Closed-Captioned Television: Educational and Sociological Implications for Hearing-Impaired Learners

The National Captioning Institute (NCI) has achieved stunning success in its first year of operation. Hearing-impaired viewers of all ages are enthusiastically grateful for the opportunity to read what they cannot hear on television. The closed-captioning service continues to be expanded by further technological developments and program offerings.

Educators of the deaf recognize that well-written captions directly attack many of the communications problems faced by their students and pave the way to improved achievement in other academic disciplines. Captions on television programs enliven the classroom environment and extend effective learning into after-school hours.

Closed captioning represents a significant sociological breakthrough as well. Hearing-impaired viewers are now able to communicate more freely with their hearing peers as they share information and entertainment gleaned from the television screen.