The Effects of Grade 9 Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners' Classroom Participation on Their Academic Performance: A Case of Six Selected Schools in Southern Province of Zambia

The study sought to investigate the effects of grade 9 deaf and hard of hearing learners’ classroom participation on their academic performance in six selected schools in Southern Province of Zambia. The study was guided by the objective; establish the effects of classroom participation on the academic performance of learners who are deaf or hard of hearing. Correlation study to provide evidence of relationship between classroom participation and academic performance was used with a mixed-methods study of quantitative and qualitative. Surveys, interviews, focus groups and documents as triangulation sources were administered. The sampling technique which was employed for selecting the participants of this study was purposive sampling. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. A total of 150 respondents participated comprising of 12 school administrators, 42 subjects’ heads of departments, 42 subject teachers, 30 learners’ 12 parents or guardians and 12 classroom observations in a grade 9 class. The study established that classroom participation had effects on academic performance of the grade 9 learners who are deaf or hard of hearing. The research adds that the relationship between classroom participation and academic performance for the learners who are deaf or hard of hearing involves multiple features associated with quality classroom participation. The study revealed that certain nuggets expected to provide academic accessibility in schools were not available such as; language access, use of sign language interpreters or other communication tools, use of assistive technologies like captioning or amplification, lack of training to ensure that teachers and staff were aware of how to support deaf or hard of hearing learners. The study further showed that teachers lacked knowledge of sign language in order to enhance effective communication.