発達障害が疑われる幼児への「自然法」を用いたコミュニケーションアプローチによる言語獲得の促進——聴覚障害児教育のスキルの活用と応用——

抄録

Education for hearing-impaired children includes an instruction skill referred to as the “Natural Method.” In language instructions, the “Natural Method,” as opposed to drills based on pedagogical instruction, places an emphasis on encouraging a child to use language out of necessity by way of utilizing activities appropriate to the child’s needs. In this research, language instruction was provided to 3-year-old child (boy) who could hear, but whose language acquisition was verified late for his age. Utilizing the “Natural Method” proved more effective than the pedagogy of the instruction method regarding the encouragement of language acquisition. The major issues of dysarthria and delayed language acquisition were improved through approaches using “Speech/Pronunciation,” “Use of Auditory Sense,” “Language Output,” and “Enhanced Vocabulary.” Further, regarding the difficulties the child had experienced with human relationships, in particular, an incapacity to adapt to group activities, the communicative-centered approaches of the Natural Method allowed greater “Emotional Control” to be exhibited; the child was better able to express themselves verbally. This research shows suggests that the “Natural Method” may also be effective strategy for hearing children. Through “Word Communication,” which includes reading others’ emotions and conveying one’s own feelings, infants are enabled not only to acquire a vocabulary, but also to gain confidence in interpersonal expression. This research reaffirms the notion that the building of human relationships is rooted deeply on the ability to communicate.