Cohesion In The Written English Texts Of Hearing Impaired Learners In Selected High Schools For The Deaf In Kenya

Previous studies reveal that the hearing impaired learners face several challenges in their written English. These challenges affect their communication, which is likely to affect their education and career aspirations. This study investigated the use of cohesion in hearing-impaired learners’ English written texts. It investigated ways by which hearing impaired learners in Form Three have been able to achieve cohesion in their written texts as well as the errors related to the use of cohesion. The study was guided by the following objectives: identify the grammatical and lexical features that the hearing-impaired learnersuse in writing to achieve cohesion; describe the grammatical and lexical features that the hearing-impaired learners use in writing to achieve cohesion; determine the types of cohesion that are prominent in the writing of hearing-impaired learners; analyze the errors in the use of cohesive devices in the hearing-impaired learners’ written texts; and investigate the grammatical errors related to use of cohesive devices in the written texts of hearing-impaired learners. The study is significant because it embraces the means bywhich hearing-impaired written texts are linguistically and logically connected. The study confined its investigation to the use of cohesion in the hearing-impaired learners’ English written texts. The data for the study was collected from the written texts of Form Three hearing impaired students sampled from three secondary schools located in Nyeri County, Nakuru County, and Machakos County. The written texts were picked from written assignments from different subjects as well as from one free composition. The data from the class assignment captured normal English writing situation.