Language is integrally involved in all stages of the learning process. Children who have a
language disability are therefore likely to have difficulty with their schooling. The Centre for
Language and Hearing Impaired Children was established to provide these children with an
optimal start to their education and to maximize the impact of early intervention. The aim of
this retrospective study was to obtain follow-up information about the pupils who attended
this language-rich nursery school environment, and to discover if their progress reflected
significant long-term improvements in their education. The study design involved both
quantitative aspects, for which it became necessary to create an educational outcome scoring
system in order to objectively assess children’s outcomes, and descriptive components to
understand the children’s progress. The data collection involved two phases, where the initial
data provided the basic demographics of 94 children who attended the Centre, and the second
stage considered information obtained in the follow-up interviews with 32 families that could
be traced. The latter data showed that, in spite of previously reported improvements while at
the Centre, significant disabilities persisted in 56.25 % of the children, where they were
unable to reach mainstream education. In addition, there were significant numbers (81.25%)
that attended or passed through remedial/special education during their formal school career,
reinforcing the need for supportive, therapeutic forms of education for children with language
impairments.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/12552 |
| Date | 19 March 2013 |
| Creators | Hyslop, Judith Elizabeth |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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