Strategies used in teaching English composition to learners with hearing impairment in Nyanza

Abstract

The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (K.C.P.E) and Mock results in the last five years show that learners with hearing impairment perform poorly in English compared to their hearing counterparts in schools in Nyanza Province. A summary of the national examination scores in 2009 and 2010 put English composition scores at 40.48% and 42.70% respectively. The purpose of this study was to establish strategies used in teaching English composition to learners with hearing impairment in Nyanza Province. A descriptive survey design was used in this study. A sample of 61 learners and 4 teachers of English were used in this study. Data was collected using lesson observation schedules and questionnaires. Results of this study indicate that repetition, discussion, questioning, guided writing and demonstration were the most frequently used strategies in teaching English composition to learners with hearing impairments. However, group work, peer-teaching, story-signing, cooperative teaching; and dramatization were the least used strategies. These findings are important since they reveal that the most effective strategies such as peer teaching cooperative teaching and dramatization are least used with learners who are deaf and this may be the cause of poor performance in English writing composition.