CONTRIBUTION OF VISUAL SUPPORT STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE THE EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE SKILLS OF STUDENTS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT

Abstract

Students with Hearing Impairment predominantly rely on their visual senses to comprehend and interact with their surroundings. To investigate the contribution of visual support strategies to enhance the Expressive Language Skills of students with Hearing Impairment, the study utilized a mixed method research design targeting 73 students, 42 teachers, 7 heads of institutions, and 5 Educational Assessment and Resource Centre (EARC) officers. The study was guided by Social Learning Theory by Albert Bandura. Questionnaires, interview guides, and observation checklists were used to collect data. Face and content validation were conducted, and the reliability of instruments was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha (.8493). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (means, frequencies, and standard deviations); inferential analysis was done through Pearson correlation. Qualitative data underwent thematic analysis and triangulation. Study findings indicated a statistically significant positive correlation between visual support strategies and expressive language skills development (r = .528; p = .012), demonstrating that visual support strategies enhance expression in students with Hearing Impairment. The study concluded that the expressive language skills development for students with hearing impairment would be limited without consistent integration of visual support strategies and continuous professional development of educators. It recommends that the Ministry of Education, through the Kenyan Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), prioritize scaling up visual support strategies in the curriculum for students with Hearing Impairment to benefit.