The Use of Contextualized Visual Aids in Teaching Vocabulary to Children with Mental Retardation

Overview

        Public awareness about individuals with mental retardation has increased in the past years. Comprising 4.6% of the population in developed countries including the Philippines, these individuals gained considerable acceptance from the public and have found their place in special schools in the hope to live a productive life.

      In line with this, special educators sought for ways in order to provide the best learning possible for these individuals. Various movements have emerged and presented new ways of teaching considering the special needs of these individuals. These trends remain dynamic, presenting new findings and recommendations as results of research and study.

      There has been relatively little research on the vocabulary abilities of children with mental retardation. Some researches, like that of Ezell & Goldstein (1991), indicate that children with mental retardation tend to be more concrete in their understanding of words. This tendency to be more concrete may be the result of delays in development of semantic abilities (Rosenberg, 1982) and being lag behind in their development of organizing strategies (Stephens, 1972)

In respect with the above-mentioned ideas, studying the effect of using contextualized visual aids to increase the vocabulary of children with mental retardation is a significant and meaningful investigation. It is with an utmost conviction to the idea that in order to effectively teach these children, teaching approach must be integrated- multisensory and culturally/contextually-relevant.  Multisensory in a sense that the more senses being used, the more learning takes place. On the other hand,  to be culturally/contextually-relevant simply means that learning will be more effective when differences in the learner’s linguistic, cultural and social background are also taken into account (13^th Principle: American Psychological Association’s 14 Learner-Centered Principles, in Corpuz and Lucas, 2007).

Mental Retardation

     Mental retardation is defined by the World Health Organization as a condition of incomplete or halted development of the mind, which is characterized by impairment of skills as manifested during developmental period that contributes to the overall level of intelligence.

     Most children with mental retardation have problems with language and communication (Long & Long, 1994). In fact, language and speech disorders have been found to be the most frequent secondary disability among children with mental retardation (Epstein, Polloway, Patton, & Foley, 1989). Deficits in language and communication have been found to "constitute major impediments to the social, emotional, and vocational adjustment of retarded citizens" (Swetlik & Brown, 1977).

    Research about vocabulary abilities of children with mental retardation is said to be limited as compared to other language development concerns. Children with mental retardation have been found to lag behind in their development of organizing strategies (Stephens, 1972) and to use more concrete concepts (Mac Millan. 1982), suggesting that children with mental retardation have some difficulty developing and using semantic concepts.

On the other hand some studies have found that an area of strength for children with mental retardation is that of vocabulary skills. In a study of the comprehension of syntax and vocabulary conducted by Chapman, Schwartz, and Kay Raining-Bird (1991), the authors found that their subjects with mental retardation performed significantly better on the vocabulary comprehension task than on tests of syntactic skills.

 Theories Underlying the Use of Visual Aids

    Over the years, educators agree that the use of visual aids enhances learning both to children with or without special needs (with the exception for some cases i.e. visually-impaired children).  Jerome Bruner initially supported this when he proposed that learners can learn through Iconic mode or through the use of pictures and images. According to Machado (2007), visuals and images (pictorial representations) used during instructions almost always improve students’ attention, listening and comprehension and reduces recall errors.

    Neuroscientists theorize why visuals and images are influential to learning. It is because (1) the brain has an attentional bias for high contrast and novelty; (2) 90% of the brain’s sensory input is from visual resources; and (3) the brain has an immediate and primitive response to symbols, icons and other simple images (Jersen, 2005). 

    In special education, the use of pictures has been so far effective in teaching various skills for children with special needs. One of the best examples is the use of Picture Exchange Communications System (PECS) in teaching functional communication skills for individuals with developmental disabilities like autism, mental retardation and the like. Charlop-Christy et al (2002) indicated favorable results after using PECS in various areas of concern like communication skills, emergence of speech, social--communicative behaviors, and problem behaviors.

    Moreover, visual aids are said to be more effective if these are adapted to the culture or the context in which the learner lives. According to Fredrick Erickson’s Cultural Difference Theory, learning difficulties are the results of non-linear teaching between the school and one’s culture. Children find learning difficult because what they are learning in school is distant to their microsystems. Therefore, it t is a recommended practice that the cultural/contextual background must be taken into consideration to effectively teach learners. As Garcia and McLaughlin (1995, in Machado, 2007) suggest, effective childhood curricula should provide “encouragement to take risk, construct meaning and reinterpret knowledge within compatible social context”.  National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY) also recommends the use of concrete materials that are interesting, age-appropriate, and relevant to the students

Cognitive psychologists suggest this with the term “retrieval cues” for the things/objects that help learners recall what they previously learned (Tulving, 1983). These are the things found in one’s environment or culture that remind learners of something they have learned in the past.

    Particularly in teaching communication and language, learners will remember more information and make more elaborate connection when they are presented with culturally familiar materials (Butchard, 19900, in Fox 2008) than materials that are far abuild from their cultures. Culturally unfamiliar materials require more background building and call for more explicit explanation than culturally familiar materials.

    In summary, learning can be enhanced if teaching is multisensory and culturally/contextually relevant. The effects of contextualized visual aids in increasing the vocabulary of children with mental retardation however, are still undergoing thorough study.

The Use of Visual Aids: Backed Up by Research

  The use of visual aids in assisting children with mental retardation develop their vocabulary has been encouraged for the past several years. The use of PECS for instance, yields favorable results especially in the mastery of the skills being taught.  Hasselbring (1994) as well discussed the "curricular embellishment" approach of the curriculum in which the teacher embellishes the existing curriculum with media. This idea points out the importance of the use of various media like visual aids in promoting learning. Any kind of visual information presented by the teacher to accompany the lesson can support the major points presented, maintain attention, and improve comprehension. These can pave the way for understanding and comprehension, as well as helping hold children’s attention. This is in accordance with the principle that the more inputs used, the better the chances that the student will develop structures for cognitive frameworks of knowledge.

          Moreover, contextualization of materials used for instruction is one of the key factors for improved and enhanced learning. This is done in order to make culture coincide with what is being taught in school as F. Erickson suggests in his Cultural Difference Theory. Culturally unfamiliar materials require more background building and call for more explicit explanations than culturally familiar materials(Fox, 2008). Owens (1997) suggested that things taught for children with mental retardation must be “pre-organized” by the teachers. This means that materials or the subject matter itself being taught to these children will be remembered and be recalled more if these materials are already familiar to them.

Summary

          As a summary, this post supports the present investigation on the effect of the use of contextualized visual aids to increase the vocabulary of children with mental retardation. It was found out that visual aids can increase the chances of retention and identifying words by children with mental retardation. It also asserts the idea that the teacher has to make the presented material culturally relevant in order to have more meaningful learning.

(photo credit: http://www.mycollegesandcareers.com/careers/special-education-teacher/)