An Evaluation of Language Learning and (Sentence) Writing Course Book and Teacher’s Guide for Hearing-Impaired Students

The present study aimed to evaluate language learning and (sentence) writing course book and teacher’s guide for hearing-impaired first graders. A retrospective approach to the course materials was applied.

Since a variety of language features and levels are considered, the research seems to share a structuralist point of view for criticizing and analyzing formal and content strengths and limitations of the materials being evaluated as well as the literacy learning and teaching process. With regard to the subject matter and purpose of the study, an evaluation research approach was employed and different quantitative and qualitative (descriptive, focus group and content analysis) research techniques were used. A researcher-made questionnaire for data collection was administered. Smaple groups were selected through a purposive non-random sampling. A group of ten experts in the field of audiology, curriculum planning and assessment from Tehran were responsible to check validity and reliability of the questionnaire; four experienced teachers from Tehran province were involved in the intensive interviewing in the focus group (a descriptive assessment); Eighty-two people from six selected provinces completed a closed-ended questionnaire for textbook and teacher’s guide (at a Likert scale); Twenty people from six selected provinces participated to complete a detailed questionnaire (lesson content analysis), they responded different items and provided their daily teaching reports for selected lessons; Six experts in language teaching, linguistics, audiology, curriculum planning, graphics and editing completed the questionnaire for subject and art experts (annotations); and finally, the researcher completed the documentary survey questionnaire.

The results of quantitative analysis showed a correlation between scores of formal and content attributes by 0.80, which is significant with error probability values less than 0.01. At the end, various responses to the research items are listed as important features for language learning and (sentence) writing, and opinions about content and formal strengths and limitations are summarized and compared with findings of previous studies in the field of evaluation of Farsi teaching materials.