Investigating the Social Media Practices among Aurally Challenged Students (ACS): The Challenges and Issues

Abstract

Aim of the Study: This study explored the social media practices among aurally challenged (DHH) students in Pakistan. The themes in current researchers were drawn and further analyzed using the thematic analysis approach.

Methods: The researchers applied the semi-structured interviews of the aurally challenged (DHH) in twin cities (Rawalpindi and Islamabad).

Findings: Results revealed that the qualitative results configured with the research questions that using and engaging the aurally challenged (DHH) students with social media have an immense potential to provide them with learning and social interaction skills. Sometimes, aurally challenged (DHH) students also face difficulties regarding learning speed and making relationships with normal-hearing students. There is a need to empower aurally challenged (DHH) students to use social media in a meaningful and objective manner that may steer them toward innovation.

Conclusion: Thus, it is concluded that social media offers several opportunities to aurally challenged (DHH) students. It enables them to attain social affordances, connectivity, social rapport, the collaborative discovery of information and content creation, sharing, knowledge generation, information accretion, and content alteration. Also, providing them with equal learning opportunities, primarily through social media, is the need of the day. The researchers further propose several implications, and study limitations are highlighted accordingly.