Assessing the Reading Instruction Knowledge of Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Abstract

Improving reading skills is considered one of education's highest priorities. The present study investigated teachers' knowledge of reading skills instruction in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A mixed-methods design was used to obtain data that would improve understanding of teachers' knowledge about teaching reading skills to d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) students. Fifty-five teachers of d/Dhh students completed a questionnaire; 26 of the teachers were interviewed in the qualitative portion of the study. Correlation analysis of the model strategies showed significant positive correlations within and among four reading strategies for KSA d/Dhh students: teaching phonemic awareness, teaching to associate letter shapes with their sounds, teaching vocabulary, and teaching reading comprehension The study also found that a significant number of the teachers had sufficient knowledge about teaching reading skills; therefore, no statistically significant differences were attributable to the variables in the study.