Onset of Hearing Loss, Gender and Self Concept as Determinants of Academic Achievements in English Language of Students with Hearing Disability in Oyo State, Nigeria

Since every class of students with hearing disability is always a heterogeneous one, the need for establishing relationship between some intrinsic factors in these students and their academic achievements becomes very imperative. This study therefore examined the influence of onset of hearing loss, gender and self concept on their academic performance in English language. 100 Senior Secondary School class III students with hearing disability were purposively selected to participate in the study. The study also raised 3 hypotheses to ascertain relationships between onset of hearing loss, gender, and self concept and English language achievement. Instruments such as the self concept scale of the Adolescent Personal Data Inventory, Adapted English Language Test and Audiological Reports were used. Findings showed that postlingually hearing disabled students were superior to their prelingually hearing-disabled colleagues, male students did better than female students and student with high self concept outclassed those with low self concept. It was therefore recommended that teachers and curriculum developers should adequately consider these findings in teaching and curriculum development activities