TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES USED IN THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT IN AKWA IBOM STATE

Abstract

This study investigated teachers’ perception on the use of communication strategies in teaching students with hearing impairment in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.  The study adopted descriptive survey design using a population of 84 teachers and a sample size of 70 teachers. Four research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. The instrument for data collection was Communication Strategies Questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and independent t-test. Findings of the study showed that there was no significant difference in male and female teachers’ perception on the use of communication strategies, no significant difference in teachers’ perception on the use of oral, manual and total communication strategy in teaching children with hearing impairment. Recommendations were made among which are Capacity building of in-service classroom teachers through workshop and seminars to acquaint them with the skills of using this technique in teaching in schools. Sign language dictionaries with academic related words should be developed for use in the classroom to support classroom teachers during instruction.