Examining Metacognition in Hearing and Deaf/Hard of Hearing Students: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The metacognitive performance of 87 hearing and 20 deaf/hard of hearing students was examined. The hearing students consisted of 42 males (mean age 15.6 years) and 45 females (mean age 15.4 years). The deaf/hard of hearing students consisted of 13 males (mean age 16.9 years) and 7 females (mean age 15.9 years). Metacognition was conceptualized in terms of choosing the best response to problematic situations drawing upon problem-solving and logical reasoning skills. In the test, pictures represented various daily life interactions. There was no significant difference between hearing and deaf/hard of hearing students in metacognitive performance, nor was there a gender-based significant difference among the deaf/hard of hearing students. However, hearing female students scored significantly higher on the metacognitive test than hearing male students. Further analysis of the study findings possibly would show students' overall performance on the metacognitive test to be independent of grade point average. Analysis did show, however, a significant negative correlation between test performance and grades in Arabic among deaf/hard of hearing students.

Metacognitive strategies applied during correcting text‐related answers of three students with hearing loss

“…Investigations on metacognitive and reading comprehension skills have found strong relations between metacognitive and reading comprehension skills in normal hearing students (Collins, 1994). Although there is limited research on metacognitive and reading comprehension skills in individuals with hearing loss, the results seem to be consistent and provide important information for classroom interventions and the future research (Al‐Hilawani, 2000, 2001; Strassman, 1997). Based on the research on the relationship between metacognition and reading in individuals with hearing loss, Strassman (1997) has summarised several emerging issues: (1) instructional practices that emphasise only skills and school‐related activities such as completing worksheets, answering instructor questions and memorising words may hinder metacognitive knowledge and control in individuals with hearing loss; (2) the reading materials applied to individuals with hearing loss may be low level and therefore may not provide opportunity for these students to develop and practise metacognitive strategies; and (3) individuals with hearing loss benefit from metacognitive strategy instruction.…”

Untitled

“…Pictures were used to represent the contents of these domains because using pictures allows one to control the influence of language levels that may exist among students ( Al-Hilawani, 2000, 2001 and because pictures are suitable for representing and collecting various types of information, such as naming drawings based on their shape and size and describing the intent of the person who created them ( Bloom & Markson, 1998 ).…”

“…For the purpose of this research, metacognition refers to strategic employment of one's cognitive processes and resources to construct knowledge, and employ thinking and problem-solving skills to reach understanding and insight into one's environment ( Brown, 1978 ;Flavell, 1976Flavell, , 1978Flavell, , 1979Flavell, , 1999. This definition of metacognition ( Brown, 1978 ;Flavell, 1976Flavell, , 1978Flavell, , 1979Flavell, , 1999 encompasses features of intelligent ability; entails employing one's higherorder thinking processes, such as recognition, discrimination, judgment, and cognitive restructuring of events for effective functioning in life; and covers the process of performing interactive mental juggling to maintain one's connection to the task on hand for decision making and task fulfillment ( Al-Hilawani, 2000, 2001Al-Hilawani, Easterbrooks, & Marchant, 2002 ).…”

“…Studies of metacognition and individuals with hearing loss have been conducted by generating responses to specific problematic situations ( Jonas & Martin, 1985 ;Martin & Jonas, 1986 ) or by presenting real-life pictures to assess abilities related to accurate syntheses, analyses, perceptions, judgments, predictions, and explanations of what students usually experience in real-life situations ( Al-Hilawani, 2000, 2001. The latter test included situations covering human aspects associated with desires, intentions, interactions, emotions, communications, and object identifications.…”

“…The latter test included situations covering human aspects associated with desires, intentions, interactions, emotions, communications, and object identifications. It used pictures to measure metacognition based on the notion that students with hearing loss are strong in simultaneous visual processing, meaning that they rely on visual-spatial perception to process information ( Al-Hilawani, 2000, 2001, 2006Al-Hilawani et al, 2002 ).…”