TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED DURING ENGLISH LESSONS IN SPECIAL SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH

Abstract

Students with Hearing Impairment (HI) face various implications in the process of learning as a result of the hearing loss. The academic performance of these students  who have hearing loss or have ability to only perceive slight sound is affected greatly. These students with HI have continued to perform below average in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). The objective of this study was to find out the teaching and learning strategies employed in teaching and learning English and their implications on the academic performance. The study adopted multiple case study design within a qualitative approach. The study was conducted in the four special secondary schools for the deaf in Nyanza region of Kenya with a sample size of 48 participants. The sample size comprised 33 form 3 students, 7 teachers of English, 4 Curriculum Support Officers and 4 Principals of Secondary Schools for the Deaf. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the four schools while saturated sampling technique was used to select 7 teachers of English. Stratified sampling was used to select 33 Form 3 students. The study employed In-depth interview schedules, focus group discussion guides, Classroom Observation Checklists and the document analysis guide as the research tools for data collection.  Thematic analysis was employed for data analysis based on the themes that emerged from the study. The findings of the study indicated that the methods used for instruction during English lessons include  note taking, questioning technique, incorporation of ICT, Use of visual aids, dramatization, group discussions, lecturing, singing, use of peer tutoring, team teaching among others. Group discussion and peer tutoring are the preferred approaches of instruction. However, these methods needs close supervision by the teacher. The study recommends a quasi-experimental study approach on the effect of the learning strategies on deaf students’ academic performance in English to identify appropriate strategies that can produce a positive outcome.