Efficacy of Adapted Cued Speech in Identifying and Differentiating Tamil Speech Sounds in Students with Hearing Impairment

Abstract

Spoken language serves as the bedrock of communication, acting as a conduit for newlinethe exchange of thoughts, emotions, and ideas between individuals. Persons with hearing newlineimpairment face numerous challenges in communication, often grappling with obstacles newlinethat can hinder their ability to engage fully in social interactions. One significant issue is newlinethe difficulty in accurately perceiving spoken language. Additionally, the reliance on newlinelip-reading may not always be effective, especially in noisy environments or when newlinespeakers are not facing directly. These challenges underscore the importance of inclusive newlinecommunication practices and the implementation of support systems. It is here that Cued newlinespeech, originally designed by Orin Cornett in 1966, comes to the rescue. It is proven to newlinebe an effective supportive mode to oral communication. This study aimed at adapting newlineCued Speech for Tamil language, developing technology-mediated self-learning material newlineand finding out its efficacy in identifying and differentiating Tamil speech sounds in newlinestudents with hearing impairment. The study had two major aspects: 1) Training on newlinePrerequisite Skills for learning Adapted Cued Speech and 2) Training on Adapted Cued newlineSpeech to identify and differentiate Tamil speech sounds. The assessment tools and newlineintervention modules are prepared for these two aspects. The prerequisite skills for newlinelearning Adapted Cued Speech involves: 1) Awareness of Tamil speech sounds, 2) Skills newlineto identify Mouthshapes and 3) Skills to form Compound Letters. Four important aspects newlineare dealt in Adapted Cued Speech, viz. 1) Vowels, 2) Consonants, 3) Compound Letters newlineand 4) Words. The intervention modules consist of explanatory videos, programmed newlinelearning material, worksheets, posters and flash cards. The Quasi-experimental design newlinewas conducted and the results reveal that the Adapted Cued Speech is effective in newlineidentifying and differentiating Tamil speech sounds in students with hearing impairment. newlineThis study stands as an evidence that the students with hearing impairment