Teaching lip-reading: the efficacy of lessons on video.

Studies of the efficacy of filmed and videotaped materials for lip-reading self instruction have provided encouraging results. The recent increase in private ownership of VCRs allows widespread home use of video lessons for improving lip-reading skills. Such an approach is particularly, useful for hearing-impaired adults who have no access to lip-reading classes. To fill this need in Australia a 3-hour video cassette of nine lip-reading lessons was produced. The video lessons were tested over a period of 5 weeks. The study showed a significant improvement in the lip-reading skill of students who studied the video cassette compared to a control group who did not. The extent of improvement did not differ for students who studied the video in a class, at home, or as supplementary teaching material. While the age and sex of the subjects did not influence improvement of lip-reading skills, the study showed greater improvement for the relatively poorer lip-readers. More detailed testing of one group of students showed generalization of lip-reading skills to unfamiliar speakers and materials.