Braille reading : the influence of instructional strategies, the learning environment and the braille reading habits on the development of braille reading efficiency among the primary school pupils with total loss of vision in Kenya

Abstract

Abstract

This thesis is based on a study of Braille reading among the lower primary school pupils with total loss of vision in Kenya. The study was conducted in three special schools for pupils with visual impairments. In each school, the following were studied: The learning environment for grade three pupils, the instructional strategies applied by the teachers of English in those grades and Braille reading habits used by three pupils with total loss of vision.

The aim of the thesis was to increase an understanding and knowledge about how pupils with total loss of vision develop tactual reading abilities. The thesis precisely aimed at finding out how learning environments, instructional strategies and Braille reading habits influence the development of Braille reading efficiency of pupils with total loss of vision.

To get a basic understanding on the above, theories regarding learning through touch, teaching pupils with visual loss, reading acquisition by pupils with total loss of vision, the tactual memory system, Braille reading, mechanics of Braille reading and instructional approaches to Braille users were reviewed.

A multiple case study design was used in the thesis and each of the three schools studied was a case in which the samples mentioned above were drawn. Observation was used as the main method of data collection and in addition, informal conversations and reading efficiency tests were also used.

The study revealed a heterogeneous group of pupils with total loss of vision. All the pupils involved in the study, learnt through Braille but the study revealed differences in their Braille reading habits, fluency in reading and comprehension of texts read. Each of the above revealed some degree of being influenced by; the individual pupils home backgrounds, the age at which the pupil lost vision, the instructional strategies used in the school, the learning environment and the language of communication used in the school.

The study also revealed that different schools organised learning differently and specifically, what the pupils learnt depended on the teaching strategies used by the individual teacher. The different schools organised and used their learning environments differently. It was evident that in some cases tactual materials lacked in the learning environments hence decreasing the chances of the pupils to practice tactual reading.

The instructional strategies tended to treat the pupils as homogeneous, hence not considering the fact that the adventitiously blinded may have benefited more from different instructional approaches from the congenitally blinded.

The findings of this study reveal that there is a need for; teachers who handle pupils with loss of vision to have some basic training in the area, harmonization of the organisation of learning in the different schools and equipping of the learning environments with adequate facilities and materials to promote the development of Braille reading efficiency. The issue of language as a tool for communication in the schools needs to be addressed with the seriousness it deserves too. It confuses the pupils when they have to use three different languages at the same time. The system should decide on one language of instruction and have the teachers use it with the pupils in all learning experiences.