HOW SIGN MODE OF COMMUNICATION IMPROVES RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE SEMANTIC SKILLS IN HEARING-IMPAIRED STUDENTS
Teuta RAMADANI RASIMI
Abstract
Sign language in countries like Kosovo and Albania was recognized as an official mode of communication among hearing-impaired persons in the last two decades. Nevertheless, in Albania until recently students were using only oral mode of communication in classrooms of special schools that they attended, while in Kosovo students in special schools were using sign language as a dominant mode of communication. The objective of our research was to assess the difference between receptive and expressive semantic skills based on one main variable, the mode of communication. In our research participated overall 50 students aged 8-15, divided as 8-11(younger) and 12-15 (elder), using the signed or oral mode of communication, all visiting the residential schools for children with hearing loss in Kosovo and Albania, by using Toss-p test primary for receptive and expressive semantic skills, including five areas, labels, categories, functions, attributes, and definitions, translated and adapted in the Albanian language. The large difference in performance between subjects that use the sign mode of communication and oral mode of communication in favor of signers in receptive tasks is a high indicator that sign language helps subjects to understand labels and attributes. The difference was evident for expressive tasks in favor of signers, where signers were able to state attributes, functions, and definitions better than subjects with the oral mode of communication, which means sign language has helped them to express the meaning of the areas. This indicates the importance of presenting sign language as early as possible.
Pages:
161 - 169