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An ethological analysis of the communicative behaviour of infant and preschool hearing impaired children

University of British Columbia

A review of the literature revealed a paucity of research on the communicative behaviour of hearing impaired infant and preschool children. The aim of this investigation was to provide detailed descriptive data on communicative behaviour from which hypotheses could be generated. A second aim was to test the efficacy of Woodward's Method in observing hearing impaired children. Woodward (1977), devised a videotaped Method of analyzing observations which used ethological elements to code behaviour. Behaviour lasting as little as 1/60 of a second could be detected with the equipment used. The Method's procedure for recording data permitted a reliable means of inferring Jakobson's (1960) six Communication Functions, Piagetian stages of cognitive development and Piagetian configurations. The Method was used to sequentially record observations of the communicative behaviour of three hearing impaired infant and preschool girls who were videotaped in their homes as they played and interacted with people. Comparisons to the behaviour of the two normally hearing infants in Woodward's study were made. No generalizations could be made from the comparisons because of the limited sample size in both studies. Comparisons were only made for the purpose of generating hypotheses. The analysis revealed that these three girls used many of the same Elements of Behaviour to communicate a message as the two normally hearing infants in the Woodward study. Two exceptions were noted. The three children in the sample spent more time attempting to communicate in general than the hearing babies and in particular, they used more Phatic communication. Another interesting finding which arose from the recording of the Piagetian configurations was that the three children in the sample appeared to have the same "thought representations" as their hearing peers. The Method also provided a procedure for recording anecdotal data. Information from these data, in addition to the findings from the analysis, generated numerous hypotheses and questions which When submitted to more scientific scrutiny will help in supplying needed data in this relatively unexplored area.

Text

2010-03-17

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/22007

Education

University of British Columbia

Graduate