement - - - - - 32
Theoretical Framework - - - - - 38
Theories of Language Acquisition - - - - - 38
Chomsky’s Theory of language Acquisition - - - 39
B. F. Skinner’s Theory of Language Acquisition - - 44
Lev Vygotsky’s Theory of Language Acquisition - - 46
Empirical Studies
Academic Achievement of pupils with Hearing Impairment 49
Total Communication on academic achievement of pupils with
Hearing Impairment - - - - - - - 53
Gender Issues and Academic Achievement of pupils
with Hearing Impairment - - - - - 56
Summary of Literature reviewed - - - - - 59
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD
Design of the study----
Area of the study - - - - - - - 62
Population of the study - - - - - - - 62
Sample and sampling technique - - - - - 62
Instrument for data collection - - - - - - 62
Validation of the instrument - - - - - - 63
Reliability of the instrument - - - - - - 64
Treatment procedure - - - - - - - 64
Control of Extraneous Variables - - - - - 65
Teachers’ variable - - - - - - - 65
Instructional situation variables - - - - - 65
Pupil’s variables - - - - - - - 65
Subject/class interaction - - - - - - - 66
Hawthorne effect - - - - - - - - 66
Pre-test sensitization - - - - - - - 66
Method of data collection - - - - - - 66
Method of data analysis - - - - - - 67
CHAPTER FOUR:RESULTS
Research Question One - - - - - - - 68
Hypothesis One - - - - - - - - 69
Research Question Two - - - - - - - - 70
Hypothesis Two - - - - - - - - 71
Research question three - - - - - - - 71
Hypothesis three - - - - - - - 72
Summary of Results - - - - - - - 73
CHAPTER FIVE: DISSCUSSION OF RESULT, CONCULSION, RECOMMENDATION, IMPLICATION AND SUMMARY
Effect of T.C on academic achievement of pupils with hearing Impairment - - - - - - - - - 74
The influence of gender on academic achievement of pupils
With hearing impairment - - - - - - 75
Interaction effect of gender and T.C on academic
achievement of pupils with hearing impairment - - - 76
Conclusion - - - - - - - - 77
Educational Implications - - - - - - 77
Recommendations - - - - - - 78
Limitation of the study - - - - - - - 79
Suggestions for Further Study - - - - - 80
Summary of the Study
References - - - - - - 83
Appendix A: Introductory Letter to the Validates - - 90
Appendix B: Achievement Test on English Language (ATEL) - 91
APPENDIX C: A Lesson note on Total Communication - - 93
APPENDIXE D: A Lesson Note on American Sign Language (Control group) - - - - - 98
APPENDIX E: Reliability Estimate of the Assessment Test on English Language. - - - - - - - 103
APPENDIX F: Quasi Experimental design - - - - 104
A Test Blue Print on the use of T.C - - - - - 105
APPENDIX G: Comments from Validates---
APPENDIX H: Evidence of Poor Academic Achievement of
pupils with Hearing Impairment - - - -106
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Quasi-experimental design
Table2: A test of Blue print on the use of T.C
Table 3: Children with hearing impairment pre-test and posttest score
Table 4: 2-way Analysis of covariance on children’s post treatment on ATEL
Table 5: Pretest and posttest mean scores and standard deviation on ATEL by gender
Table6: Mean and standard deviation of interaction effect of gender and T.C.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The education of children with hearing impairment has over the years generated a lot of interest to experts in the field of special education. The concern is on the best approach to improve the education of children with hearing impairment all over the world. Apparently, people recognized the need to assist children with hearing impairment to process linguistic information for educational attainment.
Hearing impairment is the inability of the ear to receive and give meaningful interpretation to a message or sound. According to Okuoyibo (2006), hearing impairment is an umbrella term used to describe all aspects of disorder affecting the auditory system. Paul & Quiqley (1990) see it as any hearing loss ranging from mild to profound. Kirk, Gallegher, & Anastasia (1993) viewed hearing impairment as a generic term which refers to all types and degree of hearing loss. Apparently, this kind of condition requires special assistance for the proper educational development.
According to Kauffman and Hallahan cited in Obi (2006), the Conference of the Executive of the American School for the Deaf described hearing impairment as a generic term indicating a hearing disability that may range in severity from mild to profound. This includes
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the subset of deaf and hard of hearing. According to them, a deaf person is one who cannot process linguistic information through audition with or without hearing aids. On the other hand, the hard of hearing can with the use of hearing aids process linguist information. They have residual hearing sufficient to enable them process linguistic information through audition.
For the purpose of this work, hearing impairment is a condition whereby the sense organ of hearing (ear) is deficient in receiving sound waves to process and interpret message. Children with hearing impairment therefore are children that have problem that inhibit the effective functioning of their ears. They often learn to "feign" comprehension with the end result being that the children may not have optimal learning opportunities. This is why many experts such as Werner (1988) and Ugwuanyi (2009) advocated for the use of sign language to improve the education of children with hearing impairment.
Issues in education of children with hearing impairment came into limelight in 1550’s when a Spanish Monk Pedro Ponce de Leon started to teach children with hearing impairment how to read, write and participate in the learning of other subject. This made some special educators such as Abang and Wener to continue to conduct research on the best method that should be used in educating children with hearing impairment. They found out that signs that are within the reach of the leaner should be used
in teaching children with hearing impairment. However, further researches on the best method brought about a controversy between two schools of thoughts the manualist and oralist. The oralist believed in the use of speech and lip-reading in educating children with hearing impairment, while manualist believed in educating these children through sign language and finger spelling.
Two oralists Cohen (1980) and Jacobs (1980) believed in the use of speech and lip-reading in educating children with hearing impairment, while manualist such as Wener (1988) believed in educating these children through sign language and finger spelling. For instance Cohen (1980) argued that sign language and finger spelling make children with hearing impairment to be isolated in their community. Isolation of these children from their community hinders them from social interaction which subsequently affects their learning.
According Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia (2012), manualists claim that oralists neglect the psychosocial development of deaf children and that the extensive practice required leaves students with less time and energy to advance academically and socially. They also believe that oralists’ teaching methods result in inadequate skills and often poor speaking ability despite the great effort invested. They also feel that what is most important is giving deaf children a visual- motor language they can truly master so as to enable their intellect to develop
normally. Their argument is that children may not accomplish proficiency in lip-reading and other oralist techniques due to the great degree of time and effort involved.
The oralist on the other hand believe that manualist neglect the residual hearing in deaf children and that the emphasis on sign language isolates them from their culture and hearing family members, thus restricting them to a limited subculture that leaves them unable to succeed in the society and their academic environment. Their postulation is that only a tiny percentage of the population can use sign language. For example, the number of American Sign Language (ASL) users in United States is at roughly between 100,000 and 500,000 or between 0.3% and 0.15% of the population (Wikipedia online free encyclopedia 2012)
Manualists Werner (1988) and Riekeholf (1993) also believed in educating these children through sign language and finger spelling. For instance, Werner argued that if children with hearing impairment acquire sign language and finger spelling, they may improve on their communication and socialization skills. He also maintained that children with hearing impairment who use gestures and signs communicate better than those who are taught speech and lip reading only. This implies that learning sign language first will facilitate the reading competency of children with hearing impairment. Riekeholf also added that people with hearing impairment recoganize the importance of signing because it is
their means of daily communication within the family and the deaf community. It has been called mother tongue of deaf people and is valuable for their social interaction as speaking is for the hearing persons. In another development Zapien (1998) identified the use of cued speech as one of the methods for the education of children with hearing impairment. ` Cued speech is not really speech at all, but a visual representation of English sounds. Scholars propagating this school of thought did not however make appreciable efforts to sway others into their own camp. However the snag still remains that not all the children with hearing impairment will benefit if oral, manual or cued speech is used alone. This is because manual method of teaching children with hearing impairment involves the use of signs (sign language and finger spelling) while oral method uses (speech and lip-reading) to teach or
communicate with the pupils with hearing impairment.
Sign language is a language that is used by people with hearing impairment to communicate. It is a language that uses manual symbol to represent ideas and concept. According to Riekelhof (1993), it is a term used to describe the language used by deaf people in which both manual signs and finger spelling are employed. It was observed by Riekelhof (1993) that signs usually represent ideas and not single word. They use a visual image for signing the idea. Some clear examples that fall into these categories are animals, for instance, the antler of the deer, is signed for
deer; the trunk of elephant is for elephant; the ears of donkey are signed for donkey and host of others. Signs are also represented by action, such as in the following; milking a cow is signed for milk, giving a hug is signed for love, growth; coming out from ground.
Experts in the field of deaf education such as Relkeholf (1993) and Abang (2005) have modified and invented different types of sign languages which are useful in the education of children with hearing impairment. For instance, American Sign Language (ASL) is one of the most popular sign languages in use all over the world. According to Relkeholf it is a visual-gestural language used by deaf people in America. Since its introduction in Nigeria, it has been the official medium of instruction to children with hearing impairment throughout the schools for the deaf. This sign language mode does not appeal to all the sense organs.
Local sign language (LSL) is another sign system developed and used by children with hearing impairment and others in their localities. According to Abang (2005), LSL is a natural sign and therefore very easy to use and help children with hearing impairment achieve success in their academic works
Though the uses of all these signs have assisted children with hearing impairment, for a long time, it has been observed that they have not adequately improved the learning ability of pupils with hearing
impairment. Abang (2005) has noted that it was because of the ineffectiveness of the sign language system used in the teaching of the children with hearing impairment that made them to perform low in their academic works. It was equally demonstrated in a study carried out by Fleer cited in Ugwuanyi (2009) that children with hearing impairment perform significantly poorer than their normal hearing counterpart when tasks were presented to them in English through the use of American Sign Language.
In view of the above shortcomings, Osuchukwu, (1986) Eleweke
(1990) and Mba (1995) advocated for the use of total communication (TC) which is distinct from these methods explained earlier. Osuchukwu(1986) admitted that TC is the only theory of communication that stresses the right of the teacher and the children with hearing impairment to use all available forms of communication to develop a bank of concepts and knowledge. This should continue to be the goal of every teacher for every child. Eleweke (1990) explains that total communication is a philosophy of instruction not a method. This is because T.C does not advocate for the use of any single method but the combination of different modes at the same time in teaching. Similarly, Mba (1995) in his own view noted that the use of TC gives children the opportunity to understand what they are being taught through speech or signs, gestures or lip reading, facial expression and body movement
among others. Total communication uses different methods to teach children with hearing impairment. Riekelhof (1993) explained it as a philosophy that advocates for the use of any or all means of communication to provide unlimited opportunity to develop language competencies in children with hearing impairment.
For the purpose of this work total communication is a means of communication whereby children with hearing impairment are taught in a manner that involves using various methods of communication to all the sense organs. Here they are given the opportunity to exploit any means available to them to communicate, understand and pass messages to one another, especially those that have knowledge of signs.
Some studies such as Ugwuanyi (1999) have investigated the effectiveness of TC in teaching children with hearing impairment. For example, he carried out a study on the teachers perception of the communication strategies (manual, oral and TC) used for the education of children with hearing impairment in Enugu State. The findings revealed that TC was favored by teachers more than oral and manual strategies. The assumption is that with the use of total communication, there is likely to be an improvement of the academic achievement of children with hearing impairment. This is because if they don’t understand through sign, they may understand either through speech, gesture or any other
means that are available for them. Naturally, enhancement of academic achievement is the key issue in every teaching method.
The term academic achievement means the attainment one gain at the end of undergoing a particular course or program in understanding what is taught to him. According to Lee (2005) academic achievement requires drives and in many cases single – mindedness. This means that when a child comes to school with a goal to achieve, he or she works towards such a goal. This is easier for children who can hear sound but for children with hearing impairment, it is going to be a difficult task because of their impairment in the use of sound.
Another area of interest is on the issue of gender and academic achievement of pupils with hearing impairment. According to Okoye cited in Ademokoya (2007) the influence of gender on language use and school learning has become an object of debate among some authorities in the field of psychology and education. It has been observed that various biological differences in human make up that are inherent in male and female students may be responsible for some disparities in the two groups. The argument is that since no two human beings are the same in physical and intellectual attributes, then one should not expect both male and female students to perform uniformly in their academic endeavors. Writing on this issue, Conger, Conger & Elder (1997) explained that gender is one of the factors that determine academic achievement. They
carried out a study on family economic hardship and adolescent adjustment and found out that males were reported to have significantly lower cumulative grade point average (CGPA’s) than females in 10th grade after controlling a number of background factors. In a contrary view, Smith (1990) in her analysis of a sample of 7th graders who were followed through 9th grade found that females’ growth in verbal achievement test performance was greater than that of males.
Gender characteristics on academic achievement of children with hearing impairment was also investigated by Coerts and Mills cited in Ugwuanyi (2009) and the findings reveal that boys who are hearing impaired achieve better than girls who are also hearing impaired in school subjects. The understanding of language of instruction is critical in determining the academic achievement of children with hearing impairment. A study carried out by Ugwuanyi (2009), on the influence of gender on reading comprehension of pupil with hearing impairment showed that gender has no significant influence on the pupils’ reading comprehension
In a related development, Crouch (1997) has shown that gender plays no significant role in their academic work since all hearing impaired children experience diminished language skills. Also in a study carried out by Eze (2010) on the effect of training of teachers on the use of local sign language showed that gender has no influence on the
academic performance of children with hearing impairment. In view of these controversies, there is the need for a new study to contribute in resolving the issue concerning gender influence on academic achievement of children with hearing impairment.
Statement of the Problem
Studies have shown that children with hearing impairment have not been performing very well in schools due to inadequate acquisition of language. The assumption as revealed by most literature reviewed showed that the poor performance might be caused by factors one of which is a method of teaching by Nigerian educators for children with hearing impairment which do not take into consideration the means of communication that will appeal to all the senses of children with hearing impairment. According to Abang in Eze (2010), it has been observed that for about 46 years that the special educators for children with hearing impairment started using ASL to teach these children, there has been consistent poor academic performance. The evidence of this poor academic ca achievement can be seen in the children’s internal result of 2009/ 2010 session at Special Education Center Ogbete in Enugu State. (Appendix H, page 90). It has also been discovered through personal interview with the head teachers of Oji-River Special Education Center and Special Education Center Ogbete all in Enugu that the sign language mode used in these schools is ASL. The concern now is to find out if the
poor performance was as a result the sign language method the schools use.
It is believed that this sign language mode may not afford them the opportunity to interact or relate well with their peers and families, as well as improve their academic work. In addition to this, the issue of gender influence in academic achievement of children with hearing impairment has not been resolved since there is a controversy on whether male or female would perform better academics.
In view of this development, there is a need to find out whether the use of total communication could affect the academic achievement of children with hearing impairment. Could the introduction of a method which appeals to all the senses of children with hearing impairment influence their academic achievement and does gender predict the academic achievement of children with hearing impairment? It is based on this that the researcher wants to carry out a study on whether there will be an increase in academic achievement of children with hearing impairment in primary five pupils in Enugu State if they are taught English through the use of total communication mode.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of total communication on academic achievement of pupils with hearing
impairment in primary schools for the deaf in Enugu State. Specifically, the study intends to:
i. determine the effect of total communication on academic achievement of pupils with hearing impairment in English language;
ii. determine the influence of gender on academic achievement of pupils with hearing impairment exposed to total communication;
iii. examine the interaction effect of gender and total communication on academic achievement of pupils with hearing impairment in English language.
Significance of the Study
Theoretically, the findings will assist in determining whether the existing theories in language acquisition are relevant with regards to the use of T.C. It will also benefit theorist of language acquisition by helping them understand
The ways children with hearing impairment acquire language and then incorporate it in propounding their theories.
The findings of this study will be of immense benefit to teachers of children with hearing impairment, curriculum planners, and policy makers, children with hearing impairment, parents of children with hearing impairment and researchers. The result of this study will be
valuable to teachers of children with hearing impairment since the results will highlight the impact of using total communication on such children, and by so doing, the teachers will be in a better position to adopt a new approach that will impact positively on the children and they will also use sign without difficulty and interact easily with the pupils. The findings may be made known to them through workshops and conferences.
The result of the study will also be a useful guide to the curriculum planners. The findings of the study would assist them to determine the need to incorporate the use of total communication in the curriculum of the children with hearing impairment. The impact can be made known through sensitizing curriculum planners and policy makers on the need to include TC in the education of children with hearing impairment during their curriculum planning.
The findings of the study will also have direct impact on children with hearing impairment since the outcome of the study will assist both teachers and parents to adopt a better communication strategy as a way of improving their communication ability in and out of classroom. When their communication ability is improved, their academic achievement will also be improved.
The findings of the study will be useful to parents of children with hearing impairment since they would now rely on the findings to know the most effective methods of helping their children benefit maximally in
the educational activities. It will contribute in no small measures in guiding them on how to handle their children at home which by extension will help to improve the academic performance of the children in the school. Parents also can be informed and educated on how to use TC through organizing sensitizing workshops for them. The findings of the study will equally be useful in determining whether gender has any significant influence on the academic achievement of children with hearing impairment.
Besides, the study will be of immense value to other researchers
with interest in the use of total communication in the teaching of children with hearing impairment. Such researchers will use the findings as reference in situating their own research. By implication, the study would have contributed in the growth of human knowledge.
Scope of the Study
The study was carried out in the two primary schools for the deaf in Enugu State. They are the Special Education Center Ogbete and Oji- River Special schools for the deaf. The choice of these two schools is based on the fact that they are the only public schools for the deaf in Enugu State. The scope will be limited to the pupils with hearing impairment in primary five classes. The study covered the topic “present and past tense” selected from the third term scheme of work in English language. The choice of grammar is because it is the key to understanding
of any language and children with hearing impairment do not speak or write exact English which makes it difficult for them to perform well in their academic works. The dependent variable in the study is academic achievement while independent variables are total communication and gender. The researcher therefore, will focus on the effect of total communication on academic achievement of pupils with hearing impairment.
Research Questions
The study was guided by the following research questions:
1. To what extent does the use of total communication (TC) affect the academic mean achievement scores of pupils with hearing impairment as measured by Achievement Test on English Language? (ATEL)
2. To what extent does gender influence the academic mean achievement scores of pupil with hearing impairment?
3. What is the interaction effect of gender and TC on academic achievement scores of children with hearing impairment?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were tested in the study:
1. There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of the pupils taught English language using TC and those not so exposed.
2. Gender has no significant influence on the academic achievement of pupils with hearing impairment as measured by their means scores on ATEL.
3. There is no significant interaction effect of gender and TC on academic achievement of pupils with hearing impairment (hi) as measured by their post-test mean achievement scores on ATEL.
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