Comparing the Effect of Multi-Media Software with Traditional Methods on Teaching Language and Speech in Hearing-Impaired Children

The present study aimed to examine the effects of multi- media language learning software in teaching language and speech to hearing-impaired children under eight in Mazandaran province. The study adopted a quasi-experimental method with pre-test/post-test design in two control and experimental groups. To conduct the study، 30 subjects were randomly selected out of 60 hearing-impaired students in the province under eight who were assigned to two control and experimental groups randomly. To achieve the objective of the study، both the control and the experimental groups were given a pre-test and then the control group has received educational training through multi-media language learning software for two months (15 sessions). When the training was completed، both control and experimental groups were given a post-test. The tools for conducting the study were TOLD-P3 test and the multimedia language learning software. The independent t test and covariance analysis (ANCOVA) were used to analyze the data obtained from the pretest and posttest. Evaluating the first three hypotheses revealed the fact that using multi-media software has better effects on children''s pictorial words، grammatical understanding and word production than the traditional approach. Further، the covariance test analysis showed that by removing the pretest effects، multimedia language learning software had more effects in improving the children''s language and speech compared with the traditional approach.