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This paper provides a brief history of attitudes toward the deaf and the evolution of teaching and instruction of the deaf. It then discusses a pilot study that probed the acquisition of lip reading skills and the influence of mothers in the process.

The purpose of the study was to ascertain the similarities and differences on measures for divergent production between groups representing hearing and deaf children in Western Canada. Divergent production was defined as the generation of ideas from given information. There are four measurable factors within divergent production: fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration; i.e. the number of ideas, their classes, statistical unusualness, and embellishments. The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, Figural Form B, was chosen as the instrument because it measures the four divergent production factors, and requires non-verbal responses. The regular test instructions were modified by the researcher to a non-verbal form in order to facilitate administration of the instrument to both deaf and hearing subjects. The study was in two phases. Phase 1, the Pilot Study, was designed to trial test the modified protocols, and Phase 2, the Main Study, to compare the deaf and hearing subjects. The Pilot Study data was analyzed by univariate and multivariate F-tests and by discriminant analysis (Tatsuoka 1970) for protocol and sex effects, and the Main Study data by univariate and multivariate F-tests for hearing status and sex effects, discriminant analysis for the statistically significant F-tests, and Hotelling’s T² routine for the within grade effects. For both phases an α level of .05 was chosen. The Pilot Study, employing a randomly split class of 66 pupils, revealed a high possible educative effect by the modified protocols. However, the modified protocols were used in the Main Study since both groups of 114 hearing and 114 deaf subjects observed the same instructions and used the same test instrument. The results of the Main Study showed the hearing subjects to be statistically different from the deaf subjects on a composite factor of the four divergent production factors with a multivariate F-value of 4.555 and an associated probability of .001 on a two-tailed test. Hearing boys were also statistically different from hearing girls with an F-value of 2.764 and an associated probability of .029. The univariate F-tests reached statistical significance for only figural flexibility and originality on the comparison of the hearing and deaf subjects. Discriminant analysis revealed that the underlying differences amongst the dependent figural factors was at the flexibility end on a figural fluency/flexibility discriminant dimension. None of the other comparisons by hearing status, sex, and within grade effects reached statistical significance. However, grade by grade developmental patterns and boy or girl dominance on individual figural factors compared favourably with other studies. Boys tended to score higher than girls on figural originality, and girls higher on figural elaboration. By grade, the hearing subjects exhibited the characteristic "Grade Four Slump" but the deaf subjects did not. The only major difference between these results and those of Kaltsounis (19 70) was on the comparison of hearing and deaf subjects. Kaltsounis found his deaf subjects to be significantly superior at the .01 level on a two-tailed test whereas in this study the hearing subjects were superior at the .05 level (computed p < .001) also on a two-tailed test. The researcher noted several possible causes of the above major difference suggesting that in this study biases in the modified protocols may have favoured the hearing subjects, and in Kaltsounis' study biases in the ordinary protocols may have favoured the deaf subjects. Finally, questions were posed enquiring into the importance of divergent production in the education of the deaf. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Faculty of Education. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 331-367).

This study was designed to determine whether or not auditory discrimination could be improved in a group of third-grade students by the use of a tape-recorded program of auditory exercises. Of additional interest was the effect that the program of auditory exercises would have upon the work recognition skills and the spelling skills of the third-grade students involved.

In recent years much interest has been focused on the manner in which the young child acquires language. Some researchers (Chomsky, 1965; McNeil) have postulated an inherent capacity to comprehend and utilize linguistic structures, while others such as Irwin, (1960), Hess and Shipman (1965), and Greenstein, et al, (1974) have focused on experiential determinants of language competence in early childhood. As with all children, the social and emotional behavior of deaf children is greatly influenced by their ability to communicate with significant others. Interactions between the normally developing child and his parents are characterized by mutual responsiveness, where each initiates and reciprocates communication. When a Child's language development is delayed or impaired(as with a hearing loss), this communication process may also become impaired, with parents being unable to respond appropriately to confused or reduced messages from the child. This paper reviews some of the pertinent research regarding the behavioral interaction between the parent and child and its effect on communication and psychosocial development. The implications of this data for the hearing-impaired child and his family are considered. It will address the question," What is it that parents with young hearing impaired children do that facilitates or impedes speech and language development?" A methodology is also presented for developing effective communication between such children and their parents.

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Special Education

The main purposes of this thesis are to investigate the difference between the written English of deaf children and the written English of hearing children and to make recommendations on how to improve the writing of deaf children. In order to achieve this goal, both quantitative and qualitative research was done. The comparison of the writing of deaf and hearing children relies on quantitative research while the recommendations are based on qualitative analysis. The dissertation is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter discusses the problem, the significance of the research, the purpose of the study, the background to the problem and the theoretical framework. This chapter indicates the prevalence of deafness worldwide and in South Africa and its negative impact on the writing abilities of children. The second chapter provides a literature review on the theory behind reading and writing, with specific emphasis on emergent literacy and its relevance to the language acquisition and print language learning of deaf children. Another aspect of this chapter is the effect of different aspects of deafness on language acquisition and learning. The chapter also highlights the challenges for deaf children in South Africa and debates regarding the language of instruction that should be used to teach deaf children writing/reading, as well as arguments concerning bottom-up, top-down, and interactive approaches to writing. The third chapter provides the overall philosophical framework for the quantitative and qualitative research as well as the methodology used for the qualitative research. This is followed by the results of the quantitative research and a discussion of these results in Chapter 4. The fifth chapter is in the form of a second literature review that contains recommendations for improving the writing of deaf children. Following this, in Chapter 6, is a discussion of some of the theory behind interview interaction, as well as an analysis of how to develop a valid study. The researcher also sets out the interview structure. The seventh chapter contains a discussion of the findings of the interview to see if they confirm the findings in Chapter 5, as well as overall conclusions about assisting deaf children with their writing, a reflection on the study as a whole and suggestions for future research. This study argues that in order for deaf children in South Africa to develop their writing, immediate government assistance is necessary in order to implement countrywide newborn hearing screening, followed by medical and/or language-based ii intervention to minimise the impact of deafness on the language and writing abilities of deaf children. This is an essential foundation from which parents and teachers can build and play a key role in helping their children reach age-appropriate levels of written English.

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis sets out to examine Moodle use to assist Deaf and Hard of Hearing Grade 9 learners with understanding mathematics problem-solving. The methodology used in this research project is that of formative evaluation. In this qualitative data analysis I worked as a participant-observer with three Deaf and H/H Grade 9 learners from a local school for the Deaf and H/H. These learners engaged in a course constructed in Moodle based on ratio and rate. The course was designed along the lines of a constructivist pedagogical model, different levels of learning as well as including multi representational features. Through the qualitative analysis of the interviews conducted with learners who participated in the research project and observation done by the teacher researcher, three categories emerged i.e. Weaknesses, Potential strengths and Learner suggestions. Although the findings indicate that different factors negatively impact Deaf and H/H learners’ ability to solve mathematics problems, it also highlights the representational features of mathematics content via Moodle, and how it can assist Deaf and H/H learners with the struggle with mathematics problem-solving. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie navorsingsprojek is om te evaluereer of Moodle gebruik deur Dowe en Hardhorende graad 9 leerders hulle kan help met moeilikhede wat hulle ondervind met wiskunde probleem oplossing. Die navorsing is ‘n formatiewe evaluering. Binne hierdie kwalitatiewe data ontleding werk ek as ‘n deelnemer-navorser met 3 Dowe en Hardhorende graad 9 leerders by ‘n plaaslike skool vir Doof en Hardhorende leerders. Hierdie leerders het deelgeneem in leeraktiwiteite wat ontwerp is in Moodle en wat gebasseer is op verhouding en koers. Die leeraktiwiteite is ontwerp inlyn met ‘n konstruktivistiese pedagogiese model, verskillende vlakke van leer en multi voorstellings formate. Drie kategorieë o.a Tekortkominge, Moontlike Sterkpunte en Leerder voorstelle, het onstaan tydens die kwalitatiewe data ontleding waar onderhoude met die deelnemers gevoer asook observasie wat gedoen is deur die deelnemer-navorser. Alhoewel die bevindinge daarop dui dat verskillende faktore negatief inwerk op Dowe en Hardhorende leerders se vermoë om wiskunde problem op te los, wys dit ook uit die vermoë van Moodle om wiskunde probleme voor te stel en hoe hierdie voorstellings Dowe en Hardhorende leerders kan help met wiskunde probleem oplossing.