Effects of Messaging and Communication Strategy Training on Interaction in Teams With Deaf and Hearing College...

The study investigated effects of computer-based messaging and training in communication strategies on interactions of deaf and typically hearing (TH) teammates in completing decision-making tasks without interpreter support. Fifteen teams, two deaf and two TH college students each, completed three decision-making tasks, one without messaging, one with messaging, and one with messaging and training in communication strategies. Each interaction was coded for (a) communication method, (b) to whom the interaction was directed, and (c) the function of the interaction. Without messaging, teams used speech, sign, or paper and pencil; with messaging, they predominantly used this technology to communicate with each other. Without messaging, teammates directed communications to members of the same hearing status; with messaging, they directed communications to the whole team. Teammates made fewer communication repairs with messaging than without. In focus groups conducted after the decision-making tasks, participants noted messaging's limitations and benefits.