THE LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION. A CASE STUDY OF A SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITY

Students with hearing impairment are increasingly being granted access to a university education yet they still remain significantly under-represented and under-supported in higher education in both developed and developing countries. Research shows that the majority of students with hearing impairment are unsuccessful in their tertiary studies. This has a direct personal cost to the individual students and to the national economy. The aim of the article is to report on a study concerning how students with a hearing impairment experience teaching and learning at a university in South Africa, to share the barriers through their lived experience and to provide recommendations to academics related to curriculum flexibility and transformation. This is a qualitative descriptive case study in a South African university. Purposive sampling methods were employed. Data were gathered from in-depth interviews with seven students with hearing impairment ranging from moderate to profound, using spoken language. Atlas.ti was used following a grounded theory coding process. The findings showed that students with hearing impairment are not adequately supported resulting in them facing a range of barriers to teaching and learning, which could potentially derail both their academic progress and overall success. There is a growing obligation for universities to respond by improving the overall support provided to students with hearing impairment (using the oral method of communication), attempting to meet their unique learning and communication needs in order for the teaching and learning environment to be more accessible.