Education

How does synthetic speech intelligibility affect the language development of diverse young children? From an early age, children are using digital media including television and touchscreen apps. Importantly, digital media has been linked both positively and negatively to young children’s language development (Jing et al., 2023). This PhD will explore the intelligibility of digital speech (via electronic toys, television, touchscreen apps, digital audio players) for typically developing monolingual children, bilingual children and children with cochlear implants to understand the role of aural diversity on language learning from digital technology.

Supervisors: Gemma Taylor and Trevor Cox

Understanding the role of early acoustic environments and aural diversity on young children’s learning and development. The first 5 years of life are essential for children’s healthy development and children’s learning and development is strongly influenced by their early environments. Understanding the role of early acoustic environments and aural diversity on young children’s learning will be an important step in understanding how we can best support children during the first 5 years of life. This PhD will explore children’s auditory experiences across a range of common environments typically experienced at this age both indoors and outdoors and measure the impact on children’s learning and performance across a range of skills (e.g., vocabulary, executive function, working memory). The target population for this PhD could include typically developing children, neurodivergent children or children with hearing impairments across the first 5 years of life.

Supervisors: Gemma Taylor and Bill Davies

The range of auditory experiences and abilities individuals possess, can have an impact on learning and affect learners’ preferences for auditory (and other) learning styles. Understanding how aural diversity influences learning is crucial for designing spaces that cater to the diverse needs of students. To do so, the project will engage with a variety of educational settings and will explore how different aural environments can impact on the learning experience to facilitate more inclusionary educational settings. Design guidelines will be developed to improve the acoustic environment of some educational spaces.

Supervisors: Bill Davies and Athina Moustaka

In mainstream secondary school education, young people with hearing loss face distinct challenges that profoundly affect their learning, peer interactions, and self-esteem. This PhD project will explore the unique challenges and acculturation experiences of these young individuals in educational settings that predominantly adhere to an ‘auraltypical’ or “hearing norm.” These students encounter a myriad of complex issues, such as language and communication barriers, educational challenges, and divergent perspectives on Hearing and Deaf culture. Notably, children with hearing loss are especially susceptible to social exclusion (Coster et al., 2013).

Such challenges often result in difficulties in forming and maintaining relationships, which in turn can intensify feelings of isolation and social exclusion (Olsson, Dag, & Kullberg, 2018; Murray et al., 2007). Moreover, discrimination, taking forms such as bullying and educational obstacles, further complicates their experiences (Smith, 2013; Wheeler et al., 2007). These challenges can have a significant impact on their quality of life, potentially leading to decreased social interaction and depression in later life (Kochkin and Rogin 2000; World Health Organization 2015). This research project aims to provide a deeper understanding of these issues, contributing towards a more inclusive and supportive educational environment for young people with hearing loss.

This research will use a co-production approach, ensuring that young people with hearing loss on the aural diverse spectrum are active partners in the research process. The project will employ participatory methods, such as focus groups, world cafés, and young people’s forums, to help young people identify research priorities and explore the challenges and facilitators they experience in an ‘auraltypical’ world across their learning and psychosocial development within a mainstream secondary school setting. Co-production techniques involving collaborative analysis and interpretation of data will be utilised to empower young people and ensure that their insights shape the research outcomes. 

• Coster, W., M. Law, G. Bedell, K. Liljenquist, Y. C. Kao, M. Khetani, and R. Teplicky. 2013. “School Participation, Supports and Barriers of Students with and Without Disabilities.” Child: Care, Health and Development 39 (4): 535–543
• Kochkin, S., and C. Rogin. 2000. “Quantifying the Obvious: The Impact of Hearing Aids on Quality of Life.” The Hearing Review 7 (1): 8–34.
• Murray, J. B., Klinger, L., & McKinnon, C. C. (2007). The deaf: An exploration of their participation in community life. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 27(3), 113-120.
• Olsson, S., Dag, M., & Kullberg, C. (2018). Deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents’ experiences of inclusion and exclusion in mainstream and special schools in Sweden. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 33(4), 495-509.
• Smith, D. H. (2013). Deaf adults: Retrospective narratives of school experiences and teacher expectations. Disability & Society, 28(5), 674-686.Smith, D. H.  (2013). Disability & Society.
• Wheeler, A., Archbold, S., Gregory, S., & Skipp, A. (2007). Cochlear implants: The young people’s perspective. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 12(3), 303-316.
• World Health Organization. 2015. “Deafness and Hearing Loss.”

Supervisors: Jay Vickers and Gemma Taylor