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Survey on the academic achievement and problems of hearing-impaired pupils in secondary schools in Singapore
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Type
Thesis
Author
Wong, Hon Loong
Supervisor
Lau, Kam Cheong
Abstract
Only a handful of hearing-impaired pupils pass their Primary School Leaving Examination each year. From the sheltered learning environment of the two schools for the deaf, these pupils are then immersed, largely unwarned and emotionally unprepared, into the drastically different learning environment of the ordinary secondary schools. This study aims therefore to ascertain the academic achievement of these hearing-impaired pupils in the ordinary secondary schools and to identify the problems they have both in and out of school.
The main subjects of this study are the 24 hearing-impaired pupils who have already been identified by the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education. Pure-tone and free-field speech audiometric testing is performed on the pupils to measure the severity of their hearing impairment. The Raven Standard Progressive Matrices is used to measure the mental sibilate of the pupils and their comparison groups. Data in the examination mark sheets of their schools are used to ascertain the academic achievement and progress of the pupils in their academic studies. Two questionnaires -- a Pupil Questionnaire and a Teacher Questionnaire -- are developed and used for the dual purpose of setting the stage or context for problem identification and of problem identification itself.
The main findings of this study are:
● There are other hearing-impaired pupils in secondary schools in Singapore of whom the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education does not know about.
● More than half the group of hearing-impaired pupils, specifically 14 pupils, have extreme hearing impairment. Seven pupils have severe hearing impairment. Two pupils have marked hearing impairment and one pupil had mild hearing impairment.
● The majority of the hearing-impaired pupils will hear very little, if at all, of all that is said in the classroom unless compensatory factors such as visual cues, lip-reading and hearing aids come into play.
● Nearly three-quarters of the group, specifically 17 pupils, are above average in mental ability.
● Seventeen pupils have indeed performed better academically than at least 50.0% of their schoolmates. In fact, four pupils have performed better than 75% of their schoolmates. These 17 pupils are, however, not exclusively those with above average mental ability
● Performance of the pupils in the minimally language-dependent subjects is better than their performance in the heavily language-dependent subjects. The performance of the pupils in Mathematics and Art is exceptionally striking.
● Longitudinal data shows that with the exception of English which registers zero improvement, the number of subjects that shows a net improvement of pupils equals the number that shows a net retrogression that is, four subjects each.
● The problems confronting the pupils are, in an order of decreasing importance, problems with their teachers, problems with their studies, problems with their classmates, problems with their extra-curricular activities, problems with their families/problems with their hearing, problems with their speech, problems with their command of language, problems with their friends/problems with their relatives, and problems with their neighbours.
● The root cause of many of the problems is a non-understanding of what hearing impairment entails.
In spite of the many school-centred and home-associated problems that have mainly arisen because of their hearing impairment, the majority of the pupils are able academically to hold their own against their normal-hearing schoolmates. Additionally, there is no conclusive evidence to show that the hearing-impaired pupils invariably retrogress with each successive year of secondary education. There is evidence however to show that the pupils perform better academically in the lower secondary classes than they do in the upper secondary classes.
The main subjects of this study are the 24 hearing-impaired pupils who have already been identified by the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education. Pure-tone and free-field speech audiometric testing is performed on the pupils to measure the severity of their hearing impairment. The Raven Standard Progressive Matrices is used to measure the mental sibilate of the pupils and their comparison groups. Data in the examination mark sheets of their schools are used to ascertain the academic achievement and progress of the pupils in their academic studies. Two questionnaires -- a Pupil Questionnaire and a Teacher Questionnaire -- are developed and used for the dual purpose of setting the stage or context for problem identification and of problem identification itself.
The main findings of this study are:
● There are other hearing-impaired pupils in secondary schools in Singapore of whom the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education does not know about.
● More than half the group of hearing-impaired pupils, specifically 14 pupils, have extreme hearing impairment. Seven pupils have severe hearing impairment. Two pupils have marked hearing impairment and one pupil had mild hearing impairment.
● The majority of the hearing-impaired pupils will hear very little, if at all, of all that is said in the classroom unless compensatory factors such as visual cues, lip-reading and hearing aids come into play.
● Nearly three-quarters of the group, specifically 17 pupils, are above average in mental ability.
● Seventeen pupils have indeed performed better academically than at least 50.0% of their schoolmates. In fact, four pupils have performed better than 75% of their schoolmates. These 17 pupils are, however, not exclusively those with above average mental ability
● Performance of the pupils in the minimally language-dependent subjects is better than their performance in the heavily language-dependent subjects. The performance of the pupils in Mathematics and Art is exceptionally striking.
● Longitudinal data shows that with the exception of English which registers zero improvement, the number of subjects that shows a net improvement of pupils equals the number that shows a net retrogression that is, four subjects each.
● The problems confronting the pupils are, in an order of decreasing importance, problems with their teachers, problems with their studies, problems with their classmates, problems with their extra-curricular activities, problems with their families/problems with their hearing, problems with their speech, problems with their command of language, problems with their friends/problems with their relatives, and problems with their neighbours.
● The root cause of many of the problems is a non-understanding of what hearing impairment entails.
In spite of the many school-centred and home-associated problems that have mainly arisen because of their hearing impairment, the majority of the pupils are able academically to hold their own against their normal-hearing schoolmates. Additionally, there is no conclusive evidence to show that the hearing-impaired pupils invariably retrogress with each successive year of secondary education. There is evidence however to show that the pupils perform better academically in the lower secondary classes than they do in the upper secondary classes.
Date Issued
1979
Call Number
HV2446 Won
Date Submitted
1979