How Pre-School Children with Hearing Impairments Communicate at Home and School in Kirinyaga County, Kenya
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Date
2013-10-16
Authors
Gitonga, Muthoni Jane
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate how pre-school children with HI
communicate both at home and in school. In particular, the study investigated
how pre-school children communicate with care givers, the communicative
strategies that those children with HI employed in their interaction,
communication constraints for pre-school children with HI, both at home and
in school and the impact of HI on effective communication for pre-school
children. The study adopted a mixed method approach, but used grounded
theory research design, to help the researcher to discover the theories behind
communication of pre-school children with HI. The research locale was
Kirinyaga County. Snowballing sampling techniques was used to sample ten
(10) pre-school children with HI while purposive sampling was used to sample
the schools where the children had been placed; ten (10) parents/guardians of
the same children and ten (10) teachers who had been or were currently
. teaching the sampled children, making a total of 30 respondents. The
researcher held face-to-face interviews, to gather data from the parents and
teachers. Observations were used to gather relevant information relating to
pre-school children's language use and communication in school. Data
analysis was an ongoing process, where data were coded as soon as they were
obtained. The codes were based on key themes most often addressed by the
respondents. A data analysis computer based programme, Statistical Package
for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to develop a database of all the
interviews and observations. All types of data analyzed were used to yield
answers to the research questions. The findings were presented in tables,
charts and graphs. The findings revealed that although most of the pre-school
teachers were trained, none was trained in Special Education. Ninety per cent
of the pre-school children' sampled had communication difficulties. Most of
the teachers preferred using oral method although the pre-school children
preferred manual methods. The researcher recommended for training in
Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) to all stake holders in the education of the preschool
children with HI where proficiency in KSL should be emphasized.
Total Communication (TC) should also be enhanced since majority of the
teachers used oral methods which limit the pre- school children with HI from
acquiring the necessary information which may lead to poor performance. The
researcher also recommends that the KSL curriculum for pre-school children
with HI be used in all the pre-schools where such children have been placed,
to ensure they develop communication skills needed for pre-school children
with HI to communicate effectively.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School Of Education in Partial Fulfillment for the Award of Degree of Master of Education (Special Needs Education) of Kenyatta University, May 2013