Who is a student with a hearing impairment?
Spoken language user (B1)
A student with a hearing impairment who prefers using spoken language to communicate, and that in spoken or written form.
Sign language user (B2)
A student with a hearing impairment who prefers to communicate through sign language.
Hearing does not serve only to transmit information through communication, it helps us orient ourselves in relation to sound sources, allowing us to understand the environment around us, and thus also has a safety function. It may be difficult to recognize a student with a hearing impairment at first glance, because if he/she does not use a hearing aid or a cochlear implant to compensate for the hearing loss (which may be at least partially visible), this disability can only hardly be identified with the naked eye. As a result, the lay population has distorted ideas about the difficulties these individuals may face in their everyday lives, and, therefore, also during their studies.
What procedures do we need to observe in classes?
- Always communicate in a quiet environment free from disturbing elements and sounds.
- Speak a little slower than usual, articulate more clearly, do not syllabify. Do not shout or change the rhythm of your speech.
- Do not jump unexpectedly from one topic to another.
- Do not multitask: Do not write on the board, show a picture or lecture at the same time.
- Provide study-related materials (presentation, university textbook) in advance, so that the student can follow the lecture and take notes.
- Use simple sentences, clear, concise and carefully pronounced speech, omit the so-called filler words and avoid using flowery sentences.
- If the discussion is taking place in a group, desks in the classroom should be arranged in a circle to allow the student to follow the discussion. The teacher shall point to the person who wants to speak, so that the student can concentrate on the speaker because he/she can see him/her well.
- The student can use online transcription via tablet or mobile phone.
- If you want to play a video in class, keep in mind that you need to turn on subtitles. If the video does not have subtitles, the Centre staff can subtitle the video. In such a case, it is necessary to contact the Centre staff at least 14 days in advance.
Principles of correct lip-reading in classes
Lip-reading is 10x more consuming than auditory speech perception. It is reported that only 30 % of articulated speech can be captured by lip-reading. Students cannot write notes and lip-read at the same time, it is very demanding (they are unable to catch every word, tend to make more errors).
Lighting
Make sure that the lighting conditions are good and that the speaker’s face is visible for lip-reading. Poor or unsuitable lighting conditions can cause fatigue and exhaustion due to the difficulty of lip-reading. Make sure that the lighting conditions are adequate with regard to the time of the day and weather conditions.
Distance of the person speaking
The distance between the lip-reading student and the speaker should not be more than 3 m and less than 0.5 m. The heads of the communicators should be at the same height. Lip-reading the speech of an adult standing person is more difficult for a sitting student.
Speech of the person speaking
When communicating, we speak in the usual way, clearly, at an appropriate volume, or at a slower pace, if need be. Fast speech, indistinct as well as too pronounced articulation, and facial expressions that make articulation less visible (laughing, crying, chewing) make lip-reading much more difficult. For women, it is advisable to use lipstick, since it accentuates lips and their articulatory position. On the other hand, men’s moustache or beard makes lip-reading much harder.
Lip-reading problems
When communicating, be aware of the fact that reading of selected consonants, e.g. P, B, M, T, D, N, C, S, Z, is more difficult, as their articulation position is very similar or they cannot be lip-read (e.g. K, G, CH, H). Only one third of the sounds can be lip-read in the Czech language, the rest must be deduced/guessed according to the richness of the students’ vocabulary. If the student does not know the word in question, there is a high probability of its misunderstanding. It is important that the student understands the utterance. However, the teacher shall ask “Did you understand?”, because, then, the student always gives an affirmative answer. Ask the student the following questions: “What did you understand?”, “Did you understand the chapter about …?” If the student has misunderstood you, repeat the information, more slowly again, use different words to express the same meaning, provide more details.