Abstract
Language acquisition may come naturally for people without sensorial disabilities. But for deaf children, language acquisition happens differently and comparably delayed than hearing children. This case study made an in-depth inquiry of the communication skills of the Special Education (SPED) students in one of the community colleges in Quezon Province, Philippines. An English Proficiency Test in the areas of Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading Comprehension, Analysis (Cause and Effect; Making Inferences) and Following Directions was given to the students. A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was also conducted to gather data regarding problems encountered in their English classes. The gathered data were tabulated using frequency and percentage for the English Proficiency Test, while Conversation Analysis for FGD. The English Proficiency results revealed that Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension and Making Inferences were the three key areas where the respondents exhibit the lowest skills. These facts point out that teaching methods need to be adjusted to suit the needs of the SPED learners because the deaf’s language formation is different in nature with that of the hearing. Thus, the researcher strongly recommends crafting a separate curriculum for the SPED students of the college.
Keywords: special education, language proficiency, sign language, D/HH
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