Analogue forms of expression in the specific linguistic functioning of deaf

Abstract

Hindered and slow development of language and speech of deaf and hard of hearing individuals causes great difficulties in acquiring knowledge and in everyday communication. Acquiring and forming of their lexicon, linguistic production (written, oral or sign) and understanding of different linguistic content take place in a different and specific way. At the start of the research, we set the goal and tasks focusing on the linguistic functioning within the analogue forms of expressions with deaf and hard of hearing children. We examined the link between the students’ age, the level of hearing impairment, the performance in the Serbian language and the sex and the specific linguistic functioning of deaf and hard of hearing students (written, oral and sign). We examined whether deaf and hard of hearing children used analogue forms of expression with equal success. The research was carried out in five schools in the territory of the Republic of Serbia attended by deaf and hard of hearing children (in Belgrade, Zemun, Jagodina, Kragujevac and Nis). The sample comprised 83 third grade to eighth grade deaf and hard of hearing students. The following instruments were applied in the research: linguistic assessment of certain components of dysphasic syntax (D. Blagojević) – the segments Naming objects and what they are used for and Answers to the questions; A comic strip (S. Vladisavljević), A three-dimensional reading test (S. Vladisavljević) – segments which relate to reading accuracy, i.e. the number of inaccuracies (insecurities and mistakes), and to reading comprehension and the Corpus for instructions comprehension assessment (Isaković, Dimić), 3 groups of instructions arranged by difficulty in ascending order. We carried out the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the obtained language material and sought to establish the specific characteristics of the linguistic development of deaf and hard of hearing children. The obtained results were presented in tables and graphs. Based on the results of the research conducted, we have come to the conclusion that deaf and hard of hearing students have great problems in linguistic functioning, particularly in oral and written expression and that they considerably lag behind their peers who can hear in speech and language development. Difficulty in naming objects and identifying what they are used for, understanding questions and responding to them, linguistic formulation of various materials presented in the pictures and formulation of different types of sentences was observed. There were numerous insecurities and mistakes in reading as well as difficulty in reading comprehension. Understanding and following routine instructions, especially those given in written form, presented a particular problem. We have concluded that the age of students has a partial effect, while the way in which assessment is done influences the specific linguistic functioning of deaf and hard of hearing students. The level of hearing impairment and the sex have no effect on the specific linguistic functioning of deaf and hard of hearing students. Slow progress in linguistic development is particularly noticeable within oral and written expression of deaf and hard of hearing students, whereas within sign language, we can observe considerably better results, more adequate linguistic formulation and comprehension of set linguistic material in response to all requests. The obtained results indicate that deaf and hard of hearing children do not use analogue forms of expression with equal success and that their sign expression is more developed than their oral and written expression.

Otežan i usporen razvoj jezika i govora kod gluvih i nagluvih uslovljava velike teškoće u sticanju znanja i svakodnevnoj komunikaciji. Usvajanje i formiranje njihovog leksikona, jezička produkcija (pisana, govorna i znakovna) i razumevanje različitih jezičkih sadržaja, odvijaju se na drugačiji i specifičan način. Na početku istraživanja postavili smo cilj i zadatke usmerene na jezičko funkcionisanje, u okviru analognih oblika izražavanja, kod gluve i nagluve dece. Ispitivali smo povezanost između uzrasta učenika, stepena oštećenja sluha, uspeha iz srpskog jezika i pola i specifičnog jezičkog funkcionisanja gluvih i nagluvih učenika (pisanog, govornog i znakovnog). Ispitivali smo da li gluva i nagluva deca sa podjednakom uspešnošću koriste analogne oblike izražavanja. Istraživanje je sprovedeno na teritoriji Republike Srbije u pet škola koje pohađaju gluvi i nagluvi (u Beogradu, Zemunu, Jagodini, Kragujevcu i Nišu). Uzorak je činilo 83 gluvih i nagluvih učenika uzrasta od trećeg do osmog razreda. U istraživanju su korišćeni sledeći intrumenti: Jezičko ocenjivanje pojedinih komponenata disfazične sintakse (D. Blagojević)-segmenti Imenovanje predmeta i čemu služe i Odgovori na pitanja; Strip priča (S. Vladisavljević), Trodimenzionalni test čitanja (S. Vladisavljević)-segmenti koji se odnose na tačnost čitanja tj. broj nepravilnosti (nesigurnosti i greške) i na razumevanje pročitanog teksta i Korpus za procenu razumevanja naloga (Isaković, Dimić), 3 grupe naloga poređane po težini-od lakših ka težim. Izvršili smo kvantitativnu i kvalitativnu analizu dobijenog jezičkog materijala i nastojali da utvrdimo specifičnosti jezičkog razvoja gluve i nagluve dece. Dobijeni rezultati prikazani su tabelarno i grafički. Na osnovu rezultata sprovedenog istraživanja došli smo do zaključka da gluvi i nagluvi učenici imaju velikih problema u jezičkom funkcionisanju, naročito u govornom i pisanom izrazu i da, u razvoju govora i jezika, znatno zaostaju u odnosu na svoje vršnjake koji čuju. Uočene su teškoće pri imenovanju predmeta i određivanju čemu služe, razumevanju pitanja i odgovaranju na njih, jezičkoj formulaciji različitog materijala prikazanog na slikama, formulaciji različitih vrsta rečenica. Pojavile su se brojne nesigurnosti i greške u čitanju, kao i teškoće u razumevanju pročitanog sadržaja. Poseban problem predstavljalo je razumevanje i izvršavanje svakodnevnih naloga, naročito naloga datih u okviru pisanog govora. Zaključili smo da uzrast učenika ima delimičan uticaj, dok način ocenjivanja ima uticaja na specifično jezičko funkcionisanje gluvih i nagluvih učenika. Stepen oštećenja sluha i pol nemaju uticaja na specifično jezičko funkcionisanje gluvih i nagluvih učenika. Zaostajanje u jezičkom razvoju naročito je uočljivo u okviru govornog i pisanog izraza gluvih i nagluvih učenika, dok u okviru znakovnog jezika, na svim zahtevima, uočavamo znatno bolje rezultate, adekvatniju jezičku formulaciju i razumevanje zadatog jezičkog materijala. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju na to da gluva i nagluva deca ne koriste sa podjednakom uspešnošću analogne oblike izražavanja i da je njihov znakovni izraz razvijeniji od govornog i pisanog.