Empowering deaf and hard-of-hearing undergraduates: Innovative ESL teaching strategies

Instructing English as a Second Language (ESL) to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (D/HH) students presents a unique set of challenges as well as opportunities, requiring innovative and tailored approaches to ensure effective language acquisition. The present study investigates the effectiveness of an innovative ESL teaching approach, integrating Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques, in empowering D/HH undergraduate learners across select colleges in Kerala, India. The research objectives encompassed assessing language acquisition, analyzing its impact on confidence and communication abilities, and exploring the perceptions of both students and instructors. The control cohorts were set up using a pre-test/post-test strategy, involving 70 students and 10 ESL instructors. Quantitative data was analyzed using paired t-tests, demonstrating a significant improvement in language proficiency. The qualitative thematic analysis highlighted enhanced confidence, communication, and learning experiences. Cross-tabulation and chi-squared tests revealed no significant demographic associations with language proficiency. In general, the NLP-integrated ESL approach showed promising results in empowering D/HH undergraduates.