The communicative performance of a severely hearing-impaired adolescent

THE COMMUNICATIVE PERFORMANCE OF A SEVERELY HEARING-IMPAIRED ADOLESCENT ANN RUSSELL, B . A . ( S P . & Η . T H . ) (WITWATERSRAND) Psychological and Guidance Services, Cape Education Department, Cape Town SUMMARY This study describes the communicative performance of a severely hearing-impaired adolescent. The experimenter taught the subject how to play Russian Backgammon. The subject conversed with, and afterwards taught his mother, speech therapist, and a peer how to play the game. Each dyad played the game once. Videotape recordings were made of each dyadic situation. The channels of communication, both verbal and nonverbal, used by each speaker, were determined. A relational communication coding scheme, involving the analysis of requests and subsequent responses, was applied to the data. Results indicate that the hearing-impaired adolescent, though not always able to hold a dominant position in a dyadic situation, was capable of expressing the same types of control as normal adults. Moreover, the types of control expressed varied as a function of each contextual setting. Whenever the subject did hold a dominant position, the combined verbal plus nonverbal channel was his predominant mode of communication. These findings suggest that a sociolinguistic approach provides important information regarding a hearing-impaired adolescent's communicative performance. Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2012) OPSOMMING Hierdie studie beskryf die kommunikasiegedrag van 'n erg gehoorgestremde adolessent. Die navorser het die proefpersoon geieei om 'n spel te speel. Die adolessent het met sy moeder, 'n spraakterapeut en 'n jeugdige van dieselfde ouderdom gesels en hulle later geleer hoe om die spel te speel. Elkeen van die tweetal het die spel eenkeer gespeel. Videobandopnames is gemaak van elke tweegesprek. Die verbale en nie-verbale kommunikasieklee, deur elke spreker gebruik, is vasgestel. 'n Kommunikasie koderingskema, wat die ontleding van versoeke en daaropvolgende response behels, is gebruik om die gegewens te analiseer. Resultate het aangedui dat die gehoorgestremde adolessent alhoewel hy nie altyd 'n dominante posisie gedurende 'n tweegesprek kan handhaaf nie, nogtans instaat was om dieselfde tipe beheer as normale volwassenes, te openbaar. Die tipe kontrole het verskil as 'n funksie van elke situasie. Wanneer die adolessent wel 'n dominante posisie beklee het, was gesamentlike verbale en nie-verbale kommunikasiewee, sy vernaamste kommunikasiewyse. Hierdie bevindinge dui daarop dat 'n sosiolinguistiese benadering belangrike inligting verskaf aangaande 'n gehoorgestremde adolessent se kommunikasiegedrag. Most research dealing with the language of the hearing-impaired has focused on syntax. Results across all studies indicate a retardation in linguistic performance. 1 ' 6 ' 2 4 These findings, however, do not reflect or predict how the hearing-impaired use their language for communication. Communication is . . . the transmission of a message from one person to another.21 Thus, it is an interpersonal, interactive process . . . realized, not only through verbal codes, but also through a matrix of complexly integrated coding mechanisms in a communicative context.22 The natural method of communication among the congenitally hearingimpaired is by means of signs, and most hearing-impaired parents use Die Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Kommunikasieafwy kings, Vol. 28,1981 4 Ann Russell Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2012) sign language with their young hearing-impaired children. 17 Most hearing-impaired children, however, have hearing parents who, traditionally, have been discouraged from using manual communication. In an attempt to determine the relative effectiveness of oral versus manual methods of communication, most studies 7 · 1 3 have compared hearing-impaired children of hearing-impaired parents, who use a manual method of communication, with hearing-impaired children of hearing parents, who use oral language. It has been found that hearing-impaired children of hearing-impaired parents, who use a manual method have superior communication skills. 21 Recently, a number of investigators 8 ' 2 6 have utilized a sociolinguistic approach to describe the semantic-pragmatic component of language in the spontaneous communication of hearing-impaired preschool children. The results have revealed a clear difference between the development of a linguistic (semantic) and a communicative (pragmatic) ability: the former ability appeared to be delayed whereas the latter was age appropriate. Sociolinguistic research has investigated the ways in which children talk to adults and to one another. 2 ' 1 6 Very little information, however, has been published regarding the ways in which hearing-impaired adolescents communicate. If the goal of education is to prepare them to communicate effectively in society, then information about their communicative abilities is essential. Adolescence, being the age between 12 and 21 years, 2 3 is a period during which the adolescent has to learn appropriate social roles. 2 5 Role relationships are implicitly recognized by the way individuals interact with each other. Mishler 19 ' 2 0 proposes that questionsustained discourse reflects the role relationships between speakers, particularly along the dominance-submission dimension. For example, in hierarchical relationships, such as a teacher-pupil relationship, it is common for the dominant person to control the dialogue by asking questions and issuing commands. 5 The subordinate person does not have these privileges, but rather . . . 'is expected to respond to the imposed tasks'. 5 Adolescence is a time of flux,11 and, during this period, an adolescent manifests both dominant and submissive traits in his/her struggle to establish a sense of identity. 23 Hearing-impaired adolescents, how. : ever,-have, been ,described.as "timid.", 1 ! ."-passive", "shy" 1 8 and .--. "more introvertive and submissive than those with normal hearing". 1 2 This study represents a sociolinguistic analysis of the communicative performance of a severely hearing-impaired adolescent in three conversational settings: with his mother, his speech therapist, and a peer. In addition, each dyad will be involved in a game of Russian Backgammon: an interpersonal communicative task selected from the literature. 10 - 1 5 The writer will attempt to answer the following questions: How does a severely hearing-impaired adolescent use his/her existing language to communicate? Has a severely hearingThe South African Journal of Communication Disorders, Vol. 28, 1981 Communication of a Hearing-Impaired Adolescent. 5 impaired adolescent the requisite skills for successful interpersonal interaction? What is his/her style of interaction in a dyadic situation along a dominant-submissive dimension? Can a severely hearingimpaired adolescent express control or author (...truncated)