Eye-Gaze Sharing Between Young Children with Hearing Impairment and Their Mothers in Free Play: Characteristics of Approaches Taken by Mothers

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K20992
• Project/Area Number (Other): 18H05800 (2018)
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund (2019); Single-year Grants (2018)
• Review Section: :Education and related fields
• Research Institution: Kagoshima Women's Junior College
• Principal Investigator: HONDA Kazuya 鹿児島女子短期大学, その他部局等, 准教授 (50828027)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-08-24 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 聴覚障害 / 視線共有 / 共同注意 / 母子 / 働きかけ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we included 9- to 12-month-old hearing-impaired children, who had achieved joint attention or shared attention. They were invited to a free-play session for analysis of mother-child eye-gaze sharing. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in mother-directed gaze between young children with hearing impairment. In addition, we investigated mothers’ approaches to mutual eye-gaze with their child by analyzing the ways of engaging their child’s attention. The result clarified that there are likely to be differences in mother-directed gaze between hearing-impaired children younger than 9 months. In other words, receptive approaches by mothers such as attempts to attract their child's attention are considered important for mother-child eye-gaze sharing.

Free Research Field

特別支援教育

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

聴覚障害児が、共同注意を形成するに当たって、その前提となる母子の視線共有の成立が重要となる。しかし、生後１年以前の段階で、母子により視線共有に差があることを明らかにした。また、母親の話ことばに合わせて、「指さし」「提示」「身振り」「操作」などを用いることが、聴覚障害児の注視の促しに有効てあることを明らかとした。
聴覚障害児の心の理論獲得は、健聴児と比較して、遅れることが知られているが、その要因の一つが、生後１歳までの母親のかかわりであることを示唆した、本研究の学術的意義は大きいと考える。