An Intervention Study On The Comprehension Abilities Of Metaphor Sentences For Children With Hearing Impairment Based On Variation Practice

Metaphorical comprehension ability plays a vital role in everyday life and verbal interaction.Good metaphorical comprehension ability not only helps individuals to understand the thoughts and intentions of others and build good peer relationships but also facilitates the development of individual language skills.In empirical research on metaphor comprehension in children with hearing impairment,many studies have found that children with hearing impairment have significant deficits in metaphor comprehension compared to the typical children,which affects their understanding and use of language.While there is a growing body of research on metaphor comprehension at home and abroad,there is a paucity of research and a lack of practical experience with metaphor comprehension interventions for children with hearing impairment.According to the literature,effective metaphorical sentences comprehension training can improve children’s metaphorical comprehension ability.Therefore,this study examined the effectiveness of metaphorical sentences comprehension training based on the key cognitive processes of metaphorical sentences comprehension,i.e.identifying the ontology and metonymy,characterizing the attributes of the ontology and metonymy,corresponding to the common features of the ontology and metonymy,and understanding the meaning of the metaphorical sentences,using the variation practice method for three children with hearing impairment in grades 4-5.The study used a multi-baseline design across participants.3 kids with hearing impairment were selected from a special school as the subjects,and they were individually trained in metaphorical sentences comprehension in turn using a variable practice approach based on the key cognitive processes of metaphorical sentences comprehension.The three subjects received 24,26 and 22 training sessions,each lasting approximately 25 minutes.In the course of the study,three subjects were examined 26,30 and 31 times using the Metaphor Comprehension Inventory for Children with Hearing Impairment and data was collected to reflect changes in the three subjects’ metaphorical sentences comprehension during the whole intervention phase.Using visual analysis and C-statistical analysis,the researcher verified the effectiveness of metaphorical sentences comprehension training for children with hearing impairment using a variable practice approach based on the key cognitive processes of metaphorical sentences comprehension,and conducted pre-and posttraining interviews with Chinese teachers who were familiar with the subjects to analyze the social evaluation validity of the metaphorical sentences comprehension training.The results of the study showed that:(1)Individual training using the variation practice method based on the key cognitive processes of metaphorical sentences comprehension had good immediate and sustained effects on improving the metaphorical sentences comprehension ability of children with hearing impairment.(2)Metaphorical sentences comprehension training for children with hearing impairment based on the key cognitive processes of metaphorical sentences comprehension was effective in improving children’s metaphorical and simile sentences comprehension ability.(3)Three children with hearing impairment received good social ratings on their metaphorical sentences comprehension performance after receiving training in metaphorical sentences comprehension based on the key cognitive processes of metaphorical sentences comprehension using the variation practice method.This study recommends that appropriate training materials should be selected for metaphorical sentences comprehension training according to the cognitive developmental characteristics of children with hearing impairment;that the intervention process should be based on the key cognitive processes of metaphorical sentences comprehension;and that variation practice methods that help individuals to understand metaphor sentences should be used to facilitate the development of metaphorical comprehension ability of children with hearing impairment to the greatest extent possible.