Evaluation of the opinions of university graduates with and without hearing impairment on Turkish Sign Language education in higher education programmes

Communication is recognised as a key element of human life. Hearing impairment poses a great challenge in this respect as it generally causes difficulties in verbal communication. It is necessary to determine the situations that may be caused by disability and disability and to produce solutions. The main purpose of this study is to determine the importance of mother tongue education, the unshakable place of Turkish Sign Language in society and education, and the adequacy level of the courses in higher education programmes and to complete the deficiencies, if any. Qualitative research method was used in the study. The study group of the research consisted of individuals with (n=28) and without (n=30) hearing impairment. Data were obtained through semi-structured interview forms prepared separately for each group. The research questions consisted of demographic information (age, gender, field of education, etc.) and questions such as the importance, quality, necessity, contribution to professional competence, difficulties caused by disability, if any, and solution suggestions for these difficulties. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study were evaluated separately for two groups. Hearing impaired individuals stated that they had great difficulty in terms of communication and that they had problems in understanding, especially in educational processes. It was also stated that they had difficulties in all areas of life because other individuals did not know sign language. In hearing individuals, the importance of sign language was emphasised a lot. It was frequently repeated that this course should be compulsory instead of an elective course at the university