Computer-Assisted Vocabulary Learning for Thai Deaf Students: A Case Study of Sot Suksa School for the Deaf
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
In a world without sound, learning to communicate, read, write, and expand one’s vocabulary requires a community of expert communicators in sign language. For many deaf individuals in Thailand who are born into hearing-abled families, access to the expert assistance they need to learn communication skills does not begin until their first years of compulsory education. By that time, academically, they are already many years behind their hearing-abled peers. The present study employed an experimental research design to investigate the influence of computer-assisted language learning technology, DeafReader, on the vocabulary skills of deaf students in Thailand. After a six-week intervention, one-way ANOVA analysis showed no significant difference in pre-test and post-test scores between the treatment and control groups. Additional analysis found a significant difference in performance between male and female students. Age differences in the acquisition of foundation language skills between genders were considered to be an influencing factor in the results of this study. The author concludes that students may have lacked the basic language skills needed for technology intervention to be effective. The author recommends examining the effects on an older age group and exploring the use of DeafReader as a learning tool for fingerspelling, sign language, and mapping text to sign.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
References
Allgood, M. H., Heller, K. W., Easterbrooks, S. R., & Fredrick, L. D. (2009). Use of picture dictionaries to promote functional communication in students with deafness and intellectual disabilities. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 31(1), 53-64.
Arya, M., Patil, R., Karande, P., & Jadhav, D. (2017). Automated sign to speech portable translator for vocally challenged using Android and touch sensors. International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research, 4(11), 379-383.
Azbel, L. (2004). How do the deaf read? The paradox of performing a phonemic task without sound. Intel Science Talent Search, 1-20.
Baglama, B., Haksiz, M., & Uzunboylu, H. (2018). Technologies used in education of hearing impaired individuals. iJET, 13(9), 53-63.
Berninger, V. W., Neilsen, K. H., Abbott, R. D., Wijsman, E., & Raskind, W. (2008). Gender differences in severity of writing and reading disabilities. Journal of School Psychology, 46(2), 151-172.
Burman, D. D., Bitan, T., & Booth, J. R. (2008). Sex differences in neural processing of language among children. Neuropsychologia, 46(5), 1349-1362.
Cawthon, S. (2011). Test item linguistic complexity and assessments for deaf students. American Annals of the Deaf, 156(3), 255-269.
Cupples, L., Ching, T. Y., Crowe, K., Day, J., & Seeto, M. (2014). Predictors of early reading skill in 5-year-old children with hearing loss who use spoken language. Reading Research Quarterly, 49(1), 85-104.
Easterbrooks, S. R., Lederberg, A. R., Antia, S., Schick, B., Kushalnagar, P., Webb, M., Branum-Martin, L., Connor, C. M. (2015). Reading among diverse DHH learners: What, how, and for whom? American Annals of the Deaf, 159(5), 419-432.
Elghoul, O., & Jemni, M. (2009). A sign language screen reader for deaf (pp. 476-483). In Holzinger, A., & Miesenberger, K. (Eds.), HCI and usability for e-inclusion. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.
Finney, E. M., Clemmentz, B. A., Hickok, G., & Dobkins, K. R. (2003). Visual stimuli activate auditory cortex in deaf subjects: Evidence from MEG. Neuroreport, 14(2), 1425-1427.
Geers, A. E., & Hayes, H. (2011). Reading writing and phonological processing skills of adolescents with 10 or more years of cochlear implant experience. Ear and Hearing, 32(1), 49S-59S.
Ghasemi, A., & Zahediasl, S. (2012). Normality tests for statistical analysis: A guide for non-statisticians. International journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 10(2), 486-489.
Goldin-Meadow, S., & Mayberry, R. I. (2001). How do profoundly deaf children learn to read? Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 16(4), 222-229.
HandTalk. (2022). Google Play. Retrieved from https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=7663902211023143892&hl=en
Harris, M. (2015). The impact of new technologies on the literacy attainment of deaf children. Top Lang Disorders, 35(2), 120-132.
Hoover, A. W., & Gough, B. P. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 127-160.
Iam-Khong, N., Suksakulchai, S., & Kaewprapan, W. (2011). The learning achievement in Thai language for hearing impaired students in Thailand. US-China Education Review A7, 1023-1029.
Joy, J., Balakrishnan, K., & Sreeraj, M. (2019). SiLearn: An intelligent sign vocabulary learning tool. Journal of Enabling Technologies, 13(3), 173-187.
Kuntze, M., Golos, D., & Enns, C. (2014). Rethinking literacy: Broadening opportunities for visual learner. Sign Language Studies, 14(2), 203-224.
Lang, H. G., & Steely, D. (2003). Web-based science instruction for deaf students: What research says to the teacher. Instructional Science, 31, 277-298.
Lasasso, C. J., & Crain, K. L. (2015). Reading for deaf and hearing readers: Qualitatively and/or quantitatively similar or different? A nature versus nurture issue. American Annals of the Deaf, 159(5), 447-467.
Luckner, J. L., & Cooke, C. (2010). A summary of the vocabulary research with students who are deaf or hard of hearing. American Annals of the Deaf, 155(1), 38-67.
Lynn, R., & Mikk, J. (2009). Sex differences in reading achievement. Trames: A Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 13(1), 3-13.
Mahesh, K. (2018). Conversion of sign language into text. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 13(9), 7154-7161.
Mathews, E. S., & O’Donnell, M. (2018). Reading and deaf and hard of hearing pupils in mainstream education. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329427906_Reading_and_Deaf_and_Hard_of_Hearing_Pupils_in_Mainstream_Education
Mayberry, R. I., del Giudice, A. A., & Lieberman, A. M. (2011). Reading achievement in relation to phonological coding and awareness in deaf readers: A meta-analysis. The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 16(2), 164-188.
Möbus, L. (2010). Making web content accessible for the deaf via sign language. Library Hi Tech, 28(4), 569-576.
Morere, D. A. (2011). Visual language and visual learning science of learning center. Reading Research and Deaf Children (Research Brief No. 4). Retrieved from https://vl2.gallaudet.edu/research-briefs/258
Morin, A. (2012). Inner speech (pp. 436-443). In Ramachandran, V. S. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of human behavior (2 eds.). Academic Press.
Moxon, S. (2022a). Administrator user guide. Retrieved from http://www.sotnakhon.com/userguides/AdministratorGuide.pdf
Moxon, S. (2022b). DeafReader. Retrieved from http://www.sotnakhon.com
Moxon, S. (2022c). Student user guide. Retrieved from http://www.sotnakhon.com/userguides/StudentGuide.pdf
Musselman, C. (2000). How do children who can’t hear learn to read an alphabetic script? A review of the literature on reading and deafness. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 5(1), 9-31.
National Statistics Office, Thailand. (2017). The 2017 Disability Survey. Retrieved from http://www.nso.go.th/sites/2014en/Survey/social/SocialSecurity/Disabilitysurvey/2017/Full_Report.pdf
Paul, P. V. (2013). The view from the edge: Rethinking a few ideas. American Annals of the Deaf, 158(3), 287-291.
Paul, P. V., Wang, Y., Trezek, B. J., & Luckner, J. L. (2009). Phonology is necessary, but not sufficient: A rejoinder. American Annals of the Deaf, 154(4), 346-356.
Prezbindowski, A. K., & Lederberg, A. R. (2003). Vocabulary assessment of deaf and hard-of-hearing children from infancy through the preschool years. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 8(4), 383-400.
Razalli, A. R., Thomas, R. O., Mamat, N., & Yusaf, N. (2018). Using text with pictures in primary school to improve reading comprehension for hearing impaired students. Journal of ICSAR, 2(1), 19-27.
Reilly, D., Neumann, D. L., & Andrews, G. (2019). Gender differences in reading and writing achievement: Evidence from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). American Psychologist, 74(4), 445-458.
Rönnberg, J., Rudner, M., & Ingvar, M. (2004). Neural correlates of working memory for sign language. Cognitive Brain Research, 20(2), 165-182.
Scarborough, H. S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In Neuman, S., & Dickinson, D. (Eds.), Handbook for research in early literacy (pp. 97–110).
Schirmer, B. R., Bailey, J., & Lockman, A. S. (2004). What verbal protocols reveal about the reading strategies of deaf students: A replication study. American Annals of the Deaf, 149(1), 5-16.
Schwabe, F., McElvany, N., & Trendtel, M. (2015). The school age gender gap in reading achievement: Examining the influences of item format and intrinsic reading motivation. Reading Research Quarterly, 50(2), 219-232.
Shinde, A., & Kagalkar, R. (2015). Advanced Marathi sign language recognition using computer vision. International Journal of Computer Applications, 118(13), 1-7.
The Isaan Record. (2017). Growing up deaf in Thailand. Retrieved from https://theisaanrecord.co/2017/12/13/growing-deaf-thailand
Thurlow, M. L., Moen, R. E., Liu, K. K., Scullin, S., Hausmann, K. E., & Shyyan, V. (2009). Disabilities and reading: Understanding the effects of disabilities and their relationship to reading instruction and assessment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment.
Trezek, B. J., & Mayer, C. (2015). Using an informal reading inventory to differentiate instruction: Case studies of three deaf learners. American Annals of the Deaf, 160(3), 289-302.
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. (2018). Bridge to a brighter tomorrow: The Patani Malay-Thai Multilingual Education Programme. UNICEF. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/thailand/media/1282/file/Bridge%20to%20a%20Brighter%20Tomorrow%20(Full%20Report).pdf
Williams, J., Darcy, I., & Newman, S. (2015). Fingerspelling and print processing similarities in deaf and hearing readers. Journal of Language and Literature, 6(1), 56-65.
Woll, B. (2013). Sign language and spoken language development in young children: Measuring vocabulary by means of the CDI. In Meurant, L., Sinte, A., Herreweghe, M. V., & Vermeerbergen, M. (Eds.), Sign language research, uses and practices (pp. 15-34). De Gruyter.
Woll, B. (2019). Applied linguistics from the perspective of sign language and deaf studies. In Wright, C., Harvey, L., & Simpson, J. (Eds.). Voices and practices in applied linguistics (pp. 51-70). York: White Rose University Press.
Yoon, J.-O., & Kim, M. (2011). The effects of captions on deaf students’ content comprehension, cognitive load, and motivation in online learning. American Annals of the Deaf, 156(3), 283-289.