Van Reenen Coralie, Karusseit Catherine
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
S Afr J Commun Disord. 2017 Sep 8;64(1):e1-e10. doi: 10.4102/sajcd.v64i1.550.
It can hardly be disputed that a school environment should be conducive or, at the very least, not prohibitive to effective learning. The provision of fair, equal and barrier-free access to education is referred to as inclusive education. South Africa supports a policy of inclusive schooling, striving to accommodate all children, including those with disabilities, in mainstream schools. This article sets out to prove that noise control in classrooms is a relevant, yet neglected, aspect of inclusive classroom design in South Africa and requires specific attention.
The objectives of this study are to: (1) establish the impact that noise has on learners with sensory, language or learning impairments; (2) establish the preferred listening conditions for these learners by examining prior research and guidelines available in other countries; and (3) outline the current South African regulations pertaining to classroom acoustics and assess them against the preferred listening environment.
This research was conducted as a systematic review with reference to the South African context. Local and international research and guidelines were used as references, providing an overview and evaluation of data concerning noise and learning.
Noise is disadvantageous for learners, particularly those with sensory, language or learning impairments. Research and international guidelines show that the ideal ambient level is 30 dBA - 35 dBA, allowing the achievement of an ideal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of +15 dB, and the ideal reverberation time is 0.4 s - 0.6 s. Various South African regulations discussed are inconsistent regarding ambient noise level (ranging from 35 dBA - 50 dBA) and say little about reverberation time for classrooms.
South African regulations regarding classroom acoustics require revision to ensure inclusion of all learners with disabilities. The current status does not enforce barrier-free environments in mainstream schools for children with sensory, language or learning impairments.
学校环境应有利于有效学习，或者至少不构成阻碍，这一点几乎无可争议。提供公平、平等且无障碍的受教育机会被称为全纳教育。南非支持全纳学校政策，努力让包括残疾儿童在内的所有儿童融入主流学校。本文旨在证明，教室中的噪声控制是南非全纳教室设计中一个相关但被忽视的方面，需要特别关注。
本研究的目标是：（1）确定噪声对有感官、语言或学习障碍的学习者的影响；（2）通过研究其他国家的现有研究和指南，确定这些学习者偏好的聆听条件；（3）概述南非现行的教室声学法规，并对照偏好的聆听环境对其进行评估。
本研究是针对南非背景进行的系统综述。以本地和国际研究及指南为参考，对有关噪声与学习的数据进行概述和评估。
噪声对学习者不利，尤其是对有感官、语言或学习障碍的学习者。研究和国际指南表明，理想的环境噪声水平为30 dBA - 35 dBA，可实现+15 dB的理想信噪比（SNR），理想的混响时间为0.4 s - 0.6 s。所讨论的各项南非法规在环境噪声水平方面不一致（范围为35 dBA - 50 dBA），且对教室混响时间提及甚少。
南非关于教室声学的法规需要修订，以确保所有残疾学习者都能被纳入。目前的状况并未在主流学校中为有感官、语言或学习障碍的儿童营造无障碍环境。
