Inclusion or Exclusion? Critical Needs of Hearing Impaired Learners during an English Reading Comprehension Lesson
Keywords:
hearing impairment, hearing impaired learner, inclusion, exclusion
Abstract
Drawing on the social inclusion theoretical model, this study examines critical needs of hearing impaired learners during an English reading comprehension lesson. Some of the challenges that hearing impaired learners experience arise due to their exclusion from activities, participation and access. The study utilised qualitative approaches through semi-structured interviews. A total of twenty-six participants from three secondary schools located in the northern region of Malawi participated in this study as follows: seven regular teachers, two specialist teachers, two resource persons and fifteen hearing impaired learners. The results reveal that most hearing impaired learners do not manage to attain all reading comprehension objectives. Although teachers use a combination of strategies during a reading comprehension lesson, they do not utilise strategies that promote higher-order cognitive thinking skills. Finally, the results reveal that hearing impaired learners encounter several challenges some of which may be avoided if teachers embrace inclusive practices. The results have implications for stakeholders, teachers and researchers as follows: there is a need to improve the inclusive system of education by providing in-service training for teachers and employing competent specialist teachers and resource persons to facilitate the learning of hearing impaired learners. There is also a need to improve the learning and teaching facilities for inclusive schools as teachers and learners bemoan lack of teaching and learning materials suitable for hearing impaired learners. Teachers would be able to overcome some of the barriers to participation and learning which arise due to inadequate teaching and learning resources. Further research should be carried out to check people’s understanding of the agenda of inclusive schools.References
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2. Ainscow, M., Dyson, A. & Weiner, S. (2014). ‘From exclusion to inclusion: A review of international literature on ways of responding to students with special educational needs in schools’, En-clave Pedagógica, 13, 13-30.
3. Allen, T. E., Clark, M. D., Giudice, A. D., Koo, D., Lieberman, A., Mayberry, R. & Paul, M. (2009).‘Phonology and reading: A response to Wang, Trezek, Luckner, and Paul’, American Annals of the Deaf, 154 (4), 338-345.
4. Bailey, A., Hennink, M. & Hutter, I. (2011). Qualitative research methods, SAGE Publication, Inc., London.
5. Benedict, K. M., Rivera, M. C. & Antia, S. D. (2015). ‘Instruction in metacognitive strategies to increase deaf and hard of hearing students’ reading comprehension’, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 20(1), 1-15.
6. Bickham, L. M. (2015). ‘Reading comprehension in deaf education: Comprehension strategies to support students who are deaf or hard of hearing’, Master’s Thesis, St. John Fisher College, United States of America.
7. Bigby, C. & Frawley, P. (2010). Social work practice and intellectual disability, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
8. Booth, T. (1998). ‘Stories of exclusion: Natural and unnatural selection’, in E. Blyth & J. Milner (eds), Exclusion from School: Inter-professional issues for policy and practice,pp. 21-36, Routledge, London.
9. Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners, Sage, London.
10. Brink, P. & Wood, M. (1998). Advanced designs in nursing research (2nd Ed.), Sage, Thousand Oaks.
11. Colin, S., Leybaert, J., Ecalle, J. & Magnan, A. (2013). ‘The development of word recognition, sentence comprehension, word spelling, and vocabulary in children with deafness: A longitudinal Study’, Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34, 1781-1793.
12. Convertino, C. M., Borgna, G., Marschark, M. & Durkin, A. (2014). ‘Word and world knowledge among deaf students with and without cochlear implants’, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 19, 471-483. Doi: 10.1093/deafed/enu024.
13. Daza, M., Philips-Silver, J., Ruiz-Cuadra, M. & Lopez-Lopez, F. (2014). ‘Language skills and nonverbal cognitive processes associated with reading comprehension in deaf children’, Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35, 3526-3533.
14. De Haan, A. (1999). ‘Social exclusion: An alternative concept for the study of deprivation?’, IDS Bulletin, 29 (1), 10-19.
15. Dockery, K. F. (2013). ‘The reading comprehension of deaf/hard-of-hearing Jamaican students: The contributions of intellectual ability, sign-language comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, and metacognitive awareness’, Doctoral thesis, McGill University, Quebec, Canada. Retrieved July 20, 2019, from http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/webclient/StreamGate?folder_id=0&dvs=1493211996296~309.
16. Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P. & Borg, W. R. (2007). Educational research: An introduction (8th ed.), Longman, New York.
17. Gates, B. (2007). Learning disabilities: Towards inclusion (5th ed), Elsevier, London.
18. Giang, D. L. & Inho, C. (2014). ‘Comprehension of figurative language by hearing impaired children in special primary schools’, Social and Behavioral Sciences, 191, 506-511.
19. Hall, K., Collins, J., Benjamin, S., Nind, M. & Sheehy, K. (2004). ‘SATurated models of pupildom: Assessment and inclusion/exclusion’, British Educational Research Journal, 30(6), 801-817.
20. Jarvis, J. (2002). ‘Exclusion by inclusion? Issues for deaf pupils and their mainstream teachers’, Education 3-13, 30 (2), 47-51, DOI: 10.1080/03004270285200231.
21. Kearney, A. & Kane, R. (2006). ‘Inclusive education policy in New Zealand: reality or ruse?’, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 10 (2-3), 201-219.
22. Kelly, R. R. & Berent, G. P. (2011). ‘Semantic and pragmatic factors influencing deaf and hard of hearing students’ comprehension of English sentences containing numeral quantifiers’, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 16(4), 419-436.
23. Kothari, J. (1985). Research methodology: Methods and techniques,Wiley Eastern Limited,New Delhi.
24. Kumar, R. (2005). Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners (2nd ed.), Pearson Education, Singapore.
25. Kunisue, K., Fukushima, K., Kawasaki, A., Maeda, Y., Nagayasu, R., Kataoka, Y., Kariya, S., Fukutomi, Y., Takami, H. & Nishizaki, K. (2007). ‘Comprehension of abstract words among hearing impaired children’, International Journal of PediatricOtorhinolaryngology, 71, 1671-1979.
26. Luckner, J. & Cooke, C. (2010). ‘A summary of the vocabulary research with students who are deaf or hard of hearing’, American Annals of the Deaf, 155(1), 38-67.
27. McAnally, P. & Rose, S. (1999). Reading practices with deaf children,PRO-Ed., Austin, Texas.
28. Mpofu, J. & Chimhenga, S. (2013). ‘Challenges faced by hearing impaired pupils in learning: A case study of King George VI Memorial School’, Journal of Research & Method in Education, 2 (1), 69-74.
29. Mtuli, J. (2015). ‘Assessing the challenges of teaching and learning of hearing impaired students enrolled in regular primary and secondary schools in Tanzania’, Master’s Thesis, Open University of Tanzania, Tanzania. Retrieved January 23, 2020, from http://repository.out.ac.tz/1429/1/Mtuli_Tellah_Charles.pdf.
30. Muiti, M. J. (2010). ‘Hindrances to effective learning of pupils with hearing impairment in Meru North District-Kenya’, Master’s Thesis, Kenyatta University, Kenya. Retrieved January 21, 2020, from http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/123456789/620/Muiti,%20Jennifer.pdf?...3.
31. Raschke, D. & Bronson, J. (1999). ‘Creative educators at work: All children including those with disabilities can play traditional classroom games’. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from http://www.cec.sped.org./bk - menu. htm.12.6.2007.
32. Rawal, N. (2008). ‘Social inclusion and exclusion: A review’, Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 2, 161-180.
33. Reid-Cunningham, A. R. & Fleming, V. C. (2009). ‘Theories of disability: Findings from an analysis of textbooks on human behavior and the social environment’, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 19(1), 10-25, DOI: 10.1080/10911350802616181.
34. Rose, S., McAnally, P. L. & Quigley, S. P. (2003). Language development practices with deaf children (3rd ed.),PRO-Ed., Austin, Texas.
35. Schirmer, B. R. & McGough, S. M. (2005). ‘Teaching reading to children who are deaf: Do the conclusions of the National Reading Panel apply?’, Review of Educational Research, 75(1), 83-117.
36. Stainback, S., Stainback, W. & Ayres, B. (1996). ‘Schools as inclusive communities’, in W. Stainback & S. Stainback (eds), Controversial issues confronting special education: Divergent perspectives (2nd Ed), pp. 31-43, Allyn & Bacon, Boston, MA.
37. Udoba, H. A. (2014). ‘Challenges faced by teachers when teaching learners with developmental disability’, Master’s Thesis, Open University of Oslo, Norwey. Retrieved January 27, 2016, from https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/42438/Master-thesis-Humphrey-2-2.pdf?sequence=1.
38. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
39. Wang, Y., Trezek, B. J., Luckner, J. & Paul, P. V. (2008). ‘The role of phonology and phonologically related skills in reading instruction for students who are deaf or hard of hearing’, American Annals of the Deaf, 153(4), 396-407.
Published
2020-12-18
How to Cite
Hara, A. (2020) “Inclusion or Exclusion? Critical Needs of Hearing Impaired Learners during an English Reading Comprehension Lesson”, Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 4(1), pp. 41-53. doi: https://doi.org/10.53974/unza.jlss.4.1.384.
Section
Social Sciences