Effective Use Of Total Communication In Teaching Language To Learners With Hearing Impairment In Kiambu District Kenya

ABSTRACT

The topic of this study was ‘Effective use of total communication in teaching

language to learners with hearing impairment in Kiambu District Kenya. One

of the aims of the study was to find out whether the teachers have

adequate training to teach language to learners with hearing impairment.

The researcher had targeted forty respondents to fill the questionnaires but

twenty five of them did this. The respondents were teachers teaching

language to learners with hearing impairment in special schools and

integrated settings. The respondents were purposefully sampled to

participate in the study and fill the questionnaires which were carefully

prepared. The researcher used a quanti~~ye~ypenf approach which gives

guidance to respondents and saves time. The survey strategy was

employed by careful selection of teachers teaching language to learners with

hearing impairment and the data was analyzed using descriptive and tabular

presentation. The results indicated that the respondents were aware of the

philosophy of total communication and used it to teach language to learners

with hearing impairment. Generally they had positive attitudes towards its

use with learners. The academic achievement of learners with hearing

impairment was found averagtwithsome registering poor performance.

However most respondents lack training in special needs educated and

although many had long experience in teaching, they lacked the application

skills.

The results of this study calls for provision of educational resources and

formulation of a national policy on uniform approach in teaching learners

with hearing impairment. Teachers need training and induction in

appropriate methods of teaching language to learners with hearing

impairment and there is need for learners with hearing impairment to be given freedom of choice on the most appropriate mode of communication after guidance by teachers and parents.